Foul Mood

First time posting here... Great Tool, hope you guys don't mind hearing my rant. Purchased a 1981 KZ1000M1 CSR last September, and have been constantly working ever since gettings righted that were messed up by previous owners (I am the 3rd). 1st issue, which still remains: the petcock is the vaccume style with no "off" position. It seeps, and while buying the adaptor and using the Pingel valve might be a quick answer, I'm intending to keep the bike as stock as humanly possible (maybe that ought to be as humanely possible). I have disassembled the unit, and found that the o-rings were rotted, so I replaced everything diaphragm and all with a K&L kit. This did not fix the issue. After my most recent tank/carb tear down I came to find out that the vacuum portion of the diaphragm was not even functioning, something was blocking what air was coming from carb #2. It's been fixed, but still it seeps. Issue number 2 is much more ugly, and I discover more and more each time I get into the carbs: I foul plugs, from my understanging run rich, but have behaivors of running lean... Its all over the place. I know that I need to replace the floats, as after a simple water test, the floats don't even rest in water at the same height, and they have all had their tabs bent. What is rather strange to me however is that the original jet size is suppose to be #122.5R, and I have #117.5R installed (not by my hands). Now I'm not how sure how big a deal this is as I live at 3250' but I ride all year long from 0deg F to 100deg F. Either way..... The carb's I can't do much about until i get new floats, because since the tabs have been bent, there is no way I can guarantee getting them straight again (unless someone has suggestions). I really however want to get the petcock issue resolved. I will gladly take it apart again and I'm not mechanically declined, so if you have ideas shoot...

Welcome aboard! Keep us posted and post some pics when you get a chance. Ed

Red, Vaccumn petcocks can be a trial. when they work, excellent, when they don't, float valves are seldom up to their task. re-build kits while substancialy cheaper than new 'cocks are "ifffy". (and indeed new units ) the springs which seal fuel flow at diaphram o-ring are puny..as they need small vaccum values to open. when possible I use manual stoppers.... floats should be floats, not sinkers. phenolic's )black plastic, seldom fail, brass and plastic (white) sometimes leak. if you've some which ride low/sink toss-em. the tangs which control float valve shut-off height, not only keep fuel from pissing on the floor, but regulate the height fuel must be drawn from to provide fuel thru other circuits. and in essence are a part of jetting. Hope this helps.G

Go to www.wgcarbs.com and read up about doing the "Wired George" relay modification. This uses a relay bypassing the aged wiring in the older KZ's. Many guy's here have done this to their bikes with a return of like new engine responce. In the older Kawasaki's any corrosion in the coil circuit will drop the output quite a bit.

His website lists parts required and how to do it.

An outfit called TourMax makes new floats for some Kawis.
You may want to contact Z1 Enterprises to see if they have new floats for your particular model.
The manufacturing tolerances on the petcock diaphragms in the aftermarket kits are not as exact as the OEM pieces. They can be made to work by depressing/bending the centre of the big shiney washer that holds the pintle. You just want to move the pintle towards the seat by about a millimetre or so....so you have to be careful doing this. Also make absolutely sure you're not getting any crud from your tank that would prevent the pintle from seating properly .....otherwise the petcock will leak forever, no matter what you do.
My .02 worth...

buy a service manual, there is a float height adjustment in it.

or like it has been suggested, send them to wiredgeorge.
i have never personally used his service but i've heard nothing but good things about him and his buiness.
( also do his coil mod, i did and it is a world of difference )

also check the valve clearence.

last but not least, welcome to the board and please realize we are picture whores here.
( pictures get you faster answers )

shoot, this board tolerated me because i post pictures.

Heres what I did to my vacuum petcock on my xs1100 tank. I wanted an on/off/reserve petcock and mine only had "reserve (vacuum) /on / on (vacuum)".

Mine had 2 inlet holes that connected to the tank and 2 outlets (one in the center for vacuum and one on the bottom). The 4th hole was blind and didn't connect (this was off) to the tank.

So, I drilled the blind hole to allow flow. So now I had 5 holes behind the selector. Then I tapped the center (vacuum outlet) hole with a 1/4-20 tap, put a small setscrew with a little JB Weld thread locker in and let it setup to plug the vacuum fuel hole. Then I made a cap over the old diaphram on the back and put a gasket on and tighted it down to seal the vacuum side of the petcock. Lastly I put a rubber vacuum plug from Z1 over the vacuum port on the carb.

