working on bike now and need help

ok so the bike was sitting for 7 years and wouldnt start due to gunked up carbs. i have taken the carbs apart and clean them, rejetted for pod filters, and put everything back together. now when i crank it, it will crank right up and idle, but gas is pooring out of the carb 1 and 2 drain hoses. what could be the problem? thanks guys.

Sounds like you've either still got some gunk obstructing the float valves or the floats themselves are flooded and can't operate the float valves.

Is there any chance you've inadvertently bent the tang on the float?

KZCSI

Post edited by: KZCSI, at: 2008/03/02 10:42

im pretty sure nothing was bent because everything came apart easily.

i just went and tested to see if they leaked with the bike off and the gas on pri. and they do. if i read some things correctly i think it means my petcock needs rebuilt. i hope thats it.

Try rapping smartly against outside of float bowl with small plastic mallet while engine is idling. Will sometimes clear crud between float needle and seat.

Good Luck!

mlh300zx wrote:

i just went and tested to see if they leaked with the bike off and the gas on pri. and they do. if i read some things correctly i think it means my petcock needs rebuilt. i hope thats it.

When float needle/seat interface is performing correctly, it should not leak regardless of petcock position.

But still a good practice to turn off a manual (non-vacuum) operated petcock while the bike is parked.

When I first got my bike, it was basically in the same condition. The P.O. had parked the bike in his garage for 11 years. I rebuilt the carbs and they kept leaking gas out the overflows and into the airbox. I didn't realize it at the time but all that carb cleaning and rebuilding doesn't do any good if you don't flush out the tank of all the tiny rust particles. You should also consider installing a small inline fuel filter to trap any remaining particles before they go into your carbs. So:

1. Clean out your tank with a good tank flush product.
2. Install an inline filter.
3. Re-clean your carbs and use air pressure to clean all small passageways.
4. Pay special attention to the float valves.
5. Worry about the petcock only if you can prove it is faulty.

P.S. I finally gave up on the stock petcock and installed a Pingel manaual on-off type. Apart from having to remember to turn the gas on and off, it works great.
Good luck,
Grant.

I agree with the prior post. Especially the part about paying special attention to the float valves.

They are rubber cones that set in a round hole. There is probably some crud stuck to the metal hole part that is keeping the valve from closing completely. If of course the adjustment tabs were not bent while you were cleaning.

On mine, I remember pulling the carb and bowl off and blowing air through the carb bowl's fuel feed port while working the float up into the valve. There would be something horrifically wrong if you were able to blow air through. I had a couple of "bad" ones that needed to be pushed harder than the other two to finally seal.

Many people would replace them, just to be sure. Carb rebuild kits were expensive though.

Are they sold separately? Or would you want to replace the gaskets and all as well while you were at it?

Floats set too high.

qdude, If you have "rubber cones setting in round holes" on your bike, you have the wrong float needles...

Another thing to check if gas is pouring out is that if the venting is plugged, the floats DO NOT WORK AT ALL and will either hang and not allow gas through at all or will drop and gas will pour out. Most all the other suggestions are good in this thread and this is just one more thing to check.

Yes, it sounds like floats set too high. Or a piece of gunk in the float valve(s). This same problem was driving me crazy forever. I just readjusted my floats down a bit. Fuel was making it into the intake manifolds and filling up on top of the cylinder and fouling a plug before it would get as high as the overflow tube inside the carb. I guess with the bike up on the center stand the downhill direction was into the motor.

Make sure the float valve needles are functioning, look at them with a magnifying glass, and drop the float levels for all four just a tad by bending the "tang" a wee bit.

mountain wrote:

...Fuel was making it into the intake manifolds and filling up on top of the cylinder and fouling a plug before it would get as high as the overflow tube inside the carb. I guess with the bike up on the center stand the downhill direction was into the motor....

Fuel was making it into the intake manifolds and filling up on top of the cylinder --- whenever this happens, if not already done, should assure the crankcase oil has not been contaminated with gasoline. May use the sniff test for gas aroma, and check for really thin oil, and sometimes the indicated oil level itself will rise due to infusion of gasoline. If there's any doubt, should drain and replace the oil and also install a new oil filter. As known, running an engine with crankcase oil contaminated by fuel intrusion risks substantial engine damage.

Fuel overflow may also reach the carb bore and travel backward toward and into the airbox, and from there drain down through the crankcase vent tube directly into the crankcase.

Floatbowl overflows are supposed to prevent this condition of gas getting into the carb throat, but the overflows are sometimes obstructed or simply unable to cope with a massive fuel leak through the float needle/seat interface.

Good Luck!