GS550L: petcock or carb rebuild? And...

[Anonymous]

My '79 GS550L is in need of .. something. I'm not sure what to start with first. Brief version of story:

Took out carbs, sprayed 'em out with Chemtool choke cleaner. Re-installed last week, didn't try starting the bike.

Got used petcocks on eBay, cheap. Look to work just fine - but won't fit my tank. Is the L-model built with a different petcock due to the teardop-shaped tank? These are not wide enough - the screws don't line up with the holes in the tank. Maybe they were a different year?

Re-installed old petcock: aftermarket junk stuck on Prime. Cleaned it out with same choke cleaner.

Re-filled gas tank, alot of the gas came right of the carbs, apparently from the inner-right (brake-side) float bowl. Did my o-rings turn to mush 'cause of the choke cleaner? Gaskets looked good, everything looked ok, and only sprayed down the throats and the floats. No further disassembly was done. Maybe the gas came out of the vent tubes? Hard to tell.

There is gas in the airbox - so much of it that when I got the bike upright from off the kickstand, a good deal of gas came flowing out of the bottom vent tube (no hose). Air filter is still clean, though.

Would an inline cutoff switch help? How about when it's running - won't this much gas 'cause some bad flooding?

Sooo ... fuel dripping everywhere caused by A) blown petcock, or B) leaky carbs that need a rebuild now?

Last question: Where on Earth can I get a NEW petcock that's right for my bike? What years/models are interchangeable? Everyone claims that ronayers.com has them, but I see absolutely nothing over there that can help me. Am I blind or something? lol

PLEASE HELP! I need to get this bike running again, it has NO other problems other than this. Petcock or carb rebuild, both are very affordable right now, but time is running out. Which way do I go?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks!!!

[Anonymous]

I'll get flamed for this one, but Suzuki appears to still have most of the original petcock valves available.

You sprayed carb cleaner into your petcock?? All over the wafer thin plastic diaphragm?? Guess what you need to buy again It is easy to test. Remove the vacuum line and gas line when the valve is not on prime. If any gas comes out, it is toast. Nothing should flow unless there is a vacuum on the valve.

Don't run the bike until you stop the gas overflow issue - gas overflowing into the cylinders instead of just into the airbox causes very bad things to happen.

Other reasons for the overflow are stuck internals (such as the floats) as well as demonic possession.

[Anonymous]

I haven't ruled out demonic possesion just yet, LOL. The floats sure moved freely when I had the bowls off. I could still hear them "jingling" softly when I turned the carbs right side up again for the reinstallation. I should note that the bike ran great on a 40-mile trip home, just wouldn't idle and would sometimes be hard to start, so I set out to clean the carbs and replace the petcock.

So cleaning out the petcock with choke cleaner is a no-no? Yikes! Well this particular one (remember, it's not the stock tap) was already stuck on Prime, I guess the choke cleaner finished it up then? It wasn't letting this much gas through before, but it has ALWAYS kept flowing no matter what setting it's on, and without the vac line on, and the bike OFF. So ya, it's toast.

Trouble is, I cleaned out the used petocks I got from eBay with a lighter (store brand) choke cleaner. I tested their operation by filling them up with the cleaner (OOOPS?), and then setting them to PRI (flowed freely), then ON and RES (no flow). Now I'm selling one on eBay again. No good? I hate selling junk.

As for Suzuki still having some new petcocks laying around, got an inside contact? I've called and called and all the dealers say they are discontinued.

I won't turn the bike on until everything's good and ready. Since I knew the petcock was flooding everything, I drained the tank last week and changed the oil and filter.

[Anonymous]

On ronayres web site, mine wasn't listed either. An e-mail got a response the next day, they did have the petcock I needed. A toll free phone # got it ordered the next day. Hope to get it this next week.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, I'll go try that right now

[Anonymous]

Might also try Cycle Recycle. http://www.crc2onlinecatalog.com .

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the link, but all they have is the very same part that's on there now .. Funnily enough, my year isn't listed as an application .. hmmmm. No rebuild kit for it even.

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Try Pingel for a petcock.They don't use a diaphragm. You may have to replace 1 or more of your float valves also. But try cleaning them first.