Gas in air filter... (repost in the RIGHT forum this time)

Heyo... just brought the bike out of the garage for the first time since late October, and have a little issue.

When I was getting her out I had to back her out through snow (FUN!), and in the process, she ended up tipped at about a 30-degree angle from ground for about 45 seconds before I could move around to the side and straighten her up.

So, I get her righted, out of the snow, and install the battery. Then I start her up - thank God for the new starter I bought last year - but after a bit, I noticed that the pod filter on the left (the side the bike tipped on, and the side she leans on on-stand, of course) was dripping gas.

I shut everything down, let the dripping stop, and then fired it up, and the dripping started again. It's not a huge deal, as the filters need to be cleaned anyway, but I'm concerned - the engine's not racing or backfiring or anything like that, so is this a stuck float, or just because the bike was tipped for so long and gas got into it?

If it's just a one-time deal that's got gas into the filter, what do I need to do to clear it so it's not a worry any longer?

And it's just gas at this point - no oil mixed in with it, thankfully.

Thanks!

 

I'm having the same problem with my 82 XS400J. I just bought the bike and noticed the air filter is soaked in gas.

 

Mostlikly a stuck float. You could try tapping the side of the carb to see if it frees up else you may need to pull the carbs (Unless you can get teh float bowls off while on the bike)

 

Shannon, didn't you ever get a centerstand?

Coop's right, stuck (or piece of crud lodged as a result of the tipover) float.

That said, I thought I had a stuck float on my daily rider early last summer, tapping didn't help so I pulled the rack-- to discover that the #2 float bowl was simply LOOSE. But that was dripping from below.

Dustin; unless you're experiencing a problem yourself don't jump to conclusions. Install a new air filter and see if you have a problem, or it was left over from some prior escapade.

 

Fitz,

No centerstand yet; things kept coming up, and coming up, and the latest "thing" was me joining the ranks of the unemployed. >.< Hopefully this summer, though.

I did the tapping thing, as well as running some Seafoam through, and that seems to have stopped it for now. Next step (which is going to have to wait for the weekend) is to take the filters off and clean them (they're the oiled cotton K&N ones), then change the oil and give her a good once-over. Then I can put together the to-do list for the spring, which I can already tell is going to include a new valve cover gasket and new donuts for the bolts. Let the fun begin!

 

Dude! Does that mean you're gonna do your valves?

Y'know what else? Len just posted recently, you CAN stuff an airbox back into a 550 Seca without pulling the motor!

 

Well, minor issue there. I was thinking about doing the valves, but I took a look at the engine crankcase cover and noticed yet another fun thing about my bike: at some point, one of the bolts apparently cracked, so the PO used JB weld. I haven't examined it enough to see how easy/hard it would be to get it off. Why is nothing ever easy?

As for the stock airbox... well, that's going to have to wait until I get a little more ready cash, I guess...

 

Well it looks like it has been leaking for quite some time. On the left side of the carburetor there was a ton of gasoline stains. And the air filter was completely gas saturated. I'm going to get a replacement K&N filter that I can clean and see what it does.