Petcock issue

[Don'tHaveAClue]

Hello all,

I took off the petcock from the tank to clean the it out. I put it back in the tank loaded the tank with gas, and the petcock is somewhat free flowing gas even it is on the "on" position and not the "prime" or "reserve" position. The tank isn't back on the bike yet. I thought the petcock only supplies fuel to the engine when there is vac. pressure from the carbs. Now's it's attached to anything and bleeding gas in the "on" position. any clue?

[mixongw]

From your post I wasn't sure if you took the petcock apart or not. If you did, it's probably the prime lever circular thingy that pushes the diaphragm up when in prime position. It's a little tricky to get them reassembled properly. The previous owner on mine bent the crap out of that part so I wasn't able to use the prime mode. I never did get it back to the proper shape and reassembled correctly. I build my own electric solenoid valve to turn my gas on and off.

[dig dug mx6]

From your post I wasn't sure if you took the petcock apart or not. If you did, it's probably the prime lever circular thingy that pushes the diaphragm up when in prime position. It's a little tricky to get them reassembled properly. The previous owner on mine bent the crap out of that part so I wasn't able to use the prime mode. I never did get it back to the proper shape and reassembled correctly. I build my own electric solenoid valve to turn my gas on and off.

Electric valve that sounds really nice. Is it hard to build???

[Jackyl]

Yes it does

Electric valve that sounds really nice. Is it hard to build???

Thats what I was thinking, have you thought of maybe producing these lol.
I know I would buy one from you

[mixongw]

I used a piece of acrylic to match the size of the old petcock. I drilled two mounting holes to match the holes in the tank. I drilled two blind holes in one side to allow the use of the strainer from the old petcock. I then drilled two blind holes on the other side and tapped them for 1/8" NPT fittings. I used two brass 1/4" hose barb - 1/8" NPT fittings. I had to use longer screws to attach it to the tank. The acrylic I used was thicker than the original petcock mounting tabs. I used smurf snot to seal it to the tank with the screws. The old petcock used an o-ring seal. I then ran two pieces of fuel line tubing from the fittings mentioned above. The solenoid I used is a two port manifold type with 12 VDC coils. I use one port for main and the other for reserve. I mounted a switch on the bars to turn on the reserve. The switch and the other (main) solenoid port is supplied by the plus side of one of the ignition coils. When the ignition switch is off, the valves are closed. As for the solenoid valve, I just happened to have one laying around so I used it. I suppose one could find a suitable solenoid valve from a distributor. Also, if you didn't want to bother with the reserve feature, it would be even easier. Mine has been installed and working for over 6 months.

[Jackyl]

thats, wow, inventive, and though you have explained it very well, it still sounds kind of complicated somehow lol Im sure its me. Im about brain-fried after the last few days spent inside the carbs and fuel systems here

[Don'tHaveAClue]

Petcock issue

Didn't expect a response quite that fast. I did take the petcock apart, cleaned out quite a bit of the deposits inside the valves and what not, put it back together, then this thing happened. It worked just fine before though.
I have a feeling it's definitely what mixongw is talking about, except i don't know how to go about fixing the issue. a little help in explaining that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[chef1366]

There are no psychotic GS owners?

[beby99]

I used a piece of acrylic to match the size of the old petcock. I drilled two mounting holes to match the holes in the tank. I drilled two blind holes in one side to allow the use of the strainer from the old petcock. I then drilled two blind holes on the other side and tapped them for 1/8" NPT fittings. I used two brass 1/4" hose barb - 1/8" NPT fittings. I had to use longer screws to attach it to the tank. The acrylic I used was thicker than the original petcock mounting tabs. I used smurf snot to seal it to the tank with the screws. The old petcock used an o-ring seal. I then ran two pieces of fuel line tubing from the fittings mentioned above. The solenoid I used is a two port manifold type with 12 VDC coils. I use one port for main and the other for reserve. I mounted a switch on the bars to turn on the reserve. The switch and the other (main) solenoid port is supplied by the plus side of one of the ignition coils. When the ignition switch is off, the valves are closed. As for the solenoid valve, I just happened to have one laying around so I used it. I suppose one could find a suitable solenoid valve from a distributor. Also, if you didn't want to bother with the reserve feature, it would be even easier. Mine has been installed and working for over 6 months.

Got pics????

[Jackyl]

There are no psychotic GS owners?

of course there are it just isnt a problem

except i don't know how to go about fixing the issue. a little help in explaining that would be greatly appreciated.

there are some fairly passable shcematics and blowaparts at http://www.bikebandit.com/partsbandit/ just click where it says "see schematic diagrams" in the first box labeled 'OEM Parts', you didnt say what year or type your bike so I couldnt give you a better link than that, but if its an older bike, get aquainted with this process its helped me I dont know how many times.

[mixongw]

Thats what I was thinking, have you thought of maybe producing these lol.
I know I would buy one from you

Sorry it took so long to reply. Nobody could afford them! The component cost would be reasonable but the liability insurance I would have to carry would make the cost go up considerably. Just imagine after installing one of these gee wizz petcock thingys you bought from me, you go to fire up the old GS and boom! You are on your downwind leg of your approach to the Fromora Highlands. Then your family wants to know "why?" or "how much?".

[mixongw]

A possible source for solenoid valves could be a junk yard. Auto emission control systems are loaded with them. I will try to get some photos of the system and post them.

[Don'tHaveAClue]

Issue Resolved :-)

Hello all,

Thank you for all your help in helping me resolve my issue. Turns out the diaphragm in the petcock was damaged and it wasn't secure within the enclosure and so it was leaking gas.

I just realized that i didn't give any particular info about the bike or anything. It's a beautiful 1980 GS450L with about 4500 miles on it, i bought it about 4 months ago and fixing up things here and there as i learn them. It's in extremely good aesthetic condition, running very good as well. I got some rust though that i have to try and remove somehow. :-(

anyway, thanks for ur help

[daris30ish]

new peck cock

need help in getting a new style peck cock valve to work on my 1980 GS550E. it's a new style that doesn't shut off and i need to no how to install.

[Don'tHaveAClue]

Same problem!

Alright guys. Same issue again.

I put in a rebuild kit for my 1980 GS450 petcock. It still is letting out gas on the "on" position as it would on the "prime" position. I just had the carbs clean, and i'm pretty sure they cleaned out the part where the petcock's vac. line connects to the carb. But i hadn't cleaned out the vac line from the petcock. Could that be the issue? Please help!