Died, restarted with white to gray smoke

[mjevans]

I am new to the forum and for the most part motorcycles. I have a problem that I hope someone with more experience can help with.
I have a 1982 XJ1100J. Recently has had the fuel lines, oil filter, air cleaner, spark plugs and oil changed. Took it out today for the first time since all of the changes and rode to 1/4 mile to gas station (died when I came to a stop, thought it was out of gas). Filled up and away I went. Half way back home it got sluggish and died again at the stop sign. Got it started and made it 50 feet, died again. Got it started and was getting alot of white to light gray smoke that quickly went away but it got me home. On the way home it got real sluggish a couple of times like it was going to die but managed to hold on.
Parked and got off only to find what smelt and felt like a gasoline and oil mixture dripping out of the air cleaner housing.
Any ideas as to what may be the problem. It has run on the stand in the garage for the past to day very well with no signs of the above stated leak.

Any help would be great, thanks

[kf4anm]

smoky

had the same problem a few months ago. these folks helped me right out. sounds like fuel has leaked into the crankcase. change the oil, the plugs, and get some shut off valves for your fuel line.

[graybird78]

smoke

hello and welcome.sounds like carbs flooding over into crank case and airbox. stuck or sticking fuel floats can cause this. i would remedy this problem before changing oil .otherwise you will contaminate new oil. is the inside of your tank rusty??? do the float bowls have rust in them . these are just a couple of causes for flooding. has the bike sat for a long time??? let us know.

[wildbill]

Welcome to the site.What was posted above,I agree with,and if you need any advice or anything post and we will try to help you out.Do you have a service manual and tools?Check one thing at a time.May I suggest first that you unhook your fuel petcocks first,make sure that they are not turned to prime.Gas will flow all the time with them turned to prime.Check for leaks there first if not you will have to check the carbs.Once you get your bike fixed change oil and filter also check your air filter{might have to dry it out or replace if foam type clean and reoil.Take your time and good luck.

[mjevans]

Thank you all for the guidence. Yes I have tools and a manual. I will take things one at a time and let you know what I find out and ask if I have anymore questions.

[Geezer]

Originally posted by mjevans
Thank you all for the guidence. Yes I have tools and a manual. I will take things one at a time and let you know what I find out and ask if I have anymore questions.

Where are you in Oregon? I'm in Tualatin and if you're not to far away, I'd be willing to drop by, look it over and give you a few pointers.

Geezer

[mjevans]

Thanks, Geezer. I am in Dallas, about 15 minutes West of Salem.

[Geezer]

Originally posted by mjevans
Thanks, Geezer. I am in Dallas, about 15 minutes West of Salem.

That's a full tank for a round trip in my truck. If you're still having problems when the riding weather is better, I'll ride the ol' Mongrel down.

Geezer

[mjevans]

Thanks for the offer, I agree that it is quite the drive. I will keep you posted as to the status of getting it up and running. I hope it will be up and running by the time the nice weather gets here.

[Geezer]

Keep us posted.

Geezer

[mjevans]

Ok, I got some time today to at least take a look at the petcock valves. I have the service manual for my XJ1100J and as most of you probably know they are not very useful to the none mechanic. I did however talk with a mechanic today and he told me that there should be no gas flow through the petcock EXCEPT when it is in the PRI position.

I checked mine this afternoon and the following is what I found out. As you know the petcock has 2 hose fittings each side.

On the LEFT and RIGHT petcock, FRONT fitting, gas flows freely only when in the PRI position. This is correct I BELIEVE. Yes or No?

On the LEFT and RIGHT petcock, REAR fitting, gas flows freely only when in the RES position. I have no idea if this is correct or not. I do know however that I was running in the RES position (extremely low on gas) the other day when this all took place. Should RES position be free flowing?

Is it possible that when I filled up the tank (5 gallons of head pressure) and I was running on RES and the RES position was free flowing that it flooded the carbs?

There does not appear to be any considerable amount of rust in the tank. Syphon out the gas today and it was clean. Checked filters a while back and they looked extremely good.

Sorry this is so long.

[John]

Petcock handle position

On the XJ petcocks As well as the XS specials, the handle should cover the function as it is printed on the chrome ring on the ptecock. Ie, the handle should point down in the on position, and reserve is with the handle pointing up. Off is with the handle pointing to the rear, and prime is pointing to the front. Some people have confused the positioning of the handle, causing problems with flooding and with fuel in the oil. Any chance the vent hole in the gas cap is plugged? Constant dying out can be caused by this.
Maybe this will help.

[wildbill]

Gas should only flow when on PRI.Some of these petcocks operate backwards,the one that looked like it was on RES might have been on PRI instead.I have had petcocks where to turn to RES,you would turn the left one one way and the other{right}the other way.It is easy to get mixed up.Check the petcocks again because gas should not flow freely when on RES.Good luck.

[John]

Bill, he has an XJ 11. It does not have the vacuum actuated petcocks like your 78 E has, and fuel will flow in all positions except off. That is one of the purposes of the Octopus on the Special, and the XJ. It is vacuum operated, and it is supposed to shut off the flow of fuel when there is no vacuum.

[Ken Talbot]

Matt:

- your petcocks are operating properly. You probably had no flow from the rear spigot in ON position simply because there was not enough fuel in the tank.

- the 'head' pressure from 5 gallons on gas will be no different in ON or RESERVE.

- the carbs can only flood in ON or RESERVE position if _both_ the octopus and the float valves are working incorrectly. If the octopus _or_ all 4 float valves are working properly, the carbs will not flood.

Time to back in and fix the octopus and all the float valves. Sorry....