Petcock leak NO MORE

[silverhorse47]

All my bikes have a Briggs & Stratton inline fuel shutoff. Cost all of $3.50 at the hardware store.

Ok, NOW we have cheap! Can we also achieve ghetto?

 

[four_shot]

clamp a pair of vice grips onto the line when you park the bike...lol


(ghetto enough for you?)

 

[woodman]

If the needles dont have rubber tips , a litlle mild valve grinding compound between the needle & seat and a few spins by hand will make them seal again. I guess thats Ghetto too but it sure works better then new elcheapo needles & seats that come in these fitsall carb kits

 

[Guest]

Seems to me that petcocks were used because once upon a time, you couldn't count on the needle and seat to stop fuel flow. So petcocks were added. Do 2009 Suzukis have petcocks? Quality control should have eliminated the need. The reserve position? Bikes used to come without fuel gauges. Prime position? For something that is run infrequently and takes a lot of effort to turn over.

 

[silverhorse47]

clamp a pair of vice grips onto the line when you park the bike...lol


(ghetto enough for you?)

As long as they are really big and really rusty ones and they're covered in dirt and weld spatter....

S.

 

[feelergaugephil]

I used K+L replacement stuff.... STILL leaked after 3 weeks........

Anyway, DONT use my idea, have peace of mind, cos your petcock will never leak!!!!!!!

PLEASE POST PICS OF YOUR BENT CONRODS, I NEED A LAUGH GUYS!

Dont take my advice, I have used this method countless times without incident.

I guess the Suzuki dealer was wrong too all those years back......

 

[Nessism]

I used K+L replacement stuff.... STILL leaked after 3 weeks........

Anyway, DONT use my idea, have peace of mind, cos your petcock will never leak!!!!!!!

PLEASE POST PICS OF YOUR BENT CONRODS, I NEED A LAUGH GUYS!

Dont take my advice, I have used this method countless times without incident.

I guess the Suzuki dealer was wrong too all those years back......

If your bike has leaking float needles and seats, and you added a manual shut-off valve instead of fixing the bike properly, the first time you forget to turn off that shut-off valve your engine is going to be full of gas. This constitutes a MUCH greater risk of bent connecting rods than replacing the defective parts and eliminating the problem at the source.

BTW, in the years I've been hanging around the GSR I can't remember one occurrence of someone bending connecting rods on their GS. Not saying it can't happen, but it seems to me that the risk is quite low.

 

[silverhorse47]

BTW, in the years I've been hanging around the GSR I can't remember one occurrence of someone bending connecting rods on their GS. Not saying it can't happen, but it seems to me that the risk is quite low.

From 'old q&a':

"...My suspicion is that there is a very small "pin" hole, or very small crack, in the diaphragm allowing raw fuel to be sucked into #2 cylinder. The hole (leak) is small enough to only noticeably affect lower engine speeds, and not large enough to flood the entire cylinder. If the leak becomes severe the #2 cylinder could fill with enough raw fuel to fill the compression space when the piston is at top-dead-center (TDC). THIS CAN CAUSE SEVERE ENGINE DAMAGE, AND LOSS OF CONTROL IF IT HAPPENS AT SPEED. What happens here is that liquids cannot be compressed like the normal fuel air mix. The #2 piston comes up and hits the liquid filled space and causes an engine wreck (bent connecting rod, blown out upper or lower connecting rod bearing, or if you are lucky only a blown head gasket or blown out sparkplug). I have a clear vacuum line on my GS850 (see fuel being sucked in), and I am in the process of adding a manual in-line (Briggs & Stratton) fuel shutoff valve down stream of the "automatic" petcock. My "automatic" petcock did not shut-off completely. I smelled gas in my garage and saw that gas wetted the bottom of the the air-box. I pulled the carbs, removed the plugs, propped the plug wires high up out of the way and cranked the engine. Fuel shot out #1 & #2 spark plug hole like a hose. This could have been a disaster had I cranked the engine normally and #3 or #4 cylinder fired (engine wreck mentioned above), or something in the starting motor linkage broke trying to compress the liquid fuel. Good luck!!!..."

S.

 

[Gimpdiggity]

I can see both sides of the issue.

I had an old Yamaha YX-600 Radian. Loved that bike, but almost every week I'd go out and it would have leaked gas all over the garage floor. Out went the old oil, in went the new, and it would always start right up.

Because I didn't feel like tearing the carbs apart I did the trick in this thread. I just threw the shut off valve in line and was done with it. However, it was about a month before riding season was over and I was planning on doing the carbs again that winter.

