Is it supposed to smell like gasoline?

[Anonymous]

well, tonight I was once again wrenching the bike. Progress is being made and hopefully it will be 99% done on Sunday. But now I have a question.

I opened up the cap for the oil today and smelled inside. It smelled like gasoline in where the oil is suppoed to be. Seeing as how this is my first bike and I am clueless as to what is normal, is this normal? Or am I getting some blow-by in the rings?

[Billy Ricks]

You probably have a combination of two things, a petcock problem and a stuck float needle. The petcock may be in the prime position. What is happening is the petcock is allowing fuel to flow when there is no vacuum applied to it and a stuck float needle is allowing a carb to overflow. That fuel is running into an intake port, then into a cylinder, and past the rings into the crankcase.

If it is a problem of fuel continuing to flow from the petcock the problem is with the diaphram in the petcock. The diaphram either has a hole in it or there is a rod that pushes on the diaphram that needs adjusting. On the right side of the diaphram is a spring to return the diaphram to a position to shut down fuel flow when no vacuum is applied. On the left side is a rod with about a half loop of spring built into it. That rod is moved by the lever so the prime position allows fuel to flow. You can vary the length of that rod to get the petcock working properly again. When you take the petcock apart be careful and pull the guts straight out or you'll mangle that rod. You'll know you have it adjusted right if when there is no vacuum fuel doesn't flow. Attach a piece of vacuum line to the vacuum fitting on the petcock and suck on it. Fuel should flow with vacuum applied. It should also flow with the petcock lever in prime position.

[Jay B]

All the above is correct on how to fix the problem of gas into the oil. However it didn't address the smell. CHANGE the oil before you do anything else. Oil in the crankcase will cause MAJOR problems if you fire that baby up with out having changed it. Change the filter while your at it. You could lose you motor if you don't.

[Anonymous]

Well, I'm in the middle of restoring the bike. One of the parts I had to replace was the petcock because someone did try rebuilding it at one point and tey did destroy the rod inside. But I have a new one now... and I just need to wait to get my tank back to see if I still have a problem.

BTW, the guy who had the bike before me always left the petcock on prime because he didn't realize it was a vacume assisted petcock. So that would probably explain it.

Thanks for the help guys.

[Anonymous]

Be sure to use a big enough pail to drain the oil. I usually use a coffee can for my bike but I had to put my thumb in the plug once I reallized that I had an extra gallon of oil/gas in the engine... :P

Steve

[jimcor]

...not if its Bourbon.