AWW CRAP! 81GS650GL Left it on prime overnight.

[omaharj]

Now I've got a small puddle of fuel under my bike. I don;t want to do anything until I know what's right. Aww crap

[AOD]

Turn it back to ON.

[earlfor]

Re: AWW CRAP! 81GS650GL Left it on prime overnight.

Turn it back to on and change the oil before running the bike. If enough fuel leaked through to puddle under the bike, its almost a sure thing it drained into the crankcase oil also.

Earl

Now I've got a small puddle of fuel under my bike. I don;t want to do anything until I know what's right. Aww crap

[omaharj]

hahahaha. I did that already but thanks for the obvious. In the middle of my panic attack I did that. I.ve read where sometimes fuel gets into the crank(checked that,it's OK.)so I was concerned something might need to be done BEFORE I Ruin the engine. Nothing else to look out for? Why did it overflow? I just filled the tank 10 miles ago. I hadn't ridden it in over a week(Below zero weather) and wanted to check on an unrelated electrical problem. Puddle under the bike-thought I had an old british bike until I saw it was gas not oil.

[omaharj]

Thanks earl I'll do that

[rphillips]

Just so I know. I've always thought if the needle, seat, & floats are working properly, even if left in the pri. position, fuel shouldn't flow past the needle & seat. For the fuel to leak in the crankcase or on the floor, you have got 2 different problems. omaharj's leaking needles & seats weren't noticed till he created the second problem by leaving the pet cock in the pri. position. True or false???

[ccratin]

True. The float needles are not properly seating, which allowed the fuel to overflow the bowls. Make sure you double check that there is NO fuel smell in the crankcase oil. Very bad news if you run the bike overfull with gas in the oil.

[Macmatic]

I just filled the tank 10 miles ago. I hadn't ridden it in over a week(Below zero weather) and wanted to check on an unrelated electrical problem. Puddle under the bike-thought I had an old british bike until I saw it was gas not oil.

Just a thought, maybe the fuel spill and leaving the petcock on PRI are unrelated this time?

I'd never heard of this before but just lately I've read a few articles about parking a bike just filled up with cold gas (underground tanks in summer) and a hot engine, the engine heat makes the fuel expand and spill out the filler.

It probably was a carb leaking fuel but you might want to take a close look at the tank and see if you can see any signs of fuel running down it.

/\/\ac

[focus frenzy]

the O-rings that seal around the needle seats is the main cause of flooding and crank cases full of gas.
the needle seals just fine, the gas just goes around the seat.

replace those O-rings and inspect the needles, if you can see wear rings on the needles replace the needles and seats.

[Hoomgar]

Just so I know. I've always thought if the needle, seat, & floats are working properly, even if left in the pri. position, fuel shouldn't flow past the needle & seat. For the fuel to leak in the crankcase or on the floor, you have got 2 different problems. omaharj's leaking needles & seats weren't noticed till he created the second problem by leaving the pet cock in the pri. position. True or false???

True.

Unless the fuel was leaking down the vacuum line from a bad vacuum petcock. When it does that it enters the carb at an area above the fuel bowl and can then leak down the intakes.

[omaharj]

Thanks to all who wrote. The plan is to change the oil for now and plan on doing the carbs later. The bikes been running fine with good gas mileage so I was hoping the carbs would last till next winter. Previous owner said he "did" the carbs a little over two years ago. approx. 3k miles ago. Looks like I'll be doing it this winter. While I'm at it I might as well go whole hog and check/adjust valve shims. Anyone think this is more than a weekend project? I'm more familiar with cars but I've got my clymers and a shim tool and a pretty good collection of wrenches and sockets. Any idea where to get the best value on a rebuild kit?

[jeff.saunders]

Your carbs can overflow even if the petcock is good. There is fuel in the fuel hose going to the carbs - this amount will still drain into the carb (and out) if the float needles are not seating properly. As said before, pull them out and clean the seat area. One trick is to use a small amount of chrome cleaner (or silver polish - you want a very fine polish - not aluminum polish, it's too harsh) on a q-tip and polish the inside of the float needle valve seat to remove any embedded deposits.

[Hoomgar]

You can buy rebuild kits at just about any online vendor. Bikebandit.com or any of the others. I myself prefer to deal with eBay seller "Georgefix". Just send him an email telling him what your looking for. He usually has everything or can get it and his prices almost always beat that of an online vendor. I have purchased many rebuild kits for carbs, petcocks and gasket sets for the engine from him. All of it new high quality stuff at good prices shipped cheap. I love that guy Can ya tell?