1988 kz1000p carburetor flooding

I replaced the float needles and needle seats as well as the floats on all four carburetors. I installed them back on the bike but left the air box off and connected the carbs to the petcock. I put the petcock on prime and wait. After about 5 minutes one or more of carburetors start to drip fuel from the intakes.

I have rebuilt several carburetors in my day and never had this problem. Any help would be appreciated.

In-line filter installed?
If not, new float valves may already need re-cleaning.

Good Fortune!

I was thinking about putting in an in-line filter. The petcock has a filter. The needle valve seats have a filter screen. I figured that would be enough. An aftermarket inline filter may do the trick. I'm ready to try anything.

Keep the ideas coming people.

Assuming it's a vacuum petcock, set it to ON or RES, then check to see if it leaks.

Also, do the Service Fuel Level check to verify that the fuel level in the carburetors is correct.

In theory it probably shouldn't leak when set to PRI, but in actuality it seems fairly common - mine leaks if I inadvertently leave it in PRI, but ON & RES are fine. My tank, petcock, & carburetors are clean and in very good condition. The petcock screen is good and there is a new in-line fuel filter & fuel line. The fuel level in each carburetor is set exactly at 3.0 mm below the carb body. In other words everything has been carefully checked, but PRI will leak a small amount sporadically.

martin_csr wrote: Assuming it's a vacuum petcock, set it to ON or RES, then check to see if it leaks.

Also, do the Service Fuel Level check to verify that the fuel level in the carburetors is correct.

In theory it probably shouldn't leak when set to PRI, but in actuality it seems fairly common - mine leaks if I inadvertently leave it in PRI, but ON & RES are fine. My tank, petcock, & carburetors are clean and in very good condition. The petcock screen is good and there is a new in-line fuel filter & fuel line. The fuel level in each carburetor is set exactly at 3.0 mm below the carb body. In other words everything has been carefully checked, but PRI will leak a small amount sporadically.

+1
Prime only to fill the carb bowls after bike has been sitting

I checked and achieved 3.0mm below the carb body as part of my carb rebuild.

I have a hard time believing, from a liability standpoint, that Kawasaki would build a motorcycle that would dump the contents of it's gas tank when left on prime. Sure it would take time, but I was dripping about 1 drop per second. If I left that bike in the garage over night I would have a gallon of gas on my garage floor or more.

No it did not drip when not running with the petcock in ON or RES. That's not too surprising since the petcock is off when the engine is not running.

I have to believe that when running and vacuum opens the petcock that I would not be running too rich with carbs flooding.

I try an inline filter, purge the gas tank and let you know.

I fixed the flooding problem by switching to Viton rubber tipped float needles. I could then leave the petcock on prime indefinitely without flooding.