Help leaking gas and caught on fire!

I rebuild the carbs this weekend to hopefully stop yellow goop from dripping. Installed them yesterday and it ran fine today, halfway to work it backfired continuously and when I parked the bike it caught fire and luckily I was able to put it out before any major damage happened. Looks like #3 is leaking the gas but I'm pretty much stuck at work until I get it fixed at least to make it home .

What did you do to "rebuild" the carbs? Fully break down the carbs and soak/clean all the parts? Or open the float bowl and spritz carb cleaner through them? Replace any parts? And what kind of carbs/bike?

81 kz650 h1 sorry lol kinda freaking out lol. But totally took the rack apart. Cleaned each bowl/ jet etc. Did this because the fuel rail was slightly leaking making a yellow goop drip onto engine case. The bike shops only solution was to put some Suzuki sealant designed for gas on the rail seals because they don't make them anymore. Didn't touch any of the air/ fuel valves though hoping it'd stay where I had it set but clearly must have been off. Right side constantly back fires left seems fine

Well I figured since I had to separate the carbs might as well go back through and clean it again.

There are aftermarket fuel Tees and fuel transfer tubes made from metal that use standard O-rings. If you search ebay and from other online sources you should be able to find them. I've seen where guys use a razor blade to cut off the rubber bumps on the original (leaking) parts, cutting down to the metal, and then they fit standard O-rings into the new groove. That should work too, but I've personally never tried. Just make sure to be sure to clean your new groove all the way down to the metal under the rubber. You need a perfectly smooth surface on the metal or there will be a leak path. When done with this work be sure to set the carbs up on your workbench and rig up a remote tank feeding them so you can verify they don't leak. Then check the fuel level using the clear tube test. Doing these last bits of work will assure your carbs are properly sealed before you install them. It's more work but better than torching your bike.

If your fuel fittings have the rubber ends, instead of o-rings, then you'll probably want to replace them with new fittings w o-rings.
Z1Enterprises.com may have them. I searched the oem part numbers on EB.

carburetor fuel fitting --- aluminum Tee w o-rings --- $23T

carburetor metal fuel fitting w o-rings--- $30T

OEM rubber carburetor fuel fitting. ...For comparison.
The oem fuel Tee may be of the same type with rubber ends.

A short piece of shrink tube (electric wiring insulation) on the fuel fittings/tees will 100% stop the fuel leaking. Done it several times and never ever get any leak.

You might want to check your tank to see if it's the origin of the yellow goop.

hardrockminer wrote: You might want to check your tank to see if it's the origin of the yellow goop.

+1
Whatever is causing the yellow goop to form, will continue to give you grief. Depending on what it is, it could clog the low speed circuits and might even prevent the float valves from sealing, leading to overflow.

I discovered it was my #3 carb and the float was stuck open when I removed the float bowl there was still grit in the bottom and I know I cleaned everything very thouroghly fuel filter also has stuff inside it will be getting a new one but I currently do not have the proper gas cap as when I got it the kid put a round gas cap just big enough for the hole but does not secure in anyway guessing this is allowing stuff inside the tank which is working it's way throughout. I have not seen any of the yellow goop build up since I "rebuilt" the carbs and used some Suzuki valve sealant on the rail seals. However I did notice that there is a very small leak from the left side now but I think it is my petcock now as when I reinstalled the carbs it was leaking a little again probably is because the gas cap and something is in the diaphragm of the petcock I will be checking on that soon. Finally found someone with a vacuum set to balance my carbs.

While at it, would sniff-test the crankcase oil and check it's physical condition, for evidence of gasoline intrusion into the crankcase.

Good Fortune!

I will look into it thanks!