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Message started by Jbraunstein on 06/02/11 at 07:43:57

Title: Bad gas leak from carburetor
Post by Jbraunstein on 06/02/11 at 07:43:57

Hi guys,

I'm having an issue that seems serious. Filled up my gas tank last night. Started my bike up this morning and everything sounded good for about 10 secs, after which point fuel started to spurt out of that little gold plug on the left side of the carburetor at a rapid rate! I stopped getting throttle response and the engine sputtered out.

I checked the valve setting and it was properly set to "on", pointing straight down. I tried starting it up again and the same thing happened after a few seconds--carb seemed to flood with gas and then leak all over the darn place. However, I turned the fuel valve to reserve just for the hell of it, and the problem went away immediately. No sputtering, no leaking, smooth idle.

Is this a dreaded petcock problem? Is my fuel valve messed up and not reflecting the settings properly? (it seemed as if this is exactly what would happen if the valve setting was on "prime", even though it wasn't). Is it the vacuum line?

I'm able to ride alright on RES for the time being but I'm afraid to put it back to normal, if the valve happens to be stuck or clogged. Is there an easy way to troubleshoot this?

I'm also worried about all the gas that leaked into whatever part of the engine thats right below the float bowl of the carb. Should I be worried about this?

Thanks in advance.

Title: Re: Bad gas leak from carburetor
Post by Jbraunstein on 06/02/11 at 08:36:45

In searching, I ran across this thread: http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1303154366/3#3

Maybe when i filled up the tank I churned up some sediment in there and that's causing the needle to stick, or maybe clogging the main fuel port?

Title: Re: Bad gas leak from carburetor
Post by Serowbot on 06/02/11 at 08:43:01

Odd,... switching to reserve shouldn't make any difference...
Coincidence?...
Otherwise,... sounds like a stuck float or dirty needle seat.
I'd pull the float bowl and clean in there,... probably drain the tank and clean the petcock screen too...

Because the leaking occurs only when the engine is running,... this does not sound like the usual petcock problem...

Title: Re: Bad gas leak from carburetor
Post by Jbraunstein on 06/02/11 at 12:13:18

Better performance after switching to reserve is probably a coincidence (unless the valve mechanism is out of whack--no reason to believe this is the case);

I doubt the fact that this is the second time a problem has manifested right after I gas up, is a coincidence.

I really don't want to take apart the carb just yet :-[

I'll be picking up some Seafoam today to see if that makes a difference...

Title: Re: Bad gas leak from carburetor
Post by Jbraunstein on 06/03/11 at 07:02:48

No more gas squirting out the carb vents...must have been a one time/intermittent thing...float needle probably got stuck temporarily.

Added about 4 oz of sea foam to the tank yesterday...still too soon to feel a significant difference but my idle seems a little higher.

I swear if I ever get another bike, it will have fuel injection...worrying that my bike is going to stall out for mysterious reasons at any given time kinda takes some of the fun out of riding. :P

Title: Re: Bad gas leak from carburetor
Post by Routy on 06/03/11 at 07:17:05

Clean the tank, clean the carb, install a little fuel filter, and you won't have to worry about stalling,.....or flooding out.

Fuel injection won't tolerate dirt either, and then you'd be into a lot more expense !

If you don't do nothing else, drain the carb bowl into a clear glass bottle,.....see what come out. Then install a little inline fuel filter.