New Petcocks Defective- Check it out...

FYI for everyone.

I recently (2weeks ago) purchased a manual Petcock from Z1 (3/8 NPT). It has been on my bike for 2 weeks, I pulled the tank to work on my carbs and discovered the petcock is leaking.

Took it apart and the inner rubber gasket is rotten already!

Called Z1 and it appears they had a bad batch that does not like ethanol or some such and are working on getting replacement gaskets. They are sending me one to try out, gratis.

This problem is not just with Z1 petcocks only but all the folks who sell the generic replacement petcock.
So anyone with a new petcock might want to check and see if it is leaking.

The folks at Z1 are top notch and I can't say enough good things about them.

I also want to note this also explains all that black crud in my new fuel filter

Looking to get a new one myself. Thanks for the warning. I'd have been mad! lol

mines been leaking too. I took it apart last night and my rubber was rotten too !!
does anyone know of any decent one that ain't as pricey as the pingels' ?

Call Z1 (if that is who you got it from). They sent me a new gasket for free..

If it's that biker choice POS... mine drip leaked as well... Meaning, it won't shut off (stop fuel) completely!

It was cheap and I realize it had nothing to do with Jeff/Z1.. I paid for what I got, a cheap non Pingel petcock!

With that in mind, back to Jeff for what I should have done in the first place... Pingel please!

OMR

We had a number of these petcocks with a leaking issue. We've been working with Tucker-Rocky to get the problem resolved. Tucker doesn't make these, but private labels them under their brand name. These petcocks are identical to those sold under a variety of different names - Emgo, Custom Chrome etc..

We have been aggressively working with (read: pressuring) Tucker to get this solved. Ironically, we seem to be the only company to have bitched about the quality - and Tucker took their time to chase the problem as they didn't receive complaints from any other companies - so shame on the other sellers for not reporting issues back to the importer.

The seals in the most recent batches of petcocks have often failed. The issue appears to be twofold. First, the seal materials do not seem to like the Ethanol in Gasoline sold in the USA. Second, the small lips surrounding the holes on the seals are not molded consistently.

The issue seems to be a recent one - as in the past 3-6 months. We'd sold a ton of these petcocks over the last 4-5 years and the bulk of the complaints have come in the past 3-4 months.

The current status: Tucker has received a batch of replacement seals and has been retrofitting them to existing stock. We have ask for (but not received yet) stock of the replacement seals. We do have some seals in stock, but they are old ones - and although don't seem to have the quality issues of the seals fitted to the petcocks, we still have reservations about them.

Just had something very similar happen to me except it was with fuel line. Was ready to start one of my Guzzi's for the first time last Friday night, but my normal gas station was closed. Went somewhere else and put two gallons of 93 octane with "10% ethanol". Started the bike and it fired so I called it a night. Sunday afternoon decided to take it for a first spin around town. It started running on one cylinder, then quit. There was gas spewing over the transmission. Shut the fuel off and it stopped. Looked at the fuel line and it felt like a marshmallow. There was fuel soaking out of my brand new fuel line. I was able to cobble it and get it to a gas station. Emptied all the fuel and refueled with "non ethanol" fuel. By the time I got home the fuel line had hardened up.

Replaced the fuel line using Honda Marine fuel line. I have this on all my other bikes. It's not rubber and has proven great on my 78 KZ1000A2A over the last 20K miles.

Conclusion? Watch what you put into your old bikes/cars. Ethanol is not the answer and refineries do not blend it into fuel. So there are variations in percentages, high and low.

Old Man Rock wrote:

If it's that biker choice POS... mine drip leaked as well... Meaning, it won't shut off (stop fuel) completely!

It was cheap and I realize it had nothing to do with Jeff/Z1.. I paid for what I got, a cheap non Pingel petcock!

With that in mind, back to Jeff for what I should have done in the first place... Pingel please!

OMR

Cheapest Pingel is $72- add shipping cost and that is 20% of what I paid for the bike. A bit steep for my blood.

Honestly, I like the quality of the $12 one I bought, stuff just happens.

why does stuff always happen to me though !!!!!!

I'm sure Z1 will get it sorted out. they're still top of my list !!!



I would buy a pingel ..... but my kids seem to prefer electricity in the house more than pingel petcocks (can't think why)

Cost is certainly a relevant concern...on the other hand if I ever develop bladder problems I'm having a Pingle installed.

Exactly why I always had the attitude all aftermarket parts are trash. I promised Jeff I would not lump the aftermarket that way, but it is and always has been a big problem.

Go PINGEL!