fuel issues

[Guest]

So I've been battling this issue for some time now on my gs1100e and I need advised. I keep getting a fuel leak I'm pretty sure my petcock needs attention it doesn't close off completely in res and on (when not running) and drips thus causing fuel to leak out the no.1 carb. I have air pods so I see it dripping out the filter. I'm now curious if I have a bad float valve. It continued to seep out of the carb for a couple minutes after I disconnected the fuel line. What do I need to check and how. Sorry for being long winded
Thanks

[Nessism]

Yes on both counts: bad petcock and leaking float needle.

Carb rebuild tutorial linked in my signature and Parts Outlaw is the forum favorite for parts like petcocks.

[curt4]

Wow that tutorial is awesome! I've taken the Jets and needle jets out and cleaned it but not to that extent! I've never checked the float height. So could I set up a hose to check the fuel height with the carbs on the bike to find the needle valve or valves to blame? Oh I just realized I forgot to mention it doesn't seem to leak till about 30 mins to a hour after I ride it. Is that something that sound typical? And I smell the oil fill hole before I ride and it doesn't smell like gas and has never over flowed the engine.

[curt4]

Oh and where do you recommend getting carb kits/parts from?

[Nessism]

Oh and where do you recommend getting carb kits/parts from?

Read the tutorial...

[curt4]

So I opened up the carbs and was checking the float levels and they all came up to be around 18mm I was checking with the depth Guage of my calipers your tutorial states 21.4 and I was wondering since they are all that way it's on purpose due to have air pods?

[Nessism]

If the float needles are weak they won't hold up the float.

[curt4]

What do you mean? Like if I flip the carb upside down and see if the needle spring actually holds up the float at rest? If so then they all do.

[Nessism]

Typically, when the float needle springs get old they don't hold up the full weight of the float. So guys flip the carbs over and measure the float height and find it's too low. If your floats are not compressing the springs at all then either you got some really good float needles or they been changed at some point? At any rate, your floats are too low, that increases fuel level in the float bowls.

[bobgroger]

The #1 carb is downhill on the sidestand. Try the centerstand if you still have one.

[curt4]

I'm guessing they have be changed they are the all metal ones like not the ones with black on the tip. The float tangs were all straight and unbent like maybe someone put new ones in and never adjusted them? I don't know how they come new.. but the spring in the needle and the tip looked fine and free from wear

[Steve]

The float height needs to be measured from the proper point on the float, which is NOT the top of the "step" where the float is held by the metal. The proper point is at the bottom of that step.

And the distance should be 22.4 mm +/- 1.0 mm.

Another tip is to measure both floats in the carb. If the bracket has been bent, the float you measure might be right at 22.4 mm, but the other one might be at 25.0. The one with the higher number will be the one that floats first, once the carbs are turned back right-side-up, so you would actually be running a fuel level almost 3 mm too low.

.

[curt4]

The float height needs to be measured from the proper point on the float, which is NOT the top of the "step" where the float is held by the metal. The proper point is at the bottom of that step.

And the distance should be 22.4 mm +/- 1.0 mm.

Another tip is to measure both floats in the carb. If the bracket has been bent, the float you measure might be right at 22.4 mm, but the other one might be at 25.0. The one with the higher number will be the one that floats first, once the carbs are turned back right-side-up, so you would actually be running a fuel level almost 3 mm too low.

.

That's where I checked them not on the metal step. And I noticed that as I was bending the tangs I made sure to try to and make both floats level and even. That can be kinda tricky!