stubborn little gas leak

[DeanR]

Over the winter I put new rubber discs in both petcocks, after which not a drop of gas would leak when the tank was off the bike and in the off position so I assume petcocks are ok. All 4 positions seemed to work as they should. Now with everything back together, including a new hose and clamps, I'm getting a slight seepage right at the no.1 hose petcock connection (the other three are ok) when the petcock is on. If I haven't run the bike and no.1 hose is bone dry, if I turn the petcock on you can see slight seepage almost right away. One night it was left in the on position and by morning had competely soaked a cloth I had left underneath. Could it be the brass fitting in the petcock didn't get put back in the petcock body tight enough? Or does it have something to do with that octopus thing not doing whatever it is that it does? Everything was fine last fall. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks, I don't want to smell any more gas or burn down the garage!

[81xsproject]

while fighting with my petcocks I went to detach the hoses and pulled that stupid brass fitting right out of its hole. I would check there first. I think I am going to reinstall mine with some thread sealant on the fitting. Not sure if it will work however.
JC

[DeanR]

I pulled three out of the four fittings out. Still don't know if I was supposed to or not, but they came out anyway with the hoses. Only the one has the leak.

[Czekus21]

I've pulled the fittings out on my bike as well. They should fit in about 1/4 to 3/8 inch and should be tight and not bent or smashed up like a stop sign. If they are good and seated all the way in and still leak, I'm sure that a product like Seal All, used on the brass piece and stuffed back in the petcock, AND aloud to cure
should stop it from leaking. The draw back of using Seal All is that you will probably never get the tube out agian as it is impervious to gas,oil and solvents.

[81xsproject]

Just out of curriousity, why would you want them out?
JC

[xswilly]

this may sound stupid
but i has a similar problem
check the hose where it goes onto the brass fitting
sometimes when it is taken off and on a few times
it can develop a crack or split
especially when you use needle nose pliers on it

that was my problem

[prometheus578]

I don't have octopi, so I'll have to agree with XSWILLY. You're dealing with 25 year old rubber hoses.

[Materi]

I accidentally pulled the brass nipple off of one of mine once while removing a stubborn hose. Using a piece of fairly soft wood and a rubber mallett, I gently but firmly "tapped" the nipple back in place and it hasn't leaked since. Knock on my head (wood).

When you rebuilt your petcocks did you polish the inside of the handle/pointer where it comes into contact with the rubber? I read on here that that procedure could add alot of life to your rubber disks. I polished mine with water and 400 then 600 grit sandpaper until shiny and very smooth. The petcocks seem to function much more smoothly now than before the rebuild. Perhaps a jagged area on your petcock tore into your new rubberr?, hope not but it is where I would look.

I also installed a brand new octopus and guess what....If the petcocks are left on, fuel will still run into the air box please don't inquire as to how I know. So, the bike is dismantled now in the final stages of a resto, and that is the last issue I am going to tackle before re-assembly.

Good Luck