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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Savage petcork problem from MCNews
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Message started by verslagen1 on 09/20/07 at 14:53:11

Title: Savage petcork problem from MCNews
Post by verslagen1 on 09/20/07 at 14:53:11

Savage Running Rich
Jack (October issue) reported that his
1995 Suzuki DR350SE was running rich. I
recently had a similar problem with my
2001 Suzuki Savage.
While troubleshooting the problem, I disconnected
the vacuum line that runs from
the fuel petc0ck. I noticed a slight smell of
gasoline in the line. So, I left it disconnected
from the petc0ck, capped off the open
petc0ck nipple, and capped off the
vacuum line.
End of problem. I suspect the vacuum
diaphragm in the petc0ck was leaking and
allowing fuel to flow through the vacuum
line into the intake manifold. Now I just run
the bike with the petc0ck lever in the
“prime” position. Someday, I’ll get around
to replacing the vacuum diaphragm in the
petc0ck housing (maybe).
I hope this helps.
Duane Carey
-----------------
It’s an answer but not a great answer.
The reason there is a vacuum line and control
to the petc0cks is that the inlet needle
and seat which controls the flow of fuel into
the carburetor’s float bowl is not a perfect
seal (ask anyone who’s had a manual petc0ck
and left it on for a day or three). The
gasoline slowly seeps into the bowl when
you are not riding, and when the level of
the fuel gets high enough, it flows through
the jets, down the intake tract, past the
valves and into the cylinder. At this point a
few “interesting things” can happen. Best
case scenario, the fuel goes past the rings,
washing the oil off the cylinder and contaminating
the oil in the sump. This can
actually lead to an explosion when the bike
is run (not often though), but it always leads
to the oil not lubricating things right. The
other interesting thing is that if the gas stays
in the cylinder, and the piston comes up, the
gasoline does not compress, so, it can bend
your connecting rods, break your piston
or other part that is weakest. My advice:
fix the petc0ck.

From the Dec'06 downtime files of MCNews

Title: Re: Savage petcork problem from MCNews
Post by slavy on 09/20/07 at 16:48:24

Actually who ever gave this advise, made his petcock - manual. He turned it in a dirt-bike design, the only thing is, he or she has only 2 positions - reserve and closed , so the bike may run out of gas without warning.
The spring in the vacuum conpartment closes the flow of the gas when the rider flips in any position exepr PRI.

Title: Re: Savage petcork problem from MCNews
Post by Digger on 07/02/08 at 20:12:23

Actually, that was me who wrote that letter to MCN last year.

The answer given by the mag was obviously aimed at those who did not grow up using manual petcocks. The point of my letter was , if you have a bike with a vacuum-operated petcock and your bike suddenly seems to be running rich, check for problems in the petcock vacuum diaphram before checking anything else.

BTW, the next time the tank comes off mine (see signature), I'm doing the manual petcock mod.

And, my Savage has been running great ever since I disabled the vacuum "feature" of the petcock!

Title: Re: Savage petcork problem from MCNews
Post by Gort on 07/03/08 at 06:44:04

On my '96, I made the petcOck modification and installed a fuel shut off valve ( item with the yellow lever) for good measure. No more leaks into the fuel bowl or vac lines, ever.

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk80/tlukatch/FUELSHUTOFFVAVLE.jpg