confusing set of problems; NEED HELP. (fuel leak, battery??)

[Anonymous]

I know this is a long and boring-looking post, but I really need help and will very much appreciate your assistance. I have tried to organize it well to help you understand my situation.

Here is the story:

Today I finished some fixups to my bike (listed below) and rode to my brother's house, 15 mi. The engine was cool and the air was 60F so I ran it on choke for a mile or so. When I got to my brother's house I parked it on the grass.

After three hours I went out with a flashlight to check if my oil leak fix worked. Didn't see any oil and dipstick showed near full. Yay for the oil leak fix.

An hour later I came out again to head home and when I tried to start the bike in 1st with clutch all the way in. PROBLEM #1 >> The starter cranked once, pushing the bike forward a bit and then sticking as though the battery didn't have the power to push it any farther. I checked that I had the clutch in and tried it again. Same thing. I figured maybe the clutch wasn't acting right. So I tried the same in neutral. Starter still stuck after one turn. Pushed the bike forward a few feet. Hit starter again, cranked a few times but engine didn't seem to fire. Turned choke on full. Hit starter and let it turn over and over with the throttle a bit open for more gas. The engine started, but was a little weak, didn't rev as responsively as on a warm day.

So I started on my way home. I noticed that the engine didn't seem too strong. I attribute that to it being cold. Once I could feel the engine block fins warming up I turned off the choke.

Half way home I wound up sitting for five minutes at the intersection where I join the highway to get home. Eventually a car pulled in next to me and triggered it. PROBLEM #2 >> However, in the mean time I noticed a gas smell, but just figured it was just my exhaust. I believe it was at this time that I turned the choke off.

So I rode home and sat the bike in the driveway. I decided that with nasty wind and possibly rain I would park the bike in the garage. So I opened the garage door and walked the bike inside. I still smelled gasoline. I walked around behind the bike and saw a trail of colorless drips. Gas. I took off my gear, reopened the garage door and wheeled the bike back outside for safety. I looked carefully at where the gas was coming from. It was dripping out of the tube which comes from the airbox.

Now, I don't really have a total grasp on what goes wrong with these petcocks, but I remember reading that one of the problems was fuel going into the vacuum line. So in an effort to keep all my fuel from leaking out overnight, I pulled the vacuum hose off at the carb and gas ran out on my hand. Keeping in mind that there are very hot exhaust pipes directly below this vacuum hose leaking with gasoline, I hopped away from the bike and came inside the house.

It's been an hour now and I just checked on the bike. I can't see any active drips, but the vacuum tube is still wet and the the airbox drain tube is also wet. The gas level is not unreasonably diminished, given my travels.

Things done to the bike just before this ride:

- Took out carbs, set carb float height to spec 26.6 mm, according to Clymer.
- Replaced camchain tensioner gasket with one I cut from high temp gasket material, cleaned outside of tensioner, re-installed. All as per Clymer instructions.
- Added water to my battery, making up to full level. All cells were half full or less. This has happened before.
- Checked battery voltage after refill. 12.46 V.
- While I had the carbs out I decided to route the clutch cable outside the carbs rather than between, because I did have a binding problem.
- Filled oil to near full.
- Filled up gas. Nice and full of the cheap stuff.

In recent days I have:
- Removed front left sprocket cover, cleaned up filthy, greasy, yucky mess.
- Adjusted the clutch as per Clymer maintenance procedure.
- I ran the bike after these fixes and had no problems except the oil leak at the camchain tensioner.

Some weeks ago I noticed a gas smell when inspecting the air filter. I let it air out but didn't check how soon the smell came back.

So I've thought of several possible problem sources:

- Petcock is screwed up. Exactly how, I don't know.
- Battery has been damaged by low fluid level and doesn't have much capacity.
- Charging system is overcharging my battery, eliminating my fluid.
- Clutch cable isn't doing its job outside the carbs and needs to go back between the carbs.
- I need to learn how my bike behaves in this cooler weather

Thanks for your perseverance in reading this long post. I really need some help and in addition to these vehicular probs, I'm still unemployed, I got dumped yesterday, a relationship that ended about a year ago supposed to become marriage on this day, Oct. 11, 2003, and my sister-in-law thinks I called her a b*tch. I sure don't remember it, but I could have. She's still hurt, whether I actually said it or not, and it's all around a crappy deal.

