I screwed up, help!

[Surfpilot]

Accidently ran out of fuel a few nights ago on the freeway, so I pulled over to switch the petcock to reserve. It was dark and I mistakenly selected the prime position. I drove home like this, parked and left the bike for a few days while I was out of town. Just went out to start her up and realized my mistake. There is fuel drippping from the airbox...clearly the thing is beyond flooded. What should I do??? I know that flooding the engine for a long period of time can cause damage. Help please!

 

[SqDancerLynn1]

To be on the safe side , change the oil... & switch the petcock back to on..

 

[bonanzadave]

Change the oil. Ya needed it anyway. Go ride.

Watch that Petcock. You might want to consider a carb overhaul sometime.

 

[posplayr]

Accidently ran out of fuel a few nights ago on the freeway, so I pulled over to switch the petcock to reserve. It was dark and I mistakenly selected the prime position. I drove home like this, parked and left the bike for a few days while I was out of town. Just went out to start her up and realized my mistake. There is fuel drippping from the airbox...clearly the thing is beyond flooded. What should I do??? I know that flooding the engine for a long period of time can cause damage. Help please!

Hi Nate,
Nobody mentioned it but if you got a cylinder full of gas you might hydrolock. Make sure to pull the plugs and spin it to be sure that is not the case. With Hydolock you can bend a rod.

As Dave suggests, replacing the needle valves in teh carbs would help the situation.

Jim

P.S. where in the area do you live?

 

[Surfpilot]

Hi Nate,
Nobody mentioned it but if you got a cylinder full of gas you might hydrolock. Make sure to pull the plugs and spin it to be sure that is not the case. With Hydolock you can bend a rod.

As Dave suggests, replacing the needle valves in teh carbs would help the situation.

Jim

P.S. where in the area do you live?

Jim, I live downtown on Bath St. Where are you at? How do I know if I have hydrolock? I guess it wouldn't want to turn? If it is hydrolocked, what do I do?

 

[Steve]

How do I know if I have hydrolock? I guess it wouldn't want to turn? If it is hydrolocked, what do I do?

Make sure to pull the plugs and spin it to be sure that is not the case. With Hydolock you can bend a rod.

Yep, the FIRST thing you want to do (if you haven't already done so) is to get the petcock back to the ON position.

The next thing is to pull the spark plugs and bump the starter gently a few times. If no fuel comes squirting out any of the spark plug holes, go ahead and hold the button for a few seconds to air them all out well. Put the plugs back in.

Next, drain the oil. You probably needed to do that anyway, so go ahead and change the oil and filter.

Since the gas would have worked its way into the oil after the bike stopped, you will not have done any damage, but if you ran it with diluted oil, you certainly would have done some damage.

Back to your original question, how can you determine if you have hydrolock? Let's just say that by the time you know you have it, it might be too late. If one of the pistons was near the bottom of its stroke and was about 1/4 full of gas, then you hit the electric starter, it would have some inertia behind it by the time it got to almost the top of the stroke and could not go any farther because of the liquid gas trapped in there. The rest of the crankshaft would try to continue to rotate, but the one piston would be stopped dead. If the crank had enough inertia, it could easily bend the rod on that one piston. Better to just allow the liquid to escape through the plug hole before finding out the hard way.

.

 

[Jagir]

change the oil and filter.

I did the same (er, forgot to shut the petcock off while parked), but didn't notice and rode away.

It all started fine and seemed ok for a few miles. Then, the engine started revving real high without the corresponding toque. Some of the increased volume of liquid (oil + gas) came out through the overflow tube that was stupidly hanging down in front of my rear tire. At once the bike was running like **** and the back wheel spinning out. I was scared. Luckily, I was in front of my friend's place and was able to pull over and park in the underground parking while I figured out what had happened and how to fix it.

I cleaned the tire and changed the oil/filter and never forgot the petcock again.

 

[Surfpilot]

Thanks everyone. I pulled the plugs and turned the engine a few times...sure enough a bunch of fuel shot out of the #1, which makes sense since the bike was on the kickstand. I let things dry out for a few hours and then she started right up. I'll change the oil tomorrow morning before I ride.

 

[posplayr]

Thanks everyone. I pulled the plugs and turned the engine a few times...sure enough a bunch of fuel shot out of the #1, which makes sense since the bike was on the kickstand. I let things dry out for a few hours and then she started right up. I'll change the oil tomorrow morning before I ride.

Nice you found out with a squirt rather than a knock :-&.

I used to live in some apartments off Bath/Haley right near the SB Athletic Club (between 1982-1984) I now live off of APS on Overlook Lane.

You should change your oil before riding; where you planning to ride? U wanna go out 33?

 

[Surfpilot]

Nice you found out with a squirt rather than a knock :-&.

I used to live in some apartments off Bath/Haley right near the SB Athletic Club (between 1982-1984) I now live off of APS on Overlook Lane.

You should change your oil before riding; where you planning to ride? U wanna go out 33?

Actually, I was just going to ride to work. I'd love to go out 33 sometime though. I just sent you a PM.