1980 gs 850 gas leaking into airbox

[Anonymous]

Hi. As stated above, My gs is leaking gas into the airbox? I don't think you can shut the gas off, as it's only Prime, on and reserve positions.

Any idea's? I'm thinking stuck float in one of the carbs, It's only dribbling out...

[whodatpat]

What you are describing is exactly where I started last fall. Does any fuel leak out arount the carbs at all? Smell the oil and see if there is gas in there too. These petcocks are the worst. It is possible that the thing is stuck open and lets gas through all the time. Even when the carbs are freshly rebuilt, I would not trust the nedle valve to keep from flooding the carbs. My recomendations are to start at the gas tank and work your way down.
Remove the Petcock and take it apart and clean it and inspect it. You may or may not need a rebuild kit. At the end of the day you may want to trash this often posted troblemaker petcock and buy a Pingel. (Search Pingel on this site for 100+ references.)
If that dosent do the trick you will need to clean the carbs as the floats and nedle valve's need attention. (Might as well do the whole carb cleanup series on GSR, again you may or may not need rebuild kits, but do order the o-rings from Robert.)
If that dosent work, someone much more experienced than me will tell you what to do. By the way if you smell gas in the oil, which it probably is, change it ASAP.
Patrick

[Anonymous]

It was leaking last year, but stopped. Which leads me to think that it's crummed up. I'll install an inline fuel filter for sure and I'll clean the carbs and report back.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

only doing it while running????

[Anonymous]

only doing it while running????

No, While running and when sitting too.

[whodatpat]

You better have a look at the petcock first. If it is spilling gas when off, the vaccume is not closing, so the diaphram will probably need to be replaced. It is neither hard or expensive. Ebay has kits for like $25. On the other hand a pingel that turns off completely may be a better choice, though at about $70.00 for the whole setup it is a little more pricy. I happen to have a stock GS petcock that is as clean as new and freshly rebuilt. It will not fit my bike (damn ebayer.) I can look up the part number on it if you are interested in that one. Even so, I would not recomend another stock petcock for anyone over the Pingel.
Patrick

[Anonymous]

You better have a look at the petcock first. If it is spilling gas when off, the vaccume is not closing, so the diaphram will probably need to be replaced. It is neither hard or expensive. Ebay has kits for like $25. On the other hand a pingel that turns off completely may be a better choice, though at about $70.00 for the whole setup it is a little more pricy. I happen to have a stock GS petcock that is as clean as new and freshly rebuilt. It will not fit my bike (damn ebayer.) I can look up the part number on it if you are interested in that one. Even so, I would not recomend another stock petcock for anyone over the Pingel.
Patrick

There isn't an off position. On, Pri and reserve

[whodatpat]

Corect, there is no "off" on a stock petcock. The Prime is "on" without any vaccume at all , so it will flow as long as there is gas in the tank. In On, or Reserve, vacume is required to let gas through, so it will only flow when the bike is on. That is a cool feature. Unless your petcock vaccume diaphram is busted and all 3 of the setings let gas through freely. I prefer a simple off/on design like Pingel, so that when you park your bike, you can go to bed and not wonder, is that thing pooring gas in my oil again?

[Anonymous]

Corect, there is no "off" on a stock petcock. The Prime is "on" without any vaccume at all , so it will flow as long as there is gas in the tank. In On, or Reserve, vacume is required to let gas through, so it will only flow when the bike is on. That is a cool feature. Unless your petcock vaccume diaphram is busted and all 3 of the setings let gas through freely. I prefer a simple off/on design like Pingel, so that when you park your bike, you can go to bed and not wonder, is that thing pooring gas in my oil again?

LOL Good point....

So if it's vacuum I should have no probs putting an inline fuel filter on, right?