carb #3 leaking fuel from center hose

[Big T]

Can't help you with that one. I remember that ring as a square section

[Rijko]

i mount them with the open end towards the outside

[superawesome]

Thanks Rijko, I managed to install it like that. Mounted it on the tank and filled it with 10 liters of fuel. I got no leakage yet, only when I switch from RES to ON it loses a few drops but then stops dripping. Is this normal?
Vacuum also works, I guess I will install it on the bike later on and keep watching for leaks.

[Rijko]

if all is ok it should not lose any gas when switching position.
Maybe some dirt left between the petcock housing and rubber ?

[Rijko]

maybe try turning the rubber around and see if that seals better.
Use some grease to protect the rubber during mounting.

[superawesome]

The drops come out of the fuel pipe, so I guess the problem is with the rubber (the one with the 5 holes). I cleaned all the parts in citric acid, they are cleanclean now.
I will turn the rubber and try the grease, thanks for the hint.

[Rijko]

a few drops in the fuel pipe is normal.

[superawesome]

Thanks, I'm relieved Just saw that I was pretty unclear in my description, sorry for that.

I will mount the tank tomorrow, and check for fuel leaks the following days. Hopefully it stays dry!

Thanks for the help!

[superawesome]

Okay, here's some news from my petcock battle:
As I said before, the test on the balcony was successful, pipe stayed dry. I did use a Tourmax rebuild kit to replace all rubber parts.
Few days ago, after mounting the tank and doing a test drive, I had even more fuel dripping out of the carb overflow. Dripping might be the wrong word, flowing is better I guess.
So took the tank off, checked the petcock and realized - I had the diaphragm in the wrong way. The little holes were in line with that spacing in the back plate where the vacuum pipe goes out (not in line with the little hole where the air is supposed to come in). So it was obvious that the vacuum could not be cleared because there was no airflow from outside. Turned the diaphragm around and then mounted the back of the petcock.

Next thing I saw that the 5-hole gasket was somehow "swollen", see picture.
WP_20171020_14_56_36_Pro-1024x1024.jpg

upper one is the new gasket, the lower one is the old. I remember them pretty much the same size as I built in the new one, but now, merely a month later, it seems much bigger. I measured the diameter and the old one is 28mm, while the new one is 31mm.

So I put in the old one, and ended up with a dripping petcock, as in the beginning (but not as bad as with the diaphragm mounted wrongly).

On second thought it might be better to take the new one (better a gasket a little too big than too small), so I will repeat the whole procedure today and put in the new 5-hole gasket.
Worth to mention that I ordered an original Suzuki one at motorcyclespareparts.eu, but it is taking it's time to ship. While I wait, I will retry with the new gasket, just for having tried all combinations.

Cheers
Jürgen

[Steve]

Thank you for persevering and detailing all your efforts. You may end up with a properly-working petcock. If you do, you will be in the "10% success club."

.

[superawesome]

Thanks Steve.

Yesterday, after putting in the new gasket (look in the picture how it bends),
WP_20171020_14_51_49_Pro-1024x1024.jpg
with the diaphragm in the correct orientation, I went on a 20km ride. Drove to a nearby petrol station at the french border to clean the motor of some old oil & dirt (still have some oil leaks - one near the "mystery hole", probably starter motor, another one at the cylinder head cover -> winter maintenance). Then back just before the rain started . Parked the bike in the garage, left a bowl underneath the fuel overflow pipe, as usual.

24h later, I just checked on the bike and the bowl I put underneath is dry! Checked the fuel pipe at the petcock, no fuel in it! I have used heaps of rubber gloves, because there was always fuel flowing over my hands when I removed it.
Hoping for the best that it stays that way! There's so much to do on the bike, would be nice not work on the fuel cock anymore...

[superawesome]

Just for statistics, petcock is still good. No leaks. Seems like the Tourmax repair kit was ok after all.

[Big T]

So, I'm a bit confused. Did you just use the Tourmax parts, or did you add in an OEM 5 hole gasket?

[superawesome]

Hi Big T,

thanks for asking, I just had to recap and look at pictures myself.

The Tourmax kit had the following parts:
5 hole gasket
U-shaped seal
diaphragm
tank seal
WP_20170922_15_02_33_Pro_small.jpg
(plastic bag in the upper middle of the picture).
I did buy it off ebay for about 30€, seller name was motho-hh but he might not ship to the US. As Tourmax is Japanese you

I used all of those, no OEM parts (just found the OEM 5-hole gasket and that u-shaped seal still sealed in the cellar with the Suzuki number on it). I think the OEM parts were ordered but not delivered at that time, so I went with what I had.

In my last picture (post #26) you can see how the tourmax gasket is swollen and I guess the issue was that the original one was shrunk a bit too much (also in thickness) and let fuel through. I did not really trust the swollen one but at that stage I knew that the old one was dripping, and since the OEM wasn't here yet the Tourmax was my best bet. And better a bit too big than too small I guess. I was ready to take everything apart again when the OEM parts arrived, but as it stayed dry, I never had to do it over.

Essentially I used all parts of the Tourmax kit plus I did stretch the spring a bit (as it may have weakened over time, and there is no replacement available, neither OEM nor in the kit). That has fixed it and saved me from buying a new petcock.

However, if I would do it again I would start with replacing everything that is available as OEM (which is only the 5-hole gasket and the U seal). Just has a better feel to use OEM parts, and I guess that has the highest chance of success.

Hope that helps somebody with the same issue.
Jürgen

[superawesome]

On the last picture I have the old parts in the magnet bowl. You can see a string there. The PO had that wrapped under the U-shaped seal, maybe to increase it's size(?). If that wasn't sealing alright, this could be another cause of the leakage.
I used the Tourmax part here as well.

Pro tip: as the opening of the U goes towards the petcock it is somewhat hard to get it in. As there is the chance of damaging it I used an old toothbrush to push it gently into place on all sides.