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Quick Petcock question

  • Thread starter Thread starter JaNewb
  • Start date Start date
J

JaNewb

Guest
So I simply don't trust my petcock. As far as I can tell it isn't leaking, I'm more worried about the opposite. I want to change it to a petcock with a prime function. My current petcock is a 80's leverless vacuum petock with a 50mm bolt spacing. If I just found a levered petock with a prime on it that had the same bolt spacing, could I just buy it and switch it out? I would obviously have to plug my carbs vacuum line but past that I'm not sure. Thanks for any tips or help!
 
why would you plug the carb vacuum line? you need that for a vacuum tap to work, even if it has got a prime function
 
Agemax said:
why would you plug the carb vacuum line? you need that for a vacuum tap to work, even if it has got a prime function
Click to expand...

See what I mean? I know even less then I thought I did..... :confused:.
 
any petcock will fit with the same bolt hole spacing. however i am not sure if you will have clearance issues with the lever hitting the carbs on a L model.
someone will be along soon to correct me i expect.......
 
Maybe JaNewb has a 1980 tank to match his petcock- assuming he measured 50mm centerline spacing on bolts.
 
Don't know how to tell if the tank and petcock are of matching year. I'm pretty sure the PO said he got it like that and he was the first owner. Bolt's are 50mm centerline. lol I didn't measure from the outside or inside. Ya think if I bought the original one listed on this site I could just swap the two out so I had a lever that could prime my carbs?
 
Theoretically, your bike left Japan with same petcock as mine ; lever style with 44mm centerline spacing - very common used on lots of suzukis. Sometimes owners get forgetful, and lots of tanks got replaced when they became cosmetically challenged.
 
JaNewb said:
. Ya think if I bought the original one listed on this site I could just swap the two out so I had a lever that could prime my carbs?
Click to expand...
Well, actually, you already have a PRIME feature on your leverless petcock. :-k

You have to use a screwdriver to turn the selector 90 degrees, then crank the engine for a couple of seconds.
That will create a 'puff' or two of vacuum that will open the petcock and keep it open.
To stop the flow, you will have to turn the selector back to the RUN position.

What you don't have on that petcock is a RESERVE position. :eek:

All the other petcocks could be turned to PRIME with a twist of the lever, and did not need a 'puff' of vacuum to get them going.
The leverless petcocks were the only ones that were that way.

.
 
Really? Mother of god I thought I looked into the hole and didn't see anything. I'll check again, if this is true I'm gonna be ecstatic. Ah and as for your other point, I actually don't care about the reserve position cuz my tank doesn't have one. :D
 
JaNewb said:
Really? Mother of god I thought I looked into the hole and didn't see anything. I'll check again, if this is true I'm gonna be ecstatic. Ah and as for your other point, I actually don't care about the reserve position cuz my tank doesn't have one. :D
Click to expand...

your tank WOULD have a reserve position if you had the reserve function on the petcock.......:D
 
haha ya unless whoever installed the petcock did so with a reserve even if the tank didn't have one. Though I just went out and tried turning it with the screw. There's no apparent stopping point to it. It just keeps turning and turning and turning.
 
JaNewb said:
Really? Mother of god I thought I looked into the hole and didn't see anything. I'll check again, if this is true I'm gonna be ecstatic. Ah and as for your other point, I actually don't care about the reserve position cuz my tank doesn't have one. :D
Click to expand...

Don't get too ecstatic just yet - that prime function depends on a little rubber check valve to hold the diaphragm open - 33 years takes its toll on these parts.
 
JaNewb said:
haha ya unless whoever installed the petcock did so with a reserve even if the tank didn't have one. Though I just went out and tried turning it with the screw. There's no apparent stopping point to it. It just keeps turning and turning and turning.
Click to expand...

Yeah its like that - but 90 degrees is right. It's an air bleed that you're either opening or closing, so there is no positive stop.
 
JaNewb said:
haha ya unless whoever installed the petcock did so with a reserve even if the tank didn't have one. Though I just went out and tried turning it with the screw. There's no apparent stopping point to it. It just keeps turning and turning and turning.
Click to expand...

The petcock IS what creates the reserve. The main filter tube has a starting point higher in the tank than the reserve tube.
 
If your petcock has a slot instead of a handle, which means it does not have a reserve position (and the associated dual tube system inside the tank), and it rotates a full 360 degrees, I suggest you find out where the slot should reside to select the PRI and ON positions.
This is how to do it:
You are concerned about 4 positions: 0 degrees (or straight up and down), 90 degrees, 180 degrees and 270 degrees.
Unplug the vacuum tube (the smaller of the two) and the fuel line (the larger of the two).
Place the fuel line in a catch can or jar. Rotate the slot to each position and check to see if fuel flows without applying a vacuum to your vacuum line. If it flows, this is your PRI position(s).
Now go 90 degrees clockwise/counter clockwise from that position. Fuel should not flow. Put a vacuum on the vacuum line (just sucking on it will perform this function). If fuel flows this is the ON position(s).
 
koolaid_kid said:
If your petcock has a slot instead of a handle, which means it does not have a reserve position (and the associated dual tube system inside the tank), and it rotates a full 360 degrees, I suggest you find out where the slot should reside to select the PRI and ON positions.
This is how to do it:
You are concerned about 4 positions: 0 degrees (or straight up and down), 90 degrees, 180 degrees and 270 degrees.
Unplug the vacuum tube (the smaller of the two) and the fuel line (the larger of the two).
Place the fuel line in a catch can or jar. Rotate the slot to each position and check to see if fuel flows without applying a vacuum to your vacuum line. If it flows, this is your PRI position(s).
Now go 90 degrees clockwise/counter clockwise from that position. Fuel should not flow. Put a vacuum on the vacuum line (just sucking on it will perform this function). If fuel flows this is the ON position(s).
Click to expand...
Gonna have to modify that just a little bit, K_K. :o

On those petcocks, PRIME does not free-flow when you put the petcock into that position, it takes a brief application of vacuum (what I called a 'puff' earlier) to get it going. However, it will keep going when the vacuum is released.

So, ... the test should be:
Fuel line into a jar, vacuum line available so you can suck on it. Rotate the petcock slot straight up and down. Suck on the vacuum tube for two or three seconds, gas should flow. Stop sucking. If the gas also stops, that is your RUN position. If it keeps flowing, it is your PRIME position, but check the other position anyway. Rotate the slot sideways. Suck on the vacuum tube, gas should flow. Stop sucking. The gas flow should be the opposite of what happened in the first test.

I don't have one of these blessed critters :pray: so I don't know which position is which, I may have mixed them up, but your testing will tell you for sure.

.
 
I don't have one either, and I am also glad for the fact. Thanks for the clarification, btw.
We had a new member come on with the same issue (360 degrees of rotation) but he got really ticked off and left before I could explain how to test which setting was which. Pretty basic, really, although I am glad Suzuki realized their mistake and only put that petcock on (1?) year.
 
haha he got ticked off and left? I just figured it out myself. Patience is hard to come by these days. He just bought a really expensive lawn ornament.... I forgot to check this thread and just figured it out logically. The never ending turning was a dead give away that the position was what mattered. :D Anyway, so I just came back from testing it. Ran the test exactly as described in every way possible and it doesn't look like my petcock is working. The run position works in both cases but my prime doesn't seem to be working. Even hit it with my hammer a few times to try getting something loose but no luck.
 
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