Gas leak

[red bandit]

I have a 88 Yamaha 4 wheeler I bought new in 89. I have never shut the petcock off since I've owned it. Unless in transport. It has sat since Dec. in the garage. Haven't touched it. The other day when I got home I smelled gas. There was a wet spot about 8" dia. of gas under it. The carb was flooding. WTF??? At least I know it's not electrical. lol.

[Bonz]

Good news for you it's a simple fix, IMO. If it's a vacuum control petcock, replace the o-ring at the tip of the diaphragm assembly that seals off fuel flow when vacuum is removed (when you shut down the engine). You can also take some polishing compound on a Q-tip and smooth the surface that o-ring seals against as well.

If it's a manual pet cock that is "on" even with the engine off, your carburetor float needles are not seating properly and if you have needle seat o-rings, either or both of those parts are failing you. Or just turn the petcock off and it will keep the leaky floats or needle seats from passing more fuel until you can get them fixed.