#4 carb has the drips

[Guest]

I'm trying to get my 78 GS1000 on the road. I have cleaned the carbs a checked all the specs but I cannot get the #4 carb to stop dripping. I've swapped float needles, floats and bowls and whenever I put it back together and start it after about a minute #4 gets the drips. I have removed the bowl and held the float shut and no drips. I have bench tested the tank and the petcock seems to be fine. Can there be anything I'm not thinking about. I am open to any help I can get. Thanks

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. class of 78,

Does the float actually float? Does it have a leak? Have you properly adjusted the float height? Now let me greet you properly.

If you are here you probably have a 30 year old motorcycle that needs about 20 years worth of maintenance. In the links below you'll find maintenance lists, documentation, wiring diagrams, "how to" guides, vendor links, tips, tricks, and a whole lot of GS goodness. This is your "mega-welcome". Let's get started.

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

I just stopped by to welcome you to the forum in my own, special way.

If there's anything you'd like to know about the Suzuki GS model bikes, and most others actually, you've come to the right place. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here in the community. Come on in and let me say "HOoooowwwDY!"....

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 Cleanup Series, and the Stator Papers. All of these tasks must be addressed in order to have a safe, reliable machine. This is what NOT to do: Top 10 Newbie Mistakes. 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!

More links to helpful threads in the forum:
Help! Your Bike Won't Start
DON'T DO THESE THINGS
Help! Your Bike Won't Run Well
Oh God! Pods!


Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[chef1366]

Joe's garage.

What about the inlet o-ring?

[Big T]

Check the float bowl itself. See that brass tube for the overflow?

Fill up the bowl and see if that tube is causing the leak. They can crack and you can't even see it.

[class of 78]

Sorry I didn't give enough info the first time. The carbs leaks out the overflow hose like it would if the float needle was bad or the float is sticking or doesn't float. I have two sets of carbs and I swapped bowls and floats and checked float height a number of times. I'm actually stuck there because it's a pretty simple system for where it is leaking. I bought new carb kits when I cleaned them and it has new inlets because the first time I put it together they leaked so I got new brass ones with O-rings. I rebuilt the petcock. I can have the bike sitting with the petcock turned to on, pull off the number 4 bowl with no leaks. Turn it to prime and hold the float up with no leaks, let go and the fuel flows. When I start the bike it runs for about a minute and then I get dripping out the overflow tube. That tells me bad float needle or bad or sticking float. I have changed them and checked them I don't know how many times. Can this happen if the choke piston isn't working properly? or maybe if one of the small passages is clogged? I'm stuck!

[class of 78]

Tomorrow I'll try holding water in the bowl and see what happens. It's not a very large leak. It's a steady drip maybe one drop every 5 seconds. Just enough to keep the thing in the garage and not on the road. I'm not ready to go down in flames yet.

[byegge]

the floats may appear to move freely when the bowl is off, but it is possible that the float is getting caught up on the bowl gasket once its all put back together. especially if you used aftermarket gaskets from a rebuild kit. try trimming the inside gasket with an exacto just a smidge.

[class of 78]

New thread

Thanks for all the info but I have decided to pull the carbs and start over from ground zero so I will be starting a new thread or two.

[barnbiketom]

the floats may appear to move freely when the bowl is off, but it is possible that the float is getting caught up on the bowl gasket once its all put back together. especially if you used aftermarket gaskets from a rebuild kit. try trimming the inside gasket with an exacto just a smidge.

++1 on the gasket hitting the float!!!

[class of 78]

Honestly I didn't like the new gaskets that came with the kits. I thought they were too thick and would possibly throw off the bowl depth lowering the overflow pipe inside the bowl. I used the old bowl gaskets but I will definitely check that out when I put them back together. Thanks

[class of 78]

It's been paid off for 30 years so I probably won't be selling it. It's more of a hobby than anything. Trying to figure this thing out is way more fun than say putting a puzzle together.