Petcock rebuild SNAFU

[Giggity]

I decided to put the new gaskets in my petcocks today as the left on was leaking a good amount and the right just a little. Now the right one has a constant drip. That's the only one where I changed out the diaphragm, so I must have installed it wrong. Any ideas

[DGXSER]

There was a recent thread on this issue, or at least an old one I recently read, I think Randy and another member were on about how the rebuild kits come with a shorter spring or a shorter plug so they don't quite fit and soemthing they could do to make it work. Sorry I can't offer more. Search on petcocks and maybe you will find it.

[dbeardslee]

I think their fix was to take the plunger off the old diaphram and put it on the new diaphram. Evidently the new ones are 1mm shorter than they need to be. In addition the springs may have gotten weak over time, and with a new o-ring on the plunger it may not be strong enough to seat the o-ring. Additionally you've got 30 year old oxidized metal your working with which is rarely a good thing. I did mine, had 'em working great, and then several months later they started leaking again. Finally just s-canned the whole setup and installed new manual petcocks. Haven't had a dribble since.

[Giggity]

I did see that thread, but the kits I bought did not come with the spring. I re-used the old one.

[dbeardslee]

They almost never come with the springs. I wound up getting some springs at ACE Hardware/Motorcycle Parts and adjusting them for the application. Changing the plungers may fix the problem. Problem with springs is, if you get them too strong, they may close too well - vacuum might not pull 'em back out.

[Giggity]

I'm not really sure what the plunger is....

[DGXSER]

Plunger = the metal piece in the middle of the rubber piece with the o-ring on it.

[dbeardslee]

What Don said - the metal thing in the center of the diaphram. NOT the thing with the wooden handle by the throne - that'll NEVER work .

[Giggity]

What's the trick to removing the plunger? The old one looks riveted and the new one looks pressed together.

[dbeardslee]

Giggity - I went back and reread the thread that mentioned this. After reading it again it appears the other member that was having this problem put the old diaphram assembly (with the factory length plunger) back in and stopped the leak. Also mentioned a small problem with the brass piece that sits under it. Here's a link to the thread. http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...ger+1mm&page=2

If the diaphrams you have aren't serviceable, I'm pretty sure I've got several old ones out in the man cave.