gas in oil question

[rthor]

After a day of riding the oil level in my sight glass has gone from the correct level to over full. Is this a problem with the petcock, diaphram, or is it a needle and seat problem?
I removed the fuel line from the petcock and saw slight dripping fuel flow in both the ON and RES positions. I drained the tank and diassembled the front of the petcock and noticed that the rubber gasket (with four holes) was nicked in a couple of places. When I removed this rubber I noticed that the flip side of the rubber was in perfect condition. My question is: can I just invert the rubber piece and reinstall? Or, is my problem more complex?

[rthor]

77 gs550 (if that is any help....)

[Nessism]

Float needles should hold back the gas AND petcock should function properly so the needles are not under constant stress.

I'm not familar with the inner workings of the petcock but I'd either rebuild it or replace it. Flipping the rubber piece may work for a while but I wouldn't expect it to last for long.

[rthor]

That is probably true. The inverted rubber piece will likely fail and I'll have an even bigger problem. As it stands right now however, I flipped the rubber piece and there is no leak (or drip) in ON or RES. I'll go with this until I can get my hands on a replacement. As for the needle and seat problem... I'm not looking forward to wrestling with the air box boots again to get those carbs off.