Woke up to the house smelling of gas!

[graybird78]

the octy or octypus is mounted on top of carbs. its vacume operated off carbs via vac line.when engine is running it applies vac to the octy to allow fuel flow to fuel shut offs.if its malfunctioning it allows fuel past it to the petcocks. if petcocks are leaking like mine did you have a fuel leak. i rebiult my octy and petcocks with kits i got from george fix. the xj forum has a great tutorial on how to rebuild and properly clean these parts.

[adelii]

Thanks for all the info. I want to take a few pics of my carbs and petcocks and lines. im sure its not stock anymore. a lot of those nipples are blocked off.

[MarkD]

Seems I post this a lot, but adelii, have a look at this. It will give you a dose of confidence. I was afraid of 4 carbs, now they don't scare me a bit!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95nlrP-yn2I

[motoman]

Wow, you feeling alright Brant? Never thought I would hear you say something like that!



In theory your float needles should hold back the fuel even if the petcocks are always left on. They are not designed to due that permenantly so it is not something that you should rely on. So you need to first look at your carbs here and fix that.

You second need to look at the octy if you still have that on the bike. It again should stop all fuel from getting to the carbs when the bike is off. It is vacuum operated so if the vacuum line is unplugged or the diaphragm is bad it will not work. You can also get rid of the octy if you so desire.

Third you need to look at the petcocks.

These are listed in order of importance and must be completed in that order and must all be fixed, not just some of them.

Actually Nate, you've caught on rather quickly over the recent yrs. with CORRECT suggestions, So I've just let you take the lead with the details whenever you chime in. You MAY wanna check that you can still get thru your doorways though.

[motoman]

Seems I post this a lot, but adelii, have a look at this. It will give you a dose of confidence. I was afraid of 4 carbs, now they don't scare me a bit!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95nlrP-yn2I

U-tube 'how to' videos......now THAT'S scarey in itself.

[natemoen]

You MAY wanna check that you can still get thru your doorways though.

I will make sure I can make it through here in a little bit.

[WMarshy]

I will make sure I can make it through here in a little bit.

Use the same exit Brant uses and you wont have any issue.

[bikerphil]

Might have to tilt it sideways to get it to fit thru.

[adelii]

ok i sat down next to the bike and turned on the petcocks to see where the gas was leaking from just to make sure. previous owner has one nipple blocked off and the other runs towards the carbs way in there. I didnt take off anything just yet.

5 minutes in i can see the gas was dripping out of the nipple that was "plugged"

Is this nipple suppose to be plugged? The nipple that is leaking is the one closer to the front of the bike.

[bikerphil]

The PO has most likely eliminated the 'octy' (fuel shutoff valve) so those front prime outlets are not needed. Lots of times, vacuum caps that are not fuel resistant are used to block off and they end up giving way. I use a short piece of fuel line with either a ball bearing or a bolt shank stuffed in the end.

[adelii]

so just a line stuffed.

what size line am i looking for?

any other ideas? cleaner look?

[motoman]

Might have to tilt it sideways to get it to fit thru.

Ahhhhh......it fit.......notice I didn't offer any more assistance since I don't have the Special with the octy or different functioning petcocks. If I can't offer suggestions already known to help resolve an issue from hands-on/BTDT, sure not gonna offer any based on just what someone else says.

[bikerphil]

what size line am i looking for?

any other ideas? cleaner look?

1/4" line

Here is for a cleaner look......

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35443

[WMarshy]

so just a line stuffed.

what size line am i looking for?

any other ideas? cleaner look?

You can go to your local auto parts store and buy new caps but I think you will find that they will only last a 2-3 years. I know this because I bought an assortment of vacuum caps for the taps on the carb holders and my pet cocks. They drie out and split in 2 or 3 years.

[adelii]

Thank you guys. Great info I will try it this weekend and see if it works.