GS450 - Fuel dripping from airbox vent

[spwalker09]

'83 GS450L

Today after a 10ish mile shakedown ride (first time I got her running on both cylinders in a while!) I came back and I noticed that there was something dripping from the bottom airbox vent tube. Smelled like and had the consistency of gas. So, my question is, why would gas be coming out of the airbox?

Lately, I suspect due to the cold temps, it has been cold starting on only the right cylinder, with the left one coming on line after a 5-10 minute warmup (considerably more when colder), and the choke is not responsive. Are these issues likely related?

 

[Danjal]

Plugged carbs, bad needle valve, plugged carb bowl vent, Theres a few others I can think of here too. Goto Basscliffs site and clean/repair your carbs. After that adjust your choke. Carb parts are normally cheap and its fairly easy to do. You'll need to readjust your settings after usually. But no big deal.

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[spwalker09]

Sigh, most of my problems come back to pulling the carbs and disassembling them. I'm willing to do that, but I've got some reservations about pulling the carbs while the bike is being stored outside (it is under a cover though). It'll be a couple of days while I use the shop workbench @ my school and the local expertise of some of the guys who work there

And, the f**kin' airbox is a pain to get out. I've done it twice now and I still haven't figured an easy way to do it... I thought running seafoam might do the trick, how long should it take for that stuff to run through and clean out the system?

 

[Danjal]

Sadly seafoam doesnt make a great substitute for carb cleaning. It does work as a prevenative though. As for how long it takes I cant tell you for sure. I dont know how bad off your carbs are. While you have em off leave no stone unturned on them. Set teh float height, replace the o rings if they look like they need it. Might as well do it once right.

I know the frustration. After 14 years of sitting and all of last falls work I had mine out today. The output shaft leaked something fierce, and I had to pull my carbs again. Apparently there was some gunk in my tank still after cleaning it twice to be sure and blowing it out with air. Shes getting there step by step though. Luckily one of my PO's put pods on it. 2 screws in under a min and my "air box" is off. Now if only I could find a way to not remove the tank during about every fix...

 

[spwalker09]

Yeah, when I pull the carbs, I'll do a thorough once-over. I should have done that when the engine was out of the bike in March, but I needed to get the bike out of storage @ school and over to my house, and it needed to be all there (otherwise parts get lost in transition, and my house doesnt have a garage to finish assembly)

I'm awaiting response from cycleorings.com to determine whether or not the o-ring kit they have listed for the '80-'82 450 will fit my '83 (I think it should, but then again I don't know these bikes that well, and there could be some fundamental difference). Also, a fresh set of intake boots should seal the deal. Have any ideas on how to get the impossibly stuck fasteners out (they're rusted, which isn't a good sign)

 

[Danjal]

Which fasteners? Im assuming the intake boots?

Use wd-40, pb blaster, kroil or something like those. See if that helps it some. If not use them again and apply some heat to it. Just dont melt anything that shouldnt be too hot. A propane torch should be more then enough to remove the bolts if heat is needed.

 

[spwalker09]

hmm I wonder if I ran the engine for a few minutes to get things warmed up if that would loosen the bolts. I've tried WD40 to no avail. This bike sat (as far as I know) for 12 years, so I'm assuming the worst

 

[Danjal]

That would probably do it too.

 

[BassCliff]

Have any ideas on how to get the impossibly stuck fasteners out (they're rusted, which isn't a good sign)

Hi,

I used an impact driver. See my air intake repair saga on my website.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[spwalker09]

Thanks, BassCliff. I don't have an impact driver but I will try and find one.

I'm having difficulty finding carb kits for the '83. It looks like the parts for the '80-'82 carbs are different from '83 (comparing the two fiches from BikeBandit) and I'm not going to order any parts from there until I know exactly what I need to replace if any. This means cycleorings.com is out of the question at this point, unfortunately. This morning I woke up to snow on the ground, so its likely that I won't be pulling the carbs for a couple days

 

[Charlie G]

spwalker,

I wouldn't worry so much about rebuild kits. Get the o-rings and maybe float bowl gaskets and soak them in Berrymen 24 hours. Have you check the part fisch at alpha sports and cross referenced the carb body parts from 83 to earlier years? I would think the o-rings would work, but really just a quess.

You should read the CV carb rebuild on Basscliff's site, if you haven't. If for no othere reason, to familarize yourself with what things are called. I still think there is something going on with your petcock. If the diaphram in the petcock is broken, fuel could flow down the vacum tube through the port on the left carb. Either way carb rebuild is a good idea.

I have a 450 but haven't done the carbs on it. If anything it runs a bit lean. On the list of things to do. It's my back up bike and is in the process of being gone through. Good luck and read a bit on Basscliff site. PM if I can help.

Charlie G

 

[thevillaindylan]

Same problem on '82 450 with the intake bolts. I used vise-grips, it roughed up the bolts, but the o-ring kit included new Allen head bolts. I've converted many bolts and screws to Allen head, much better that Phillips head.

 

[spwalker09]

Charlie,

I have the CV rebuild pdf sitting on my desktop and I've gone through it to get a sense of what I'm getting into. With regards to the petcock, I don't think its the vacuum operated type, at least not like how it is on one the bike of one of the guys here at school (its an '82 Kat). Its just a straight gravity feed petcock, from what I understand. I can't verify right now, because its pouring outside and the bike is under a cover, but as soon as the weather improves I can check in on that. It seems odd that I would miss something like that when I was putting it together but I am prone to bonehead moves sometimes so anything is possible

Dylan,
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm a fan of visegrips so maybe those might work. I'm most worried about snapping a bolt in the block, fasteners are easy to replace!

Regards,
Steve