ARRGHHH Carburators

[Bauer]

I went out to the garage this morning to start the bike to ride to my classes and as soon as I opened the overhead door I knew something was wrong, sure enough, took one look up towards the bike and noticed about a 1/2 gallon of gas on the floor under the bike. I had just filled the tank last night so I assumed it could possibly be overflow from the tank, but after a short ride, I noticed that the bike was very sluggish and had no power at all, especially after sitting at stop lights. I rode it back home after class, bike ran fine, no problems as explained above, but this afternoon, it was leaking as again. After further inspection I realized it was leaking out of the hole I have in the bottom of the airbox, so I dropped the lid and sure enough, it had about a 1/4 inch or so of gas in it. I realized then it must be float sticking or something. It appears to be coming from the number 4 carburator as that is the only place any gas was dripping from.

Now, ive been running seafoam through the carbs for about the last 2-3 tanks, and running premium gas so I assume I dislodged some gunk in the carbs or fuel lines. Is there anyway to fix this without fully disassembling the carbs? The soonest I can do this is mid next week, and short of shutting the petcocks off every time I park the bike, I dont know what to do.

Any "easy" options???

Thanks

[DiverRay]

I would shut the petcocks until you have time to look at it. You may want to check the oil for any gas contamination. Dip something into the oil, and see if it readily lights with a match. If it does, DO NOT RIDE. Change the oil, and proceed to a repair as soon as possable.
You may have to pull carbs one more time, but it should only be a half day job. I would try the vacum shut off valve as a first look. You SHOULD NOT have any fuel flowing with the engine off.
Ray

[Bauer]

Ray,
Why should there be no fuel flow with the engine off? Does the 80 special have the vacuum shut off?

When ive had the tank off in the past, I have a slight leak in both petcocks, something I was planning of fixing when I had some funds coming with a job ill be starting in mid may, but it was not nearly enough of a leak to cause the problems ive been experiencing as of late, maybe a drop every few hours, VS a 1/8 gallon every 1 hr.

[DiverRay]

The 80 should have a vacum shutoff, if I remember correctly. You should have the "octapus" fuel line set up. a "valve" mounted to carb #2, with fuel lines going in to it.
The carb fix may be as easy as pulling carbs, checking the float height, and verifying that they DO NOT touch the float bowls. The verify is the important one, as I've seen the carbs leak because of the float dragging on the bowl when the bike is parked on the side stand.
Ray

[Bauer]

I do have the octopus. But do not notice the vacuum shutoff. Should it prevent gas flow even when the tank is off and the petcocks are in the off posistion? If so, I do not have it as gas flows freely then.


What has me most questioning about the whole thing, is that Ive put nearly 500 miles on the bike all ready this spring, and put about 1000 on it last year after I bought it in June. If its as simple as the floats dragging on the side stand, why has it just started?


Thanks for the help.

[DiverRay]

Any number of things can cause the problem to start. The age of the bike is one BIG thing, as the floats, if they are brass, can develope leaks, the inside of the float area can build up varnish, and the good old junk from the tank to the needle and seat can all cause problems.
You could try a pint of Seafoam or Berryman's B12 into an almost empty tank, run that through and see if it helps. It will stink a little, and not run perfect, but it should help clean the innerds...
Ray

[Bauer]

Well, its back out to see if it has cleared up, if not, I guess ill be pullin the carbs apart next week.

[osmosis4b]

I am following this one close...
I have the exact same problem! (except mine looks like it is dripping from # 1) I have the tank disconnected from the carbs, but still mounted, and the petcocks shut off, and there is still a mysterious puddle. I have pulled carb 1 bowl off and can see the float valve is not stopping fuel flow. It has been sitting for a few days, (in a different spot) but the puddle returns. Is it "running downhill" from the other carbs,or is the air filter just drip drying?

