Draining carb bowls without spilling fuel everywhere.

[Bollo]

Apologies if this has been answered 10,000 times. I've been looking on here for a while + on the web in general. I am a huge noob, so please keep that in mind if I say something(s) stupid.

Background - fuel leaking from carbs when running. No leak with engine off. Figure it's probably a stuck float in the carb bowl based on the internet.

My mechanic is out of town for a week or so, hence I figured I'd fill the bowls with Seafoam and let them soak overnight, then drain tomorrow then go for a long ride. No big loss if I'm wrong.

Just did this but HOLY was it tough to not spill gas everywhere. I brew beer so had a lot of spare vinyl tubing of various ID, but getting something in the gap to slide under either of the drain screws for the inner two carbs was not easy. I figure I'm doing something stupid.

I see lots of tutorials and replies here that start "drain the carbs" but nowhere can I find a video / photos of carb draining on a carb like this. Other bikes seem to have a separate valve where the fuel runs out (on the bottom of the carb) and a screw on the side of the carb to open the valve, though I'm guessing this only works with 1 or 2 carbs. On my bike the screw is where the fuel comes out (like the drain plug on the oil pan).

How is it done?

*******

Bike is a 1983 GS650GL, hence 4 carbs with two that are tough to get at. I've had it a couple of years and aside from this it runs like a dream. Fluids / filters changed + lubing done as per maintenance schedule in the shop manual.

I don't have a garage so I'm limited to what I can do in the street - hence the carbs are staying on the bike (at least until my mechanic gets back).

 

[chuck hahn]

Cat food or tuna can under the bowls. Loosen drains and drip the Seafoam into the can. Have something else to empty the cat food can into.

 

[steve murdoch]

That float bowl drain sounds odd, almost like a 29mm smoothbore float bowl with the 17mm drain plug.

 

[Brendan W]

Cat food or tuna can under the bowls. Loosen drains and drip the Seafoam into the can. Have something else to empty the cat food can into.

So I'm not imagining it.
What I opened for the cat in the 60s I'm now buying as premier Tuna.

 

[chuck hahn]

10 mm nut on bottom of bowls..BS carbs

 

[Grimly]

So I'm not imagining it.
What I opened for the cat in the 60s I'm now buying as premier Tuna.

Mackerel tins (are they available over there?) are a handy small size for various things.

 

[LAB3]

Cut the side out of an empty plastic pop bottle but leave the cap on. Drain the fuel into the bottle and pour it out via the cap when done.

 

[alke46]

I'm with Grimly on this one. Mackerel tins or else my favorite snack food ---- sardines. Don't knock it if you haven't tried it. A can of sardines + some club crackers + a glass of milk and you've just made a tasty noon time meal.

 

[Gorminrider]

Cut the side out of an empty plastic pop bottle but leave the cap on. Drain the fuel into the bottle and pour it out via the cap when done.

(huh! I'm going to try this! Sardine tins et al are so easy to spill getting them out)

 

[LAB3]

Some of those water bottles can be pretty slim and work even better, either way you can squish it some to fit in and the shape gives you a good reach.

 

[alke46]

I prefer the sardines in mustard.
As for using the small tins, I always lay a rag under the carbs first, then the tin and when done draining, just slide the rag out towards you until you can pick up the tin. Have never lost a drop from the two inside carb bowls doing it this way. YMMV.

Almost forgot to answer the question. No I am not of French Canadian descent. Not that there's anything wrong with the FC folks.

 

[Guest]

Cut the side out of an empty plastic pop bottle but leave the cap on. Drain the fuel into the bottle and pour it out via the cap when done.

Hehe, if the bottle is cut in half, why would you need to pour out the caught fuel out through the cap?

 

[alke46]

Hehe, if the bottle is cut in half, why would you need to pour out the caught fuel out through the cap?

I think he was referring to cutting a window into the side of the bottle. Lay it flat and catch the gas in the window, then remove cap and pour. That's the way I read it anyway.

 

[LAB3]

If you had a boat full of water you could empty it a couple different ways: Turn it over and spill the water wherever it wants to go or pull the plug and let it drain where you wanted.

 

[bwringer]

If you want to get fancy-schmancy, you could whip up something like this from a piece of aluminum tubing:

https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/15273/10002/-1

On a bank of GS carbs, the angled open end probably wouldn't work, but I think cutting a window in the side of a hunka tubing could make a nice neat tool along similar lines. I'd need to figure how to cap or seal the ends of the tubing, since I don't have a way to weld thin AL. Maybe squash and crimp? Dunno. You could also maybe make something similar from a hunk of large-ish clear vinyl tubing. Might be handy to see what you're doing, and occasional contact with gasoline shouldn't hurt it all that much.

Or, yeah, just save the can next time you give your fuzzy buddies a treat.

 

[Sandy]

I just use a 4"x12" piece of aluminum flashing bent into a V-shape, stick it in under 2 carbs from one side then do the other side draining it into what is available. Sort of like a small eaves trough.