I know you can't fix these relationship problems, but have pity on me and give me some mechanical advice.

Thanks so much,

Michael

[SqDancerLynn1]

Your problem starting could be battery related or you could have fuel leaking in to the cylinders First thing you need to do is repair the petcock if needed. Make sure the petcock is in the on position. Remove both of the hoses the smaller one is the vacuum. There will be a small amount of fuel in the line, there should be NO fuel comming from the petcock. If you suck on the vacuum line you should see fuel come out. If that is Ok? you then need to go back to the carbs and check the float needles and the seats. There is an O ring on the needle seat?? Did you replace it??? If not do so. Now put everthing back together and CHANGE the oil It probably has fuel in it.
Now While you are doing this put the battery on the charger. Check it when you are done It should read around 12.6 v Start the bike and run it at 4-5K rpm and it should read around 14-14.5 volts

[argonsagas]

Good advice from Lynn.

Add to it, that your battery needs to be topped up with distilled water, and then it is best to have it charge slowly, with a trickle charge of one ampere per hour, overnight.


REMOVE THE BATTERY FROM THE BIKE to do this.


This is especially important since you already have concerns about gasoline, so you need NO extra chance of spark anywhere near the bike.

There is also a simple mistake many people make in charging batteries:
they disconnect the clips at the terminal while it is on charge. DON'T DO THAT.

Disconnect the charger from the wall circuit, then remove the battery clips.

This removes the chance of hydrogen gas igniting from the spark of the disconnection.

[Anonymous]

Make sure the petcock is in the on position. Remove both of the hoses the smaller one is the vacuum. There will be a small amount of fuel in the line

Are you saying that the fuel hose should have fuel in it (of course it should), or that the vacuum hose should have fuel in it? (does but probably shouldn't)

you then need to go back to the carbs and check the float needles and the seats. There is an O ring on the needle seat?? Did you replace it??? If not do so.

I didn't touch the needles, only the float and its tang.

Thanks a bunch. I'll get back to you.

Michael

[Anonymous]

Good news, everyone!

Most important to me: the girl and I made up. Yay!

Also, I found the problem with my bike, and it looks like only one problem. I took Lynn's suggestion to suck opn the vacuum hose and see if the petcock works. Mouth full of gas. My vacuum line is feeding gasoline, not resisting air, which indicates a leaking diaphragm in the petcock. And plus, if the vacuum tube was pouring gas into the carbs at the cylinder, that would explain the starting difficulty Lynn suggested.

So I emptied my tank into a gas can and took apart my petcock. I found that the thin metal plate, which is part of the diaphragm assembly, was simply broken, leaving a very sharp edge. The diaphragm rubber was worn through and leaking at the edge of the plate.

Took the battery off the bike and put it on my automatic charger. It says it's not in need of charging. Voltage after charging was 13.18 V. Probably a bit inflated from the charging, but definitely good voltage at the battery.

So, the problem list has been narrowed:

- Petcock needs major help.
- Maybe carbs are still a problem. Have to wait and see.
- Charging system might be overcharging. Have to see.

Thanks!

[saaz]

Good to see a problem solved before I can even comment!!

Good luck...

[Anonymous]

exactly what I was going to suggest about the petcock!! glad to hear about the relationship problems being attended too as well!!


edit: I would say that even when you get the petcock problem solved, you've still got a problem with the float valve, I had exactly the same thing happen with it filling the airbox from one of the floats, which is probably the whole reason someone invented the petcock!!! either way, you'll likely have to fix both! good luck!

[Anonymous]

Alright. I think I've got the petcock thing going with a sufficient work-around. I took the o-ring and spring out of my petcock, so that it would flow freely, and added a manual shutoff in the gas line. For good measure, I also added a fuel filter and replaced all the gas line. So the gas line now looks like a mess but it works. I put 3/16" vacuum caps over the old vacuum ports.

Unfortunately, I can't say that all the fixes totally work, as my starter relay fell off the deep end. I can easily bump start it by rolling down the driveway, but I shouldn't ride anywhere that doesn't end at a hill, so I'll just have to wait to prove the new petcock thinger.

All I've got to say about this vacuum business is that it really sucks.

Tomorrow I'll be off pheasant hunting for Eastern WA opening day. Wish me luck. Bang!

Michael

[argonsagas]

You could try this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2437427408&category=10066

[Anonymous]

I think the Jeckler has what I need.

Thanks!

Michael