Gas Dumping out of airbox...

[joebus]

So after taking the bike out for an awesome ride on a crazy nice day I park in the garage for the night. Wake up the next day and walked by the garage door and smelled gas. Opened the door and there it was. A pond of gas under my xs1100...I take off the airbox and it is full of gas
So i turn the petcocks off and start dumping out the carb bowls because all i could think is that everything is over flowing. everything seems to be still full of gas...anyone have any ideas???Any help would be awesome

[ardvark1]

Gas Dumping out of airbox...

Had the same happen to me earlier in the season. I found it was one of the floats sticking open. Best to take them all out and clean and reset them all and check the Valve seat assembly is clean and is'nt sticking as well. A good tip I was give was to turn fuel taps off when parking the bike up. Therefore if the floats do decide to stick open at any time with the taps off you'll lessen the chance of filling your airbox with fuel.

Al

[joebus]

so i guess i will have to take the carbs off...not really what i wanted to do due to my lack of carb skills. One of my petcocks is a litte iffy and does not move very well so i dont think i will be turning it off everytime i park the bike. Do i need to drain the carbs all of the way then?? Thanks for the quick help!

[egleaves]

I've been through the same thing, sometimes gas would drip (or pour) from the left most pod filter. My wife was pretty pissed that I stunk up the whole house a couple of times. Even though I still have the octy, I've made a habit of turning off my petcocks when i park it just to be safe. The problem was intermittent for me, but happened enough that I just don't trust the floats and needles.

[dbeardslee]

Joebus - You probably need to change the oil as well. The gas goes both ways when the float bowls overflow - in to the engine as well as out through the airbox. It can leak down past the rings in the cylinder and contaminate the oil. I've heard reports of spun bearings due to gas in the oil, so it can be more than an inconvenience if you run it that way.

My petcocks were leaking and I went around and around with them. Rebuilt 'em and they worked great for a while, then started acting up again. Finally ditched 'em in favor of manual ones from partsnmore - no more petcock problems. Mine are a little different as I have a standard and yours is a special, so if they shut off ok you may be ok.

I agree with Ardvark about the valve seat - more than likely the problem. I've heard that the viton tipped needles are superior, but haven't tried them yet. I'm about to though, as all four of my needle and seats started leaking last week. They were from a partsnmore carb rebuild kit and are less than a year old. Mikes XS sells the viton tipped needles. While you've got it open you might want to check the condition of the bowl gasket (they can flatten out and get too wide with repeated removal and installation). If they get to wide they can catch the floats and cause them to stick. Might want to check your float height also to insure proper operation - 23mm for plastic, 25.7mm for brass.

[wingnut]

Joe you can try tapping the carb bowls with a screw driver handle a couple of times and see if that frees up the stuck float and stops the flow. Issue is some thing is sticking in there and you will have to take the carbs off or live with the intermittent Exon Valdez type spills. Could be just a piece of junk holding a needle open or one of the floats leaking. Most likely one of them is hanging up because its dropping down to far. Search the forum for info, this has happened to a lot of folks. Also check your oil level before you start it up. If its high or when you open the oil fill port and it smells of fuel you have filled the crankcase with fuel and it will need to be changed before you run it again.

[joebus]

Thanks guys!

So tonight I will change the oil and also mess with the carbs and see if I can get it running right. Another question. The K&N filter got soaked with gas. do i just get the recharge spray and clean it? Also do i need to drain te carbs bowl all the way??? Again thank for the help.

[dbeardslee]

Joebus - When you take the carbs apart, the bowls will most assuredly drain. I usually pull the carbs and then hold them over my oil drain pan and let the gas drain out of the gas and vent lines prior to disassembly. Probably be a good idea to wash and re-oil the K&N.

On the issue of running, how did you set your carbs to begin with - specifically the mixture and the synch?

[joebus]

I have owned the bike for 2 weeks... the PO rebuilt the carbs this season and they were running great. plugs looked good so not too rich or too lean. Everything on the bike is stock except the K&N. So i will try to fix it with out pulling carbs first.I think part of the issue is that the choke does not slide very smoothly. I must have got it stuck when i was starting t up. It was running great before this...

[dbeardslee]

Joebus - Two tools I find indispensable when working on carbs - colortune and synch gauges. Colortune will help get the mixture right across all carbs, and the synch will get them working together like they're supposed to.

If your carbs are leaking, may advice is take 'em off and fix 'em the right way. If the float valves are bad you're doomed to do it anyway, just a matter of when and how much gas you want on the floor. You may be able to stop the leak at the petcocks, but if they are leaking, even though it may run but it won't run right - poor performance and mileage and it will probably foul the plugs quickly. Besides, you won't know what is causing the problem until you take them apart and investigate. Better to locate the problem in the garage than have it bite you out on a lonely stretch of road.

I can understand your hesitance to remove the carbs if your not real familiar with them. Gotta get over that as the carbs on XS11's are something you need to get intimate with. The first time is always the worst - for anything. Second time it's old hat. There's plenty of talent available to help you with any problems you may run into on this site. My advice is ask your questions before you get into trouble. What I mean is, if something doesn't make sense to you, or you don't know what to do, post your question before ham-fisting. With the weather starting to turn you shouldn't be waiting very long for answers.

[joebus]

I owuld love to have those tools but i cant drop 300 bucks on somthing like that right now. I will look into the manuel petcock as an option as well.

[trapper_492001]

Joebus

One other thing you should check when you have the carbs off is to see if the floats are dropping to far down in the float bowl, if they do it can wedge and will pour gas out. With the float bowls off hold the carbs up with the floats down and see if one float hangs down farther than the rest. There is a tang on the float that sets against the post to stop it from falling to far.

Trapper

[DiverRay]

joebus,
You don't NEED the colortune, just a GOOD sync tool. You should be able to buy a "stick type" for about $50 to $75, about the cost of letting a shop do it once. I would pull the carbs, and look at the "tech Tips" to find the easy way to get them off and on.
Look at the floats carefully, as others have said. The big problem seems to be simple things.
1. Make SURE all floats are the same setting!!
2. Check the float drop and angle on the floats. EVERYTHING must go STRAIT up and down.
3. IF you have a 1980 or newer, your seat will be held in with a screw and clip. CHANGE THE "O" RINGS and use Viton or a fuel proof replacement.
4. The choke can be freed with just a spray of silicon lube at each point it runs through a carb. You will see what I am saying once the carbs are off.

[joebus]

My wife just called and said the gas was still leaking so i guess I have a petcock issue as well... Good thing I just filled up I have a 79sf. Dang it, I did not want to retire this one for the season already...
Thanks for the help again.

[joebus]

another question

so if my petcock is crapping out it will just keep leaking gas right? How do i go about removing gas from the take so i dont end up with gas everywhere?