Brand new petcock experience?

[BigD_83]

Couple things:
One, not to suggest you're jumping to conclusions or anything, but you're sure that the petcock dribbled and not just had some gas up in the spout that dribbled out? When you remove the fuel line they'll dribble a tad sometimes.

TCK,

Thanks for the feed back.

I'm trying to come up with an alternate explanation for gas in the crankcase because as I said in my original post, I have fuel coming out the vacuum nipple when I pull the vacuum line off, and there are drops of fuel on the #2 vacuum spigot. The weirdest thing is that I saw a vapour or mist in the clear vacuum line when I was synching, but no gross liquid gasoline flowing in the vacuum line as in the link posted by GS110X506158 further along in the thread.

There is no evidence of fuel leaking down the fuel line (i.e. no drips/puddles under the tank in the morning. I guess what concerns me most is that the plugs were showing lean, but the crankcase oil volume rose.

Other than petcock failure, how could gas get into the crankcase?

Two, for the later style petcocks, the product Z1 carries as replacement IS exact OEM. Not OEM replacement, but genuine OEM same petcocks different box than Suzuki put it in. Made in the same factory etc etc. So I wouldn't spend any extra on a "SUZUKI" or "SGP" labeled box.

The best news is that Boulevard is coming through for me in a big way and is shipping out a replacement petcock at no charge. The original purchase was not obscene, as it only set me back $34.00, down from the $100+ retail price.

Anyway, if indeed your petcock has failed already, I'm sorry. That truly sucks a big one.

Yeah, its not good, but I'm a patient fellow. It helps to have a GS friend in the city willing to loan a bike out as well. As always, it'll get resolved with the help of all the good folk on here.

[tom203]

Tom,

The new petcock is an exact OEM replacement petcock direct from Suzuki, AFAIK.

Frankly, I didn't pay attention to where the intake was for the reserve.

I'm very surprised the Chinese haven't copied these things yet -or have they???. My replacement had same casting "marks" as my original- only the screws were slightly different. I bet some small shop in Japan has been making these for 30 plus years. Big companies have a nasty habit of searching for lower price components from anywhere ("let's save 3 cents" )- seems likely that something like petcock would be sourced from China.

[Nessism]

Most likely the petcock is fine. Oil expands when it gets hot so you can not judge the fill level when the engine is hot. There are tons of threads in the archives on how to properly measure oil fill level so you might want to search. Bottom line is the bike must be on a level surface, engine cold, bike on center stand before you can judge the oil level.

Try running a piece of clear tubing for your vacuum line. Some condensation and/or fuel vapor accumulation inside the vacuum line is normal and nothing to worry about so don't confuse this with fuel running down the line.

Oh, and fuel can't fill up your crankcase with the engine running anyway. There is no path for the fuel to reach the crankcase other than though the cylinders, and that can't happen with the engine running.

[BigD_83]

Thanks, Ed.

I'm hoping I have just made an error in reading the signs, but the oil level is higher with a cold engine/on centre stand than when I last changed it. Quite a bit in fact, but not above the sight glass like before. Now that you mention it, the first time I noticed the really high level was 10 minutes after that short ride when I was warming the bike up for the carb synch.

I'm going to have someone else give the oil a sniff as I think I'm permeated with gas vapours and can't smell anything but gas this morning.

[Nessism]

The oil always smells like gas so that's a bad test; blow-by gasses mix with the oil.

Do the clear vacuum tubing test and ride.

[BigD_83]

Duh, duh, dohhh! User Error Alert!

It's been a long day, and boy are my legs tired from all that jumping to conclusions.

I had BCCap do the old sniff test on the crankcase, and his nose said NO! to huge amounts of gas in the oil.

I had previously done the clear vacuum line and yes, there was a mist, and no draw of fluid like GSX's in his video post. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F8Q6XrpOFM

I tried it again with similar results so I have to conclude that the small amount of gas in the vacuum line is condensing from the mist when the engine is shut down.

I moved the bike from the center of the garage to the side this afternoon, and noticed that it had quite a lean to the left on the center stand, and the oil level looked quite low in the sightglass. When I looked where the bike had been previously, I noticed a hump in the floor, and the bike must have been leaning to the right.

Final diagnosis: USER ERROR! I knew the correct procedures for checking the oil, and I never even stopped to consider the garage floor could be that uneven.

The best news...the rain held off, and BCCap and I were able to get a ride in! The bad news...my battery is likely kaput (but that's for another time and a new thread)

Thanks everyone for your patient input. I always learn SOMETHING here from even seemingly simple problems.