About to give up in leaky carb..help

[JTGS850GL]

Correct on the bending the tab to lower fuel level. Are all 4 carbs leaking? Still concerned with the original float valves seats and after market valves. I've found the aftermarket valves to be slightly shorter then the OEMs.

[claygs750e]

The last time they were on the bike carb#2 and #4 was leaking. I bought the needles from Z1 and they look identical to the ones I pulled out. I even put the OEM back in with no change. How far out of spec should I bend the tab to get it to seat quicker? I'm puzzled

[Agemax]

my money is on the float valves fitted into original seats. if they seal with a bit of extra pressure (taped on) then they are not sealing correctly with the pressure of the float.
sorry to say this but i would replace all the valves and seats with new matched pairs.

[JTGS850GL]

It should seat at the correct float height. The whole purpose of setting the float height is to ensure you have the correct amount of fuel in the float chamber for the jets to meter the correct amount of fuel. You shouldn't have to mess with the height in order to get the float to seat. My guess is that the seats themselves need to be replaced along with the new needles. I'd set everything to the correct height. If you have a leaking carb on the bench then move the seat from the leaking carb to one of the none leaking carbs and see if the leak moves with it. Also make sure you have a new intact O-ring around the valve seat assembly. Make sure the O-ring is not cut or pinched. I use some grease to lube the O-ring before I insert the valve assembly into the body.

[claygs750e]

If I bought the needles from Z1 then the seats from the same site should be a matching set correct? The only issue I have with this is I had the leak before I even bought new needles so they had the original seats and needles. I'll try anything at this point

[Agemax]

see if you can pinpoint it down to which one is leaking. tape them down like you did before except 1. see if that leaks, then try same test on another and so on. if you can pinpoint exactly which one(s) leaking then you wont have to buy all 4 seats.

[JMHJ]

I removed the bowls and taped all the floats in the sealed position with the needles in place. I placed the carbs with the floats upside down like it would be on the bike. I connected a fuel line and with fuel in the line and the floats taped down there was no leaks. I checked the seat seals, and needles and everything was dry. Obviously when I untapped each one fuel came out.

You can do that trick by just blowing on the fuel line also (but skip the tape on the floats). I tried it on mine before changing the valve seat o-rings (leaked air like crazy), and with new O-rings on that part - I couldn't make them leak with mouth air pressure after that.

My needle tips are some kind of rubber; don't know if that makes a difference.

[claygs750e]

I don't understand what you mean about blowing air on the fuel line?

So I connected the fuel line earlier and pushed water at this point (gas was smelling up the house and the wife was complaining) through to fill up the bowls with a syringe and the vent hose between #1 and #2 carb started leaking and water was spraying out of the air jet hole for carb#1. I'm still not convinced I don't have a problem between carb #3 and #4 since it leaked the last time it was on the bike and I've changed nothing on that side.

I then removed the float and the tab for both #1 and #2 are both still a couple mm high so it should be cutting the gas off well before it gets to high. So should I get a new seat set even though it does seat when I tape the float down? I'm trying to avoid buying unneeded parts since that was the reason I bought the needles and it wasn't the problem. Plus at least on the Z1 site you have to buy the whole kit to get the seats.

Another note. I bought the drain plug tubing tool, but I'm not sure I'm doing it right. If I leave it on prime it spills over and I expected that, but if I put it on run I would need to continually suck on the vacuum line or the level looks really low and most likely not accurate. Is that tool only used if the carbs are attached to the bike so it causes constant vacuum when it's running?

[Agemax]

yes. That fuel level gauge should be attached when the bike is running, on idle speed

[JMHJ]

I don't understand what you mean about blowing air on the fuel line?

Just the same thing you did with gas (and water), but not as messy - carbs upside down, the floats fall, the fuel flow should then be shut off if everything is sealing. Hook up a piece of fuel supply line and blow into it like a balloon.

Edit: Ok, I'm off on the skip the tape part of that. Either my needle springs are weaker than they should be, or my floats will fall by design when the carbs are upside down. Apparently you'll need the tape, or to hold them down with your fingers, but the principle should still work.