Fuel system issue

[mfarrington]

Howdy. As I am a non-mechanic, I will surely use incorrect nomenclature. My problem: serious fuel leak at the fuel line 'junction box.' The square do-hickey that is part of the octopus fuel line assembly. I took it apart, inspected the material inside, cleaned build-up on the metal surfaces, reassembled making sure all screws were tight. Was proud of myself when I hooked the fuel lines up, thinking I'd be cruising in 15 minutes. WRONG! Soon as I opened the petcocks, BAM! Leaking like crazy. Help, please.

Peace!

[jetmechmarty]

It needs a rebuild kit. I will send you instructions when I get to a place. I can use my laptop. Or...I'll fix it for you next week.

[soccer4m]

toss it asap

Best bet is to do what most folks have done with the fuel line octoput,,,TOSS IT, just hook up the fuel lines straight to the carbs from the tank petcocks. If your worried about leaks there is a quick mod for grinding on the pet cocks to turn off the gas when not running. Or you can put in a couple of gas shutoffs from a mower shop. The octopus is a bad design and causes multiple headaches,,,,so, keep it simple toss it. Also, you probably have gas in your oil,,,,CHANGE IT ASAP,,,,to keep from burning up your eng. bearings. There is a lot of info in the search section, but time to ride, toss the octopus....Mike in Sun Diego

[Yard Dogg]

I always end up tossing it. If you really want the vacuum petcocks, you can adapt some from another bike. My 78 XS750 has vacuum petcocks that I'm thinking of using. It's nice when you don't have to physically shut off your fuel every time you get off the bike.

[motoman]

Best bet is to do what most folks have done with the fuel line octoput,,,TOSS IT, just hook up the fuel lines straight to the carbs from the tank petcocks. If your worried about leaks there is a quick mod for grinding on the pet cocks to turn off the gas when not running. Or you can put in a couple of gas shutoffs from a mower shop. The octopus is a bad design and causes multiple headaches,,,,so, keep it simple toss it. Also, you probably have gas in your oil,,,,CHANGE IT ASAP,,,,to keep from burning up your eng. bearings. There is a lot of info in the search section, but time to ride, toss the octopus....Mike in Sun Diego

Specials already have the OFF position. Standards have no OFF and fuel is shut off with internal diaphrams in the petcocks, IF working correctly.

[mfarrington]

Man, I love this place!

Thanks for all the replies. So if I get this straight .... If I rebuild the octo I get to keep the fancy feature of not having to turn off fuel upon stop. If I scrap the octo, I have a simpler system, but do need to turn off the fuel upon stop. Do I have this correct?

Peace

[natemoen]

Thanks for all the replies. So if I get this straight .... If I rebuild the octo I get to keep the fancy feature of not having to turn off fuel upon stop. If I scrap the octo, I have a simpler system, but do need to turn off the fuel upon stop. Do I have this correct?

Peace

Basically.

But even with the octy you should still turn the fuel off cause things fail......

[crazy steve]

One major issue with the octy is all the fuel lines it needs (eight pieces instead of two) and getting all the lengths/routing correct, which is rather critical. A lot of 'stuff' in a rather confined space, and they can be a real PITA to deal with.

And like Nate said, you really should be turning the fuel off anyway....

[soccer4m]

Like Steve said

SOOO,,,,run a fuel line from each of the petcocks to the carbs with A inline FILTER in each line to stop the crud. There is no need to turn off if carbs are not leaking,,,,BUT, its a good idea just in case to turn to off if the bike is sitting, unridden for more than a few days. The lines can have a shutoff added if your petcocks do not have an off position, or there is a mod to grind off the petcock lever to just turn straight up to off. TOSS THE OCTOPUS, and your life will be much happier...........Mike in SUn DIEGO

[mikubuilder]

Hey, I just rebuilt my petcocks(standard), did that mod(ground of that little tab so I can turn handle up) and my petcocks still leak .....

I even stretched that spring a little because I had kits from georgefix, and someone was saying that springs are too short...

also the handles turn really hard

any ideas?

PS. sorry for hijacking your post...

[soccer4m]

try this

HI Nick,,,,try smoothing down the back of the petcock handle with wetsand paper, make sure the rubber gasket is clean, reapply grease, dont crank the screws and it should be nice and smooth when turning. You will have to pull out the handle to check and smooth it out. If there is any grit, crud,etc it will be hard to turn or your gasket is shot and it will leak no matter what you do, try smoothing it out, grease it and lightly seat the hold down screws, and get back to the guys here....................Mike

[XJkid]

I couldn't get mine to stop leaking after new gaskets were installed. I took it apart many times thinking I was doing something wrong and then realized that the sealing surface on the back side of the petcock, the surface that does not move, was corroded. I then installed the gasket with epoxy to close the corrosion channels dug by water in the tank for years before I got it. It worked for me, just don't get epoxy on any moving parts. I'm not sure what is going to happen the next time I need new gaskets, maybe the gasket will come out and the epoxy will stay?? Let's hope.

[WMarshy]

HI Nick,,,,try smoothing down the back of the petcock handle with wetsand paper, make sure the rubber gasket is clean, reapply grease, dont crank the screws and it should be nice and smooth when turning. You will have to pull out the handle to check and smooth it out. If there is any grit, crud,etc it will be hard to turn or your gasket is shot and it will leak no matter what you do, try smoothing it out, grease it and lightly seat the hold down screws, and get back to the guys here....................Mike

What he's suggesting with the sandpaper is to polish the surface of the petcock arm/body that rotates and makes contact with the rubber seal. That surface can become buggered up over time and have varnish on it. Any little flaw in it could cause the leakage. Once you get it polished just flip the rubber gasket over (the one with 4 holes that contacts the petcock lever) in case there is a nick in it causing the leak. I would be cautious about applying a grease to any rubber parts, depending what you use it may not be compatible. I have noticed that if you run a little bit of 2-stroke oil in your gas tank your petcock valves will turn more easily.

[mfarrington]

I'm gunna scrap it ....

Special has off position on petcocks, seems easiest to connect both sides to fuel filter and then directly to carbs.

Thanks again to all. I love this place!

Peace

[Yard Dogg]

Yup, what marshy said. Certain petroleum products can expand rubber. If your handles are too tight, then try using blue thread lock on your screws and then just tighten them until the lever is manageable.