What happened this winter HELP.....

[Anonymous]

Hello eveyone I just pulled my 81 GS 750 out, started it too find all of the fuel that was in my gas tank had drained directly into the engine. My tank was full and the fuel switch was on Prime oopps could that have been the problem.. Any help?????? The carbs were rebuilt professionaly at the begining of last season and drove fine all summer.

Did I F-Up by leaving the switch in the prime position (PRI)???

Any help would be greatfull..

[earlfor]

Re: What happened this winter HELP.....

Yep, you royally messed up. Prime bypasses the vacuum on/off function and gravity feeds gas into the float bowls. Float needle seats are not a 100% seal, so basically, you left an open faucet flowing gas into your crankcase oil. The petcock should always be set to either run or reserve. For winter storage, I would disconnect the fuel line from the petcock as a standard precaution. You will need to drain your oil, replace your oil filter and refill the crankcase with fresh oil.

Earl

Hello eveyone I just pulled my 81 GS 750 out, started it too find all of the fuel that was in my gas tank had drained directly into the engine. My tank was full and the fuel switch was on Prime oopps could that have been the problem.. Any help?????? The carbs were rebuilt professionaly at the begining of last season and drove fine all summer.

Did I F-Up by leaving the switch in the prime position (PRI)???

Any help would be greatfull..

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the Help... A friend of mine told me to do a cylinder comp test. I got uneven results on a cold engine.. Bike only has 17 K could this be a problem? He said it sounded like I had weak compression and that could be a reason why the fuel got by the rings.. Make any sense??

I will fill it up again and leave the PRI off see what happens..

[earlfor]

Nope, no sense at all. :-) Gas is going to seep past.............fact of life. LOL
With the bike sitting up, cold and now with the bores washed with gas, I would not expect an accurate compression test. Nothing indicates a compression problem anyhow.

Earl

Thanks for all the Help... A friend of mine told me to do a cylinder comp test. I got uneven results on a cold engine.. Bike only has 17 K could this be a problem? He said it sounded like I had weak compression and that could be a reason why the fuel got by the rings.. Make any sense??

I will fill it up again and leave the PRI off see what happens..

[Anonymous]

Nice,, thats good to hear.. The bike seems to be running great now.. Thanks for all the advice much appreciated..

[earlfor]

Glad you're up and running.......your bike too. :-)

Earl

Nice,, thats good to hear.. The bike seems to be running great now.. Thanks for all the advice much appreciated..

[Anonymous]

Earl, since you seem to be the god of GSes, is the only issue with leaving the petcock to prime gas leaking into the oil? I made that mistake too, and changed the oil and filter. Is there any possiblity of other damage?

[earlfor]

No, gas isnt going to hurt anything by itself. Running the bike with a crankcase full of gas instead of oil is a different matter. It would destroy bearings in a short time. I wouldnt run an engine with a crankcase full of gas. The only "damage" I have ever had from that was clutch linings that apparently absorbed the gas/oil mixture and it caused the clutch to slip badly. Had to replace the clutch linings because of it.

Earl

Earl, since you seem to be the god of GSes, is the only issue with leaving the petcock to prime gas leaking into the oil? I made that mistake too, and changed the oil and filter. Is there any possiblity of other damage?

[Redman]

How to avoid that.

I did that once also. Since then, on occassion that I find a need to put in the prime, I make myself stand there and hold the petcock for the 20 or 30 seconds it might take and then put back to the 'on' position before taking fingers off the petcock.