Now I have "Reserve/Off/On" in place of "on / on (vacuum) /reserve (Vacuum)". Works fine and no leaks from fuel or vacuum. The picture is how the holes started out, and ended, behind the selector. Hope this helps.

Red, My 650 has a vacuum petcock and was using the original diaphram for 28 years until it finally gave up. I ordered the K&L kit and found that the "O" rings were slightly off size so I used original ones (still good) but the biggest problem was that the diaphram (metal piece with "o" ring) was a few thousands of an inch shorter than original. Installed, it allowed gas to seep out and I could blow through inlet and feel air on outlet. I e-mailed them and they said they had no complaints but sent me a new diaphram anyway. Checking "new" one found it to be even shorter than first one, which would seep even more gas! I finally just went and ordered a brand new OEM diaphram ( I believe part #43028-1015) from local dealer for about $12.00. They are still available and come with plastic block. They were used until 2005 on the KZ1000P (police bike) and I believe something else. Getting new one revealed perfect length and upon insallation there was no air flow and no more leakage! Moral of this story is that K&L kits have lousy tolerances and most likely will cause problems such as yours and mine. Do yourself a favor and just order a OEM diaphram and be done with it!

Do yourself a favor and just order a OEM diaphram and be done with it!

Have to agree Bluemeanie!

NICE BIKE, I gots the same... I started with all the same problems too

Trust me, she'll be worth it!

Cheers.

My 1980 KZ1000-A4 petcock leaking has been fixed. I added a small lawnmower fuel valve between the petcock and the carbs. It is under the right side of the tank and out of sight. I shut the fuel off about two blocks from home and my fuel problems have disappeared.

red.razor23 wrote:

1981 KZ1000M1 CSR... 1st issue..., petcock...vaccume... seeps... intending to keep the bike as stock... o-rings were rotted... replaced everything diaphragm and all with a K&L kit. This did not fix the issue... came to find out that the vacuum portion of the diaphragm was not even functioning, something was blocking what air was coming from carb #2. It's been fixed, but still it seeps....

Hello Red Razor and WELCOME to KZR forum! We're glad you're here!

Petcock. Am unfamilar with K&L vac-pc repair kit, but would instead consider oem parts from Z1E:

oem petcock repair kit

oem diaphram

Lack of receiving vacuum from carb is imo irrevelant to petcock leak, because vac-pc supposedly blocks fuel flow in ON and RES positions until receiving vacuum. PRI position allows fuel flow without any vacuum applied (same as a manual pc in ON or RES position).

Whatever was done regarding vacuum provided to pc from carb did not imo address the leak.

Should be no fuel inside the vac tube between carb and pc. Faulty pc may allow fuel into vac tube (engine running or not running) and cause overly rich fuel mixture when engine's running.

Hoping to discuss floats and jets in separate posts.

Good Luck!

red.razor23 wrote:

1981 KZ1000M1 CSR...Issue number 2... foul plugs...need to replace the floats, as after a simple water test, the floats don't even rest in water at the same height, and they have all had their tabs bent... The carb's I can't do much about until i get new floats, because since the tabs have been bent, there is no way I can guarantee getting them straight again (unless someone has suggestions)....

Floats. Wouldn't throw in the towel quite yet on the existing floats. Lots of float tangs are discovered bent out of shape. And if the floats aren't sinking or leaking, they may be okay.

Different buoyancies among the floats are usually compensated when setting the service float bowl fuel level. Which is the actual fuel level inside the float bowl on an assembled carb, regardless of the actual buoyancy of the float. This is where the tang adjustment comes into play.

When adjusting the tangs, the upside-down physical measurement of float position is notoriously unreliable, but might get in the ballpark.

The clear tube test is reliable and should be used to visibly determine the actual fuel level inside the float bowl.

The clear tube test may be performed with carbs held level on the work bench. Okay to use common household rubbing alcohol at first because it smells better, and confirm by "final" test with gasoline. May save time and effort in process of sometimes repetitive removing and replacing float bowls between tang adjustments by using just one float bowl screw. Any slight leak at the gasket area won't affect the test.

If needed, Z1E has the floats.
www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=2036]New Float

Good Luck!