gs1000 1978? petcock? HELP please!

[Guest]

Ok went to ride my go to beauty gs 1000 pink says it's a 1978. It would not start (usually fires right up) so I put petcock to prime using a flat screw driver, it has no fuel selector lever (WTF) anyway, I finally got it to run and seemed normal. went for a ride 4/5 miles or so. On the way home thought to myself it's shifting kinda clunky not normal but rode home. Got home and it was idling very high and seemed hot. I adjusted the idle with the turn screw and noticed it was smoking, like really hot! looked at the oil window and it was way over full. looked at it B4 I left and it was fine, just wouldn't start! I shut it down and it was really hot. drained oil and filter and more than half a pan of fluids came out. I hope there is no damage to the engine. I just cant figure out which petcock to buy and what can I do to prevent this from happening again. The petcock has only 2 positions with no lever! I guess straight up & down is PRIME and across is ON/RUN? You have to look inside a little hole to what position it's in. When it was hot 1 hr. later I could touch the headers but the motor was still to hot to touch! I don't get it!
please help me with what year and model it is- I think it's 1978 GS1000 E/C steering head says "GS1000 510706 MFG date of 4/78
Did someone change the tank maybe?
my cell is 805 801 5635 text orcall would be GREAT!
Thank You sohcphreek

[portdave]

Can you post some pics? Sounds like an aftermarket petcock or different tank.

[tom203]

Remove petcock from tank and measure centerline spacing of mounting bolts (is it 44 mm, maybe 50mm ?)also look to see if the mounting has been modified/butchered.

[steve murdoch]

Sounds like a 1980 GS1000 petcock has been adapted to your tank.
Does your tank have the indents running horizontally from the Suzuki badge?
Did all that extra engine oil smell like gas?

[Nessism]

What you describe is a 1980 petcock. That petcock has 50mm spacing between the mounting holes and won't fit on a 1978 tank, so most likely you have a non standard tank as well. You can purchase brand new petcocks such as the type you have from ebay for cheap. That's the easiest thing to do if you feel the petcock is bad.

Regardless of the petcocks position, it won't make your bike run hot.

looked at the oil window and it was way over full. looked at it B4 I left and it was fine

To check the oil you need to do it with the bike on the centerstand and the engine cold. Oil expands when hot so you can not properly check oil level with a hot engine. Even if the petcock is leaking it won't fill up your crankcase with fuel while the engine is running. That only can happen with the engine turned off.

[gs79]

Yep agree with Nessism, just replaced the petcock on my 79 GS1000 yesterday, got it off ebay for £35.

[GSX1000E]

Oil diluted with gasoline won't make it run hot and smoke. Learn something new every day.

[Nessism]

Oil diluted with gasoline won't make it run hot and smoke. Learn something new every day.

According to Mr. sohcphreek the oil level was fine before his ride. Please explain how fuel got into the crankcase while he was riding the bike?

[GSX1000E]

As we all know, these petcocks NEVER fail at will and there is absolutely no chance in hell that the diaphragm and O-ring could fail and suck tons of fuel into the engine ever. Got it.
It must be something else.

[rustybronco]

anyway, I finally got it to run and seemed normal. went for a ride 4/5 miles or so.

On the way home thought to myself it's shifting kinda clunky not normal but rode home.

Got home and it was idling very high and seemed hot. I adjusted the idle with the turn screw and noticed it was smoking, like really hot! looked at the oil window and it was way over full. looked at it B4 I left and it was fine, just wouldn't start!

An engine that seems to run fine could not be overfueling enough to fill the crankcase. I would have had to dumped fuel after the engine had stopped.

If the the diaphram in the petcock had failed enough to dilute the oil while the the engine was running, the engine wouldn't have ran anywhere near normally.

The clunky shifting could be related to oil dilution, but the driveability would have had to suffer as a result of the excess fuel being introduced.

OP, at what point did you notice the oil level being within limits? and, how may miles did you ride the bike from point A to point B?

[Nessism]

It's pretty much impossible for raw fuel to work it's way into the crankcase while the bike is running. The excess fuel would cause the engine to stop running. If the oil level was okay before the ride, then it will be okay after the ride. If there was gas in the oil, it was there before the ride began.

[chuck hahn]

1...Was the oil checked on the center stand or side stand?

2...If the bike is running its more likely to use the fuel thats running to the carbs even if the petcock has failed while riding it..HOWEVER..shut it off and then its gonna keep on dumping fuel.

3..Where was its smoking from??? Was it idling smoothly as you turned the knob down? Any whirring, clunking, or can full of rattling marbles sounds???

4...You can check the oil level when its been ran a while..just be sure its between the lines. Oil does indeed expand when heated just like anything else does...but seriously doubt its gonna swell so much as to fill in the sight glass after 4 or 5 miles. Its not even noticeable.

[sohcphreek]

OK I now believe it is a 1980 tank( no indentions on thewhite stripe) I def checked the oil B4 i fired the bike, the tank has not been altered and is a 50mm (2" bolt pattern), and was working perfectly last rode 1 week prior.
The motor was really frickin hot 2 hours after my ride and I could touch the headers bare handed but not the side cases! Smoke was coming from under the fuel tank and Im a fireman so I get it! It rode home fine but shifting was noticeably rougher. Oil drain was like potty/water, poured out very thin and same with the filter drain plug.
Oil diluted by gasoline will make the engine run hot because there is no lubrication!!!
Im sure I screwed my self on some engine life but Suzuki has a really poor design on this with petcock. tonite I am testing the petcock with clear lines to water bottles and see if the petcock leaks. I did the suction test on the vaccume side and the fuel inlet began to flow on prime and continued to flow. I tried on "run " and it flowed then stopped after i quit sucking on the vaccume side. Im goiing to replace my (50 mm ) petcock and go from there.
thanks for all the input
sohcphreek