[John]

When the carb floods, it will accumulate in the air box, and eventually drain out of the hole in the center, bottom of the airbox. It will drip onto the engine, and then will find it's way to the floor. To locate the leak, place the bike on the center stand, remove the bottom of the air box, and turn the fuel on. Look up into the airbox at the carb boots, and see which one starts dripping. The octopus is a vacumm actuated fuel distribution valve. The vacuum source is the nipple on the intake boot on either #1 or 2 cylinder. I don't remember, I removed my octpus many years ago, and plumbed the fuel lines directly to the carbs. I have it plumbed so that either petcock will supply all four carbs. I just turn the petcock off when I'm not riding.

[GNEPIG]

.. i have had to remove the octo puss from every one of these bikes that i have owned, i have not had one that has worked yet. i learned to turn the fuel off when i'm finished riding. it was not hard because i have had alot of bikes before these that didnt have a vacuum pet cock.. just turn the fuel valve off and dont worry.
..what will happen next is the diaphram on the vacuum side of the octo will rupture and you will have an intake leak at that point and you will not get enough gas to the carbs in the on/res positions.. or my personal favorite, both membrains rupture and gas gets sucked straight into the intake that the vacuum hose is plugged into
..enjoy

[Bauer]

Plans for tonight got cancelled so I just ended up pulling the carbs off tonight. Fu****** airbox, that thing HAS to go, im not gonna deal with that again.

Before removal, the leak was in the number 2 carb. pulled the carbs off, removed the float bowl, had a bunch of sediment gunk in the bottom of the bowl. Float hights appeared to be in spec as the clymers said. Reinstalled all of it, did I mention how big of a pain in the ass the air box was? and I STILL have a leak. Not to mention my leaking fricken petcocks, nothing is more anoying then trying to work on something when theres dripping fuel everywhere.

I got fed up with it for the night, im heading to bed and off it comes again tom. night. That was 6 hours of my life im never going to get back, mostly because of the wrassilin with the airbox to get things right.

[John]

Just think of it as six hours of valuable training.

[skids]

Hmmm, you could unhook the gas supply lines at the octopus, shove in some golf tees, and maybe secure them? Messing with the airbox is hard? If you don't enjoy messing with the carbs, don't go with individual filters. The airbox has become easy for me. Are you loosening the 4 screws on the top so that the bracket will pry off of the frame thing? Don't get mad...just askin'.

Originally posted by Bauer
Not to mention my leaking fricken petcocks, nothing is more anoying then trying to work on something when theres dripping fuel everywhere.

[osmosis4b]

I have pulled my airbox off quite a few times in the past few days, trying to resolve my problem, and I know this sounds stupid, but are you trying to put it back in the right way?

I could have swore that I was putting it in the right way, after about the fifth time I was reassembling it, and I was 1 step shy of getting out the hammer before the high school kid from next door flipped it around and slid it into place in less than a minute.

Try to put it in from the throttle (right) hand side of the bike, with the filter unit in the back half of the box, and the sloped side forward. It goes in super smooth that way.

PS, I took the bowls off 1 and 4, and fed 2 cans of Berrymans spray carb cleaner into the bottoms of the carbs, and the bowls.
And a can of Berrymans in the tank (almost empty), now all leaks have stopped. After a hard hiway ride last night, I refilled it to the top, parked it on the center stand, and took off the airbox... parked all night, no leaks. (I will repeat the test on the kickstand tonight)

[Bauer]

Originally posted by osmosis4b
I have pulled my airbox off quite a few times in the past few days, trying to resolve my problem, and I know this sounds stupid, but are you trying to put it back in the right way?

I am removing them as to how the clymers instructs to do so, the biggest problem is even with the airbox loose, the carbs still dont want to slide back far enough to come out freely, after 1 bent clamp and several swear words, I finally got it out. Its a space issue, not with how the air box is positioned. With pods there would be plenty of space to slide the carbs back to free it from the engine sleeves.

Hmmm, you could unhook the gas supply lines at the octopus, shove in some golf tees, and maybe secure them? Messing with the airbox is hard? If you don't enjoy messing with the carbs, don't go with individual filters. The airbox has become easy for me. Are you loosening the 4 screws on the top so that the bracket will pry off of the frame thing? Don't get mad...just askin'.

I dont mind messing with the carbs, but getting them off is comparable to trying to take a very large growler, it wants out, but just wont come