| Author | Message | ||
     Mike_lee |
afternoon all, so the other morning, I start up the bike to go to work, it idles ok for a min then starts sputtering and dies. I park it, hop in the truck and head to work irritated. I check it out after I get home. fuel is coming out of the intake. everything I have read leads me to believe its the float. ill inspect it closer after work today but... is there anything I should do or be aware of as far as cleaning, getting the fuel out of wherever it went, replacing the intake gaskets where the fuel dumped (forcewinder air) out? I didn't see any kind of "procedure" or steps to take when remedying this sort of situation short of removing bowl and cleaning jets and whatnot. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Remember that gas will have gotten into the engine too! Pull those plugs and take a whiff. DON'T crank it over until you're sure there is oil for the piston rings. | ||
| Mike_lee |
Thanks man. If there is? Just change the oil? | ||
| Ratbuell |
At least once. Change it. Run it for a couple minutes, doesn't have to get to full temp, just make sure everything circulates. Pull the dipstick (the one in the bike!) and take a whiff. Gas? Change it again. Repeat until you don't smell gas in the oil. Gaskets should be OK with a wipe down, unless pieces come off when you're wiping, then replace them due to deterioration. But I always remove the minimum required parts. Pull the carb, clean, fix. Check oil, change as needed. Only mess with the intake and intake seals if absolutely required. they're a bitch to set right; if it ain't broke.. And, for the future...turn the petcock off every time you park. Don't have to drain the bowl (I never do, I prefer liquid in there not air), but at least closing the valve keeps ALL the fuel from leaking in if something acts up. | ||
| Mike_lee |
Thanks Rat. That could get expensive if i have to change it two or three times. PO used synthetic and the bike has a 1extra qt tank. Better than the alternative i suppose. Speaking of.... what are everyones thoughts on changing oil from synthetic back to conventional? Is it even worth it or even possible? I always shut the gas off if its gona sit for over a few mins. A practice i learned long ago | ||
| Ratbuell |
If you "always" shut the gas off, either you're reading the petcock wrong or it's leaking too. If the petcock is shut off, the only fuel pressing against the float is what's in the hose between the petcock and the carb. You can use cheap oil for the quickie changes/flushes. The most expensive part will be the filters, but you can go cheap on those as well since you aren't running it hard, long, or hot and just using the oil to help flush the fuel out. For a change every 5k miles...I run Syn3 in all holes. Still a lot cheaper than repairs, been working for me for hundreds of thousands of miles for the last 20 or so years. | ||
| Mike_lee |
I know the petcock isn't leaking. no gas would leak when I turned it off and pulled the hose when I removed the tank. 9:00 is on and 3:00 is res so I don't think I'm reading it wrong. am I reading you correctly? you normally use conventional oil but change it out with syn every 5k? when I do change the oil, I don't need to do the primary yet, correct? this shouldn't be affected. thanks for all the help | ||
| Ratbuell |
No I run syn all the time. For your flushing out though you can use Dino oil. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I’m just confused how the engine was full of fuel if there wasn’t any liquid pressure against the float. The only fuel that could leak into the engine then, would be the thimble-full that’s in the bowl. | ||
| Mike_lee |
I'm not sure. heres how the scenario went. I started the bike up one morn, it idled fine for a min then started sputtering like it was runnin outta gas, I switched it over to res before it died but it died anyway.so I'm guessin it was getting to much gas and it flooded as it was idling. shut the gas off and went to work. I had just filled the tank the previous day. got back to the bike and tried again and that's when I noticed the gas coming from the air filter. I leaned the bike over and drained as much as I could then pulled the bowl. just outta curiosity, after I pulled the bowl, I turned on the petcock and gas came pissin out of the float valve... one thing I should've done that I didn't think of, was to push up on the float to stop flow, that would've told me if the valve or valve seat was faulty, no? the float seemed ok and I could see the valve moving with the float so I rapped on the side of the carb gently with a small hammer in hopes it would dislodge whatever was causing this. reinstalled bowl and the same thing happened. the carb is now off the bike and I cleaned everything I could with carb cleaner spray and compressed air. this is where I'm at now. | ||
| Lynrd |
Or...your tank vent is plugged... | ||
| Ratbuell |
Tank vent would starve it, not flood it... | ||
| Screamer |
A blocked tank vent can cause flooding under the right circumstances. If there's a heat source to cause fuel (that's in the tank) expansion and the vent is blocked, the expanding fuel can push past the float needle and cause flooding. The most common set of circumstances for this were a bike that had just been ridden (hot engine), filled with gas (usually the gas temp would be cool - coming from an underground tank), and the bike would be shut off and parked. Heat from the engine would warm the underside of the tank and expand the fuel. If the tank vent was blocked and the fuel valve was open - the bike could flood. If the engine oil has been severely contaminated, the primary fluid should be checked and changed if it has a fuel smell. Keihen made a change to "four-sided" float needles in the early '90s to prevent needle sticking issues. There were some that believed the older three sided needle flowed more fuel during high demand (extended wide-open running) and change the 4 sided to the 3 sided, believing they would avoid fuel starvation. It's rare, but I have come across carbs where a 3 sided needle has been installed. I apologize for the long-winded history, but check to see that no previous owner has installed a 3-sided needle. | ||
| Mike_lee |
the bike was cold both times this occurred. the float needle (float valve?) that is connected to the float via a metal tab and a wire? I just want to make sure were both talking about the same thing, has 4 sides. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Excellent point on heat soak, hadn't thought of that. | ||
| Mike_lee |
I think the float valve and/or the seat could be at fault here. I swapped carbs and all the components from the 96 so I don't have anymore downtime. gonna take the carb to my buddys shop to get it checked out. changed the oil with "dino" oil but ill most likely end up putting synthetic back in when I change it again tonight. thank you very much for all the assistance  | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Nothing wrong with dino oil. I have run nothing else in my X1 for over 90K miles. Synth is better of course I just wanted to say that dino isn't poison. | ||
| Mike_lee |
I have never used synthetic in anything. Always conventional. Just never heard it called that hehe | ||
| Ratbuell |
Syn is a little thinner, especially when hot. Engines can sound a little "tappier" with Syn, so don't be alarmed if you change over and it "sounds louder"... | ||
| Mike_lee |
I filled it the second time with hd 20/50 and formula +. I did notice it was a bit quieter. Probably not a good idea to bounce back and forth though...find one and stick with it? Seems to be runnin good though. Think ill drop the main to a 190 from the 200 it came with. That should help my 115 miles to a tank, no? | ||
| Ratbuell |
Should also take care of the black-sooted spark plugs I bet you have... | ||
| Mike_lee |
The rear was sooted more than the front. Which i thought was strange. I cleaned them up and reinstalled them but i will pick up some new ones. Its been on the list for awhile but keep forgetting. |
