OK, I'm on unfamiliar ground here, didn't find my answers in the tech search and I'm hoping to tap into the collective Savage experience base. Having had to park my bike 4-6 weeks at a time multiple times  this year due to illness and the fool who tried to steal it, I'm afraid I let the gremlins into my fuel system! I've been noticing a tendency to stall at low speeds in the mornings, and it just feels like the motor is being held back some how. It got so bad last week I had to run it on prime on two occasions as it acted like it was running out of gas even though full. It didn't take long to suspect the petcock even though I never got the dreaded "gas in the vacuum line" proof. I was all set to order a new one when my buddy at the parts department at the stealership convinced me that I had nothing to lose by taking it apart first in case the screen was varnished up.
 I took it apart and on inspection the screen looked a little opaque but not really varnished up. I DID find some small hard black deposits around the base that I first took to be bits of plastic, or (panic) chewed up pieces of o-rings. (Since the dealership had to replace all my keyed locks repairing the rip-off attempt, I thought they might have dropped something in the tank changing the gas cap or flaked off some old gasket material.) So I flushed my tank and no more black junk. Put the petcock in the parts cleaner bucket and gently cleaned the screens. I can blow and draw air through the fuel line port, and tried to gently draw air through the vacuum port with what I believe to be the adequate resistance. (Not a scientific test, but I figure if the diaphram was bad I'd know it!) I put it all back together, leak tested it and took it out for a test run. It runs better now, as in no stall out but still feels hesitant like its being held back. I tried to run and then disconnect the gas line from the carb to check the gas flow and it seemed to have full stream. (incidently, while fooling around with this, I tried it in reserve and when I disconnected the fuel line the engine raced full out without the throttle for about 10 seconds before I could shut it off. Would that be from lack of vacuum resistance or???) I'm going down to the parts store Friday to get some Sea Foam to see if that does any good, but I'm running out of ideas. Air cleaner is fine, bike runs fine in prime with no hesitations. The bikes an '04 with just under 8k miles on it. Am I missing something? Should I just go ahead and replace the petcock before it leaves me stranded? Has anyone else had a similar situation?

Fuel in the vac line is a indication that the diaphram has a crack in it.
Yours is a '04, so I don't think its old enough for this problem.

More likely, the vac line is loose or cracked.
Replace it.

Thanks Versy, I would have dismissed the vac. line by visual inspection. They sure make a big deal out of nothing with that metal wrap around it. I also bought the 3/8 fuel line as a replacement as it looked a little "beefier" than stock vacuum line, maybe it will hold up longer. SeaFoam and replacing that line made a clear difference! Still got a ways to go before I'm satisfied, but I really haven't given the gas treatment time to work yet either. I'm just glad for the chance to get some fall riding in.

Southpaw wrote on 10/23/09 at 15:48:35:


Thats just to protect it from rubbing thru due to vibration & to keep it from kinking & shutting the vac off/shutting the fuel off. Its not an indication its bulletproof, its to protect it, cuz its so far from it.