Gas in air filter

[Lloydo]

Never happened before, but I backed the bike out of the garage this morning & noticed trail of drips on the cement. Tracked it down to gas dripping from the drain on the bottom of the air box. A few things I did yesterday, in case they may be related: put new plugs in, the girl at the shop gave me ngk bp7es's, said they were the right ones, although I had bp6es's in it. It did run great with the new ones. I topped her off with gas, tried to run as much old out as I could before I filled it. I do wonder if turning the petcocks from reserve to regular, going by prime might have let extra gas through? (BTW, what do you use to set the petcock, the "handle" part of it, or a line on the opposite side of it. I wonder if the line is a mark to use, or just a casting mark). Could my floats be off, or hanging up? I appreciate any help, thanks.

[wingnut]

Long side of the handle over the position you want on the petcock. Sounds like some junk got in the fuel and is now logged in one of you needle valves letting to much fuel in the bowl and running out into your air box. It may also be running into the cylinder and past the rings into the oil. Open the oil fill pug and see if the oil smells of fuel. If in doubt change the oil. You will have to pull the carbs and pull the bowls. Remove the floats, needle valves, and valve seats. Might want to replace the seat o-rings if you have a 80 or 81 model year. Blow carb cleaner thru any and every hole or port you can see. Can't tell what model you have so check the tech tips and check the float levels. Put it all back together and bench check by putting fuel to the carbs to make sure you got the gunk out and the needles are doing their job before you put them back on the bike and have to do the dreaded air box install. Pleanty of info and help here if you need it.

[81xsproject]

In the end, you should be able to park the bike with the petcocks on prime. If you are getting fuel in the airbox, then you either have fuel levels set too high, or leaking float valves. With that said, I certainly don't leave my petcocks on for long periods of time, but I could

[81xsproject]

Wingnut, good call on crap in the needle seat. I forgot about that one.

[Lloydo]

More Problems

Sorry I forgot to include in the first post, '79 XS 11 special. Thanks for the quick answers! I removed the tank, & it doesn't seem to matter where I have the lever on the petcock, but fuel continuously flows from the right side. Do I need to re-build the petcocks? If so, how hard is it to find the parts I need? I'm pulling the carbs to clean again. Thanks again.

[cajun31]

Cycle Recycle

http://www.crc2onlinecatalog.com/Index_Main_Frame.htm , Check out this site for the rebuild kit for the petcocks.

[Lloydo]

I'm in the process of the petcock rebuild right now, but a stupid question. It's obvious where the small o-ring, & round plastic piece with 4 holes go, but is the large, thicker o-ring for the petcock assembly to the gas tank? In other words, shaped into an oval shape. Just wanted to be sure, before I remove them completly from the tank. Thanks.

[TopCatGr58]

YES!
T.C.