Gas / Oil Leak

[unicorncomputer]

I am having some leakage from under the number 1 carb.

http://s1334.photobucket.com/user/un...tml?sort=3&o=0

http://s1334.photobucket.com/user/un...tml?sort=3&o=3

http://s1334.photobucket.com/user/un...tml?sort=3&o=1

http://s1334.photobucket.com/user/un...tml?sort=3&o=2

Carb 1 is the only one that seems to be affected. It seems like oil or oil/gas mix, not being any kind of mechanic, I am confused where it would be coming from.

I just put piece of cardboard under the carbs and ran the bike for few minutes between idle and 4k rpm. Nothing dripped.

I will go back out before it gets too dark and get an update.

Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Steve

[sparkfly88]

Just looks like rust filled fuel to me...nasty

Do you have inline fuel filters??

[3Phase]

Steve,

That's baked fule.

At the very least the floats aren't working so you're going to have to pull the carbs and find out where it's coming from before you light yourself or your bike on fire.


.

[jjz28]

have you cleaned the carbs yet/ If you clean the carbs and make sure the gasket is trimmed so it don't hang up the float then it will probably fix it. The reason you don't see it when its running is because its using the fuel, if you turn it off it will leak out. I bet your airbox is full of fuel and also your oil. You need to check your oil before you run it again. if it has gas in it, you could lock it up.

[Rasputin]

That baked on fuel look is most likely from poor carb bowl gaskets. If the floats were leaking it would not show up on the outside of the bowls.

[mack]

Enrichment plunger

I looked and think the leak is at the end of the enrichment plunger and is blowing back onto the bowl, then running down and off the bottom of the bowl.
The plunger has a rubber seal on the end that maybe deformed, broken or missing completely, preventing a seal after the bike is of choke settings. Look at the plug and compare it to the other three.

[mack]

On second glance

I think I may have been hasty there, that is classic butterfly shaft seal deterioration.

[unicorncomputer]

Thank you for the insight and possibilities. I will look into these.

I did clean, rebuild and sync the carbs last summer. I installed a pingel valve and inline fuel filter as well as change out the fuel lines the beginning of this summer.

How would I be able to tell if the seal at the end of the enricher plunger is bad? When should I be able to notice the leak if this is the problem.

If the fuel is rusty, does this mean I have rust in my tank?

How can this be solved?

I think I may still have a bowl gasket from the rebuild kits, I will try this too.

Thanks again for all your ideas and help.

Steve

[Rasputin]

Where did you wipe your finger to get the red looking stuff on it?
If your diaphragms are in good shape you should be able to push the slide up and seal the kidney shaped hole in the carbs bell. Then if the slide moves down rapidly it will show a leak. If the enrichment valve is open it will drop almost instantly so make sure they are in the closed position. You can check the other slides to see if they drop the same. As far as I know fuel will only get there by using the choke/enricher circuit so I doubt that is the issue. I have been wrong many times so do not take that as gospel.
I do not think that the butterfly seals will cause this as they should only be a factor if the bike is running. In that case, most issues I am aware of relate to a vacuum leak and not a fuel leak resulting in poor running. Again far from gospel.
Floats, needles, jets, and all carb circuits are inside the carb and should not leak outside the box. It should show up either in your airbox or oil but not on the outside surfaces. Is there any chance you have a pinhole leak in the tank or a fuel line or maybe the new Pingles? That would leak down and transfer a long ways with a bit of wind from riding.
Just a few thoughts I have while thinking of your issue.

[jjz28]

you are absolutely right Ras, I didn't look closely at the pic. I should have paid more attention before I posted. I just went for the usual problem, wich is not what I should have done. I just don't want anyone to run with gas in their oil and mess up a bike. I should have looked at the pic better.

[bikerphil]

If the fuel is rusty, does this mean I have rust in my tank?
How can this be solved?

I would first drain some fuel from the fuel tap(s) into a clear glass to determine the condition of the fuel. If you find rust, it's time for a good tank cleaning with metal rescue or similar.

[GLoweVA]

I would first drain some fuel from the fuel tap(s) into a clear glass to determine the condition of the fuel. If you find rust, it's time for a good tank cleaning with metal rescue or similar.

You may have to let the 'clear glass' cup or whatever you drained it into sit for a bit to let the suspended rust to settle out and then see what the bottom of the cup looks like. JAT.

The pics look to me like a bowl gasket leaking.
It may not be rust. I've noticed that the ethanol gas tends to look like that when drying out. (weeks/months)
When you got it on your finger, did it feel grainy? or smooth like honey?
I suggest that if you plan on letting it sit for a while, adding something to the tank like stabil or seafoam, etc. That may prevent the gas from doing that.

[unicorncomputer]

I got the liquid from touching the bowl drain bolt.

It is not grainy to my recolection, I will check this again tonight. I think I still have some of the bowl gaskets from the rebuild I did last summer, I will try that since I can do that with the carbs still on the bike(hate taking them off).

By preference, the only time I letting the bike sit is due to weather, which has been more than I would like this summer, but only for a week at a time. Worst case I am trying to at least take it down the local store for quick pickups.

[unicorncomputer]

Finally got some time to look at my leak problem last night.

Degreased and cleaned it so I could get a fresh look at things. Found that the leak is coming either from the right petcock itself or where the fuel line connects, not sure which yet. Getting some new line tonight to replace the line.

Petcock has had new oring, main seal and spring replaced last year.

Do they just go bad sometimes? Can they still be purchased, My current one has the four positions, On, Off, Reserve and Prime.

Thank you,

Steve

[jjz28]

Funny thing, I was taking my fuel line off today and the nipple came out of the petcock. I didn't know they just pressed in there. Maybe its not pressed in all the way. Hopefully It will just be the line. Good luck.