Gas and oil leaking out of air intake!

[mlarue472]

I have an 86 Suzuki GS 550 ES. I bought it from a guy who said it had been sitting for a year but running fine before that. It started when I bought it but was running rough - only one of the carbs was working correctly, the slides on one side were not working. One slide was jammed in the open position so I was getting power only after rpm reached 35k. I have just cleaned and rebuilt my carbs, cleaned gas tank, inspected petcock and replaced the coils and spark plugs. It runs really well for a while then it starts revving really high and eventually dies. It also happened when I pulled the clutch in while riding, twice! It was very dangerous as I was riding on a busy street. I have worked the idle adjustment screw to fix this but even with it set near the max it still does this problem. Oil and gas are also leaking out of the air box on the right side. Any solutions?

[JEEPRUSTY]

I have an 86 Suzuki GS 550 ES. I bought it from a guy who said it had been sitting for a year but running fine before that. It started when I bought it but was running rough - only one of the carbs was working correctly, the slides on one side were not working. One slide was jammed in the open position so I was getting power only after rpm reached 35k. I have just cleaned and rebuilt my carbs, cleaned gas tank, inspected petcock and replaced the coils and spark plugs. It runs really well for a while then it starts revving really high and eventually dies. It also happened when I pulled the clutch in while riding, twice! It was very dangerous as I was riding on a busy street. I have worked the idle adjustment screw to fix this but even with it set near the max it still does this problem. Oil and gas are also leaking out of the air box on the right side. Any solutions?

35k?? man oh man now there is a rate of impulse for yah.

carbs will likely need new internal o-rings. You will also need intake boot o-rings.
Do this.
Alos what do you mean you checked the petcock? These vacuum things are evil. Diaphragms can have leaks menaing gas get sucked or simply drains into the carb that has the vacuum spigot.

BASSCLIFF will welcome you soon. There is a manual for the bike on his site. good luck

[TheCafeKid]

Drain the oil and replace the filter, replace your petcock. Do not start the bike again before doing so. Pull the carbs, replace the orings inside AFTER you have disassembled them and soaked each body and float bowl in carb dip, blown every orifice with air and cleaned the passages with COPPER wire. (softer than the brass so it won't gouge anything)

There is a tutorial on cleaning your carbs right on basscliffs site. Yours are a little different but the principal and follow through is the same.

Your petcock has failed, and is draining fuel into your crank case. This has the potential to wash the bearings on the crank of oil and ruin them, as well as the chamber walls if left unchecked. It can also cause your motor to hydrolock, which can damage connecting rods and such Please take care of it before running the bike again.

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. mlarue472,

For starters, click here: Overflowing Carbs

Now pay close attention to the information below. Read it, learn it, live it, love it.

Let me dump a TON if information on you and share some GS lovin'.

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Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", "Top 15 Tips For GS Happiness", the Carb Rebuild Series, and the Stator Papers. All of these tasks must be addressed in order to have a safe, reliable machine. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...



Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[mlarue472]

35k?? man oh man now there is a rate of impulse for yah.

carbs will likely need new internal o-rings. You will also need intake boot o-rings.
Do this.
Alos what do you mean you checked the petcock? These vacuum things are evil. Diaphragms can have leaks menaing gas get sucked or simply drains into the carb that has the vacuum spigot.

BASSCLIFF will welcome you soon. There is a manual for the bike on his site. good luck

Thanks yeah it was funny trying to leave at green lights and time the sudden acceleration when it reached the 35k mark. I tried to play it off and hunch down as it happened but still, it was like riding a moped.

"You will also need intake boot o-rings." Is this where to boot meets the cylinder head?

(I think)The 86 GS intake boot takes gaskets (which are a B to find online or at dealerships), and mine feel pretty spongy/flexible and unworn. I will do the wd-40 test on them which is where you spray it on and listen for a drop in idle speed as the oil gets sucked in to any leaks.

I checked the petcock by removing it and checking the filter for tears or holes and testing it for flow on the prime position, which to my newbie standards, it passed. Diaphragms on the carbs look good, no holes and plenty of life.

Thanks for your advice, im ordering o-rings tonight, and i'll keep the thread updated.

[mlarue472]

Drain the oil and replace the filter, replace your petcock. Do not start the bike again before doing so. Pull the carbs, replace the orings inside AFTER you have disassembled them and soaked each body and float bowl in carb dip, blown every orifice with air and cleaned the passages with COPPER wire. (softer than the brass so it won't gouge anything)

There is a tutorial on cleaning your carbs right on basscliffs site. Yours are a little different but the principal and follow through is the same.

Your petcock has failed, and is draining fuel into your crank case. This has the potential to wash the bearings on the crank of oil and ruin them, as well as the chamber walls if left unchecked. It can also cause your motor to hydrolock, which can damage connecting rods and such Please take care of it before running the bike again.

I did the oil change right after i bought it, a couple weeks ago, new air and oil filter as well. Do you think the oil needs to be changed again due to this problem?

I checked the petcock by removing it and checking the filter for tears or holes and testing it for flow on the prime position, which to my newbie standards, it passed. Diaphragms on the carbs look good, no holes and plenty of life.

So its a petcock issue? I have cleaned the carbs and used compressed air + carb spray cleaner. Im ordering the O-rings, although they and float bowl gasket looked pretty good when i did the carb rebuild last week.

The leak is not a constant flow, but only after the wildly high idle.

Here is what it does:

1) starts up nice and friendly and says "get on me handsome"
2) after warming up for about five mins and the choke is turned off, sounds even more enticing, idling at about 1100.
3) i get on and have a nice 5-10 miles of varied speeds
4) stopping at a light it begins to idle erratically, first at 37k then 9k
5) i play with idle adjustment screw on the side of the road to no avail and turn around and go home because oily gas is spewing out of the air box (left side) this is the opposite side of the vacuum line from the tank.

Missed a spanish test and lowered my grade in the class to a C! haha who freakin cares right?

[hjfisk]

You really need to read the info that was given and clean the carbs properly, there are no short cuts to cleaning them, spray cleaner just is not going to work . Period. You need to disassemble them and soak them in a chemical dip such as Berryman's, also you need to replace the o-rings, and such the high idle [climbing rpm range when getting hot ] suggests that you have a vacuum leak and it gets worse as the bike gets hotter. Also read through Bassclifs -Mega welcome, the bike will also probably benefit from a valve adjustment and some electrical love. And welcome