That's what I did on my Special after the petcock rebuild and it's been the best. No leaks for years. I also took the advice from another member (forget who, but thanks) to pull the fuel lines from the tank, plug them and hang'm during winterization. Didn't want a leak to find its way into the engine case.
Cheers,
Dan
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BTW....Conspicuously missing in the photos? (゜-゜)
The brass pipes extending up from the petcock inlet holes. ( ´･_･`)
Y'know, so's there's a different fuel intake fOaR normal "On" and the "Reserve" positions? (○´ ― `)ゞ
They were there when I put'em in in 2009. Found'em rolling round the inside of the tank. （ ；¬＿¬)
Mebbe or mebbe Not related to the whole "Ethanol Blended Fuel Conducts Electricity" snafu shown in the photos. ( ﾟ ,_ゝﾟ)
Still....I'd advise our mOaR concerned/diligent members to check'n see iffin' there's continuity between their petcocks/adapter plates and the steel tank. ( ⚆ _ ⚆ )
Disclaimer- Oem petcocks installed correctly don't got this problem. ヾ(＾∇＾)Leave a comment:
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Imma guessing Galvanic Corrosion, Pitting Corrosion, AND Crevice Corrosion with the ethanol fuel/water as the electolyte instead of seawater. (ﾟ ヘﾟ)
Steel tank and the aluminum adapter plate(s) were s'posed to be electrically isolated from each other so's the corrosion process couldn't take place. Y'know....rubber gaskets and fiber washers? (º～º)
I mebbe sorta coulda checked between the tank and the plates with a meter and iffin I got continuity that might have given me a warning that something wasn't right. Metal touching metal somewheres I couldn't see. ( •́ ⍨ •̀)
Mebbe useful fOaR someone out there with these same style adapter plates to pull/inspect what they gots to get ahead of these type of failures. ヽ(゜～゜o)ノ
FoAr the record- with the OEM petcocks now installed? ( `_ゝ´)
NO electrical continuity between the tank and the petcocks so no corrosion possible. (´∀｀)
Those Yammy Engineers, Yay! ヽ(•‿•)ノLeave a comment:
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I suspect ethanol had something to do with that damage.
At the 15 year mark THIS happened to the aftermarket petcocks/adapter plates. (⊙︿⊙)
The adapter plates corroded away. A goopy mess oozed past them to drip/flow all over, down the bike, and make a puddle underneath similar to roofing Tar or the asphalt stuff people use to seal their driveway. (ノ_<。)
All better now as I located, ordered, rebuilt, and installed a set of the OEM petcocks. (人´∀`)Leave a comment:
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At the 15 year mark THIS happened to the aftermarket petcocks/adapter plates. (⊙︿⊙)
The adapter plates corroded away. A goopy mess oozed past them to drip/flow all over, down the bike, and make a puddle underneath similar to roofing Tar or the asphalt stuff people use to seal their driveway. (ノ_<。)
All better now as I located, ordered, rebuilt, and installed a set of the OEM petcocks. (人´∀`)Leave a comment:
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It's amazing that after almost 16 years this post has been so helpful to me, thank you so much guys...I hope everything is good on your end..Leave a comment:
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Ahhh...Now I see the reason for the confusion. Like Ken stated, special petcocks DO have a true off position. Which is why alot of the special owners nix the octy and just turn the petcocks off.Leave a comment:
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Thanks Ken!
I'll look at the single original special petcock I still have with renewed interest.
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Actually, the petcocks on Specials have four positions - off, on, reserve, and prime. The "off" is a true off.
The petcocks on Standards have three positions - on, reserve, and prime.
Standards petcocks are vacuum controlled so they stop fuel flow from on or reserve if the engine is not running. The vacuum control of fuel for Specials is done in the octopus, not in the petcocks.Leave a comment:
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A little "OFF"....
DGXSER,
Understand about "nit-picking"/engineer POV. I see that as a good thing. Sometimes the difference between success and failure is some small trivial detail which can trip us up. My background of problem solving/analytical troubleshooting makes me comfortable with my info or ideas being criticized. Critical thinking is just part of the process. Some folks don't react well to having their stuff criticized and do take it personally. I'm not in that category but thanks for considering the possibility that I might have been..
In Brownbear1000's first posting he states that the petcocks leak when he turns them "off." Please correct me if my understanding is flawed, but there is no true "OFF" position on the factory special petcocks. (That is unless the petcocks have been modified to have an "Off") Instead, the settings are prime, on, and reserve. This leads me to question whether or not brownbear1000 really has a problem with the petcocks which merits a rebuild. Also it is still unknown if the bike has the original "octy"/shut-off.
Brownbear1000, if you are going to pull off the petcocks and install the kits before DGXSER posts his "How-To" with pics, then here are some tips: 1.) The left and right petcocks are not identical...more like mirror images of each other. Either one will fit in the other's side of the gas tank but then the prime and reserve settings will be backwards. 2.) The plate which identifies the petcock lever position can be swapped between the two petcocks resulting in a mismatch between what the plate says the petcock is doing and what is really happening.
Both of these problems can be prevented by keeping each petcock labeled and separate from the other. Plus if the idea of having a true "OFF" setting is appealing, there have been semi-recent posts here on the site which show how others have done it.Leave a comment:
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I had a loose one. They are a pressed in fit. I pulled it out, cleaned everything up and put a small amount of JB weld around the outside of the tube. I then pushed it back into place, wiped off any excess tha squeezed out and let it dry. My repair is 2 yrs old and so far it is holding great.Leave a comment:
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I have intermittent leakage. I think I have traced it to one of the two tubes that comes out of Petcock. It is loose and wiggles a bit.
Any ideas on how to fit the wiggle?Leave a comment:
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