So when the carbs came off and I found the culprit (stuck float valve needle) I fixed it and I didn't have the leak anymore ever.

However, I still used the shut off valve whenever I was going to leave the bike sitting for more than a few days. It just added a little bit of peace of mind for me.

Is it a Band-aid fix?? Yes. But does it work?? Yes, as long as you remember to use it.

I still believe that fixing the source of the problem is for the best...but if you are in a pinch this will work well UNTIL you can fix the root problem.

 

[silverhorse47]

I can see both sides of the issue.

I still believe that fixing the source of the problem is for the best...

Yes, I agree, and I also agree that most of us can see both sides of the thread.

But the point, perhaps, is that the "source of the problem" is a leaky petcock...not stuck or worn float valves, as some would have us believe.

The solution to a leaky petcock is a new petcock, either inline, oem, pingel, briggs or whatever floats your boat. Float valves are designed to maintain the level of fuel in the bowl...and by doing that to meter fuel from the bowl to the jet. They are NOT to stop fuel entering the engine.

Float valves stick, the floats themselves hang up, and in general this mechanism cannot be relied upon to always be free of leaks.On the other hand, with a running engine, they do a good job of maintaining the fuel level in the float bowls, so that the jet circuits can work properly. When float valves screw up, and they do....as forum members have affirmed...the only thing that provides real peace of mind is a reliable mechanical petcock and a brain, which we all either have or are in the process of acquiring, so that we remember to use said petcock.

I think that is all the original post was meant to suggest. That, and a welcome reminder that trusting your old motorcycle engine to your old vacuum operated petcock (or even your recently rebuilt cherry set of carbs with their expensive new float valves) is likely a bad bet.

The petcock has to work all the time. Get used to it.

S.

 

[Nessism]

But the point, perhaps, is that the "source of the problem" is a leaky petcock...not stuck or worn float valves, as some would have us believe.

The petcock has to work all the time. Get used to it.

S.

Ok, I accept that the float needles and seats may leak a little (although they shouldn't) so we need to focus on the petcock. Adding a manual valve as a supplement won't hurt but it should NOT be used as the primary means of controlling the problem. Fix the leaking petcock problem as the first course of action, and add the valve for peace of mind if that helps you sleep better. Happy?

 

[Zook]

You could completely remove the petcock and replace it with a piece of fuel line...IF the needles and seats don't leak.
The only way to find out if the seats leak is to have a bad petcock, right?

The properly functioning petcock masks the carb problem.

The fix?

Carbs that have properly functioning needles/seats. Then a petcock that doesn't leak.

The $3.50 B&S valve works like a dream.

And Dell'orto carbs don't have leaky needles and seats.

 

[sefu]

I'll take ghetto

I'll take ghetto

the question was do you buy a $70 petcock or just replace it with a $3.50 in line valve. Well partner give me the $3.50 ghetto fix and I'll put the $66.50 in my ghetto pockets. Some of us can waste money like that, and some of us can't. I love to ride but sometimes when fixing things these prices are just off the hoos-nok, as we say in the ghetto. I love it everytime I can fix something for those ghetto prices. Goes to show the Stealers and engineers don't have it all worked out. I have that petcock leaking problem and my Stealer wanted $90 for a new petcock but now I guess I'll get to keep the other $86.50 in my pocket cause I'm going to get that ghetto fix.

 

[49er]

The fix?

Carbs that have properly functioning needles/seats. Then a petcock that doesn't leak.

The $3.50 B&S valve works like a dream.

And Dell'orto carbs don't have leaky needles and seats.[/quote]

All carb needles and seats will eventually wear/leak, even Dellorto's. In race configuration, they are often fitted to highly modified engines with lumpy cams. These engines are hard on seats and needles at idle and just above.

Seems that most of us prefer to ride, leaving the maintenance for tomorrow!! It is that mind frame that may cause us to forget to switch off a manual fuel valve.

3 weeks for a new set of K&L needles to leak. Gee, some people have all the bad luck!!

 

[Zook]

Yes, Dell'Ortos will EVENTUALLY wear out and leak but mine are 20 years old and never leak. In fact both my bikes are that old and no problems.
Yet my Concours was les than 5 years old when they went bad and the engine hydrolocked. Check the Concours message boards the problem is very bad with those bikes. And K&L needles wouldn't fix it. Got the OEMs and the problem went away.
I never worry about the Guzzis leaking or hydrolocking. Never heard of one doing it, either.
Meanwhile I bought a GS last fall...yep, the engine was full of gas.