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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Mysterious intermittent fuel leak.
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Message started by svenofthejungle on 01/05/13 at 13:02:27

Title: Mysterious intermittent fuel leak.
Post by svenofthejungle on 01/05/13 at 13:02:27

So I just got my 2002 Savage up and running again after about two weeks of wrenching --- and it's running better than before, thanks to Verslagen's magical cam tensioner and Oldfeller's sage advice regarding my dummy mistake of thinking I should Loctite the head bolts. Beginner's luck --- the scoot scoots on, and I learned a thing or two about wrenching!

So I have this weird transient fuel leak that only happens when the bike's running, and stops when the petcock's turned to RES.

Two days ago: while warming up the bike, I noticed a puddle of clear liquid from directly underneath, suggesting the carb was leaking. I stare at the carb for about five minutes, from multiple angles, paying special attention to where the fuel lines lead into the carb, and nothing was apparent. The drips were about a second apart, and stopped once I switched the petcock to RES.

This morning, I warm the bike up, and same problem --- mysterious puddle of gas underneath the bike during warm-up! I get off (bike still running) and look around for the source of the leak, but nothing was to be found. Carburetor --- no apparent dripping. Fuel lines --- no apparent dripping. Petcock --- nada. Gas tank --- nothing obvious. I switch the petcock into RES, and the leaking fuel slowed down and stopped. Hmm...

Both leaks occurred on relatively cold mornings (Florida "cold", so 45-50 degrees), and only when the bike was running, and only when the petcock was on main fuel --- and the leaks stopped when I switched it into reserve. I also opened up the oil cap and sniffed around if there's gas leaking into the oil sump, and nothing but the sweet smell of motor oil in there. The bike smells faintly of gasoline fumes when I warm it up (even without leaking), but that might be because the gas cap on top of the tank isn't sealed. Both leak events happened in the last couple of days, the first time when the tank was about 3/4 full, and the second when the tank was 1/2 full. The dripping appeared to come from dead center underneath, which suggested to me that it would be the carb, but after five minutes of staring at the carb from multiple angles, I couldn't detect any dripping from there.

I just placed an order for a Raptor petcock (been meaning to do that anyways, might as well do it now), so I'll report back when I install it, but if I get a weird transient fuel leak with no easily visible source that stops when I turn the petcock to RES, what else could be the problem?

Title: Re: Mysterious intermittent fuel leak.
Post by Serowbot on 01/05/13 at 13:20:56

Switching to reserve shouldn't stop anything...
... but, might as well see what the Raptor does... :-?...

Be sure to cap off the vac tap on the carb when you switch to the Raptor... ;)...

Title: Re: Mysterious intermittent fuel leak.
Post by verslagen1 on 01/05/13 at 14:46:45

So where is it dripping from?

Is this at idle only?

2 places I can only think of...

carb vent into the frame... or do you just have them coming back and down?

carb spit back at idle... do you not have the air box drain plugged?