Cant stop leaking

4 new carb repair kits
Each containing:
brass needle seat
needle valves
needle seat o ring
Pilot 0 ring
Small thick round aluminium disk (fits into pilot hole?)
Matching o ring

All installed except the aluminium disk & matching O ring.
Carbs didnt come with them, dont see what they are for.

They didnt leak yesterday when I checked the wet-set
Carb 3 didnt leak this morning when I installed the carbs (which then leaked all over the paintwirk on my engine)
Carbs 3&4 leak out the small brass air jet in the mouth
What can I do?

 

Sounds like the float height needs setting correctly.

 

The small aluminum disc is used to block off access to the pilot mixture screw. It does not go inside of the carb.
you need to set the float heights. The float valves are not closing. http://www.xj4ever.com/setting fuel levels.pd

If the float levels check out then make sure that the float needles are set on the float tang correctly (some of the aftermarket needle hangers will make the needle go cockeyed in the bore if they are flipped 180º from where they should be). Also check to see that he float down stops aren't hanging up on the perches, and that the floats are not in upsode down.

Is your fuel tank rust free? It could be a case of crud getting between the needles and seats.

 

"Cant stop leaking"
Have you seen a urologist?

 

Cheers fellas,
"They didnt leak yesterday when I checked the wet-set" (float height at 2mm)
I've taken them apart again and adjusted the float down stop (tho it looked ok)
Tank was recently (last month) refurbished and Por15'd
Urologist was too expensive, but I know a guy whose mate does maintenance in public buildings and he says he saw a youtube on plumbing once, so I'm in good hands.

>> (some of the aftermarket needle hangers will make the needle go cockeyed in the bore if they are flipped 180º from where they should be)<<<
This bothers me. I think this is it, but I didn't notice which way the needle was oriented before I pulled it out again.

Is there a way to tell the correct orientation by looking at it?

 

Checked everything again. seats and needles are immaculate, no crud (they brand new afterall)
still leaking. actually leaking out 1,3 and 4 now. seriously. it gets worse everytime. I'm worried that next time I try it, everything will dissolve in front of me and a great big hand will come out of the sky and slowly raise its middle finger.
mebbe the overflow from carb 4 is going into the other carbs..

Orientation of the needle hanger in carb 4 is the same as the other carbs.
Having said that, when installed, the needle sits on the tang. It doesn't interact with the wire hanger part.

The seat had a new o ring installed on it, so that should be working.

repair kits were "tourmax" from Yambits

I'm trying to think of other ways it could be leaking but really, its all about the needle and the seat right?

 

Have they sent the right kit? Do they look like the old ones?
What about the condition of the fuel tap seals?

 

Yep its the right kit. I havent touched the petcock.

Heres the worst part (are you sitting down?) So I walked away from it, had a little cry, wrote that last post, ate a tub of icecream* watched Bridget Jones Diary* went back out to drain/re-f*** with the carbs and.. they have stopped leaking.
I cant get them to leak. Double check and the wet set is perfect.
still no leak.
W T F


*maybe not

 

WTF is right.
Maybe some crap got stuck and caused the needles not to seat right.
Go for a wazz and teach the little turd not to be so touchy. LOL.

 

Sounds to me that it is one of three things.

1. Floats are not set to spccs.--Just looking at them is not an accurate measurement.
2. Crud in the carbs, fuel lines, and/or tank.
3. poorly matching float needles and seats.

If you are absolutely sure 1 and 2 are not an issue, then do as I did and order the matching needle seats and solid brass needles--not the rubber tipped ones. That stopped my problems. They don't even have float tangs. Chacal has them. If you don't get them form Chacal, be darn sure you get a high quality matched set for each carb. By the way, I'm betting on # 3.

 

I didn't "just look at them"
Float heights are perfect.

 

Then it's # 2 or # 3.

 

I've had this happen to me, especially the first time I installed my carbs after completely rebuilding them and wet setting the float height. Started the bike up, and they started leaking. Stopped the bike, tapped the bowls with the handle of a screw driver, and tried again and everything worked fine. No more leaking, and I checked several times after that (using a clear tube) and had no issues.

I think it's not unusual for the float needle to get a little jammed up in the bore after a complete rebuild. The bore is dry, and with fuel poring unevenly around the needle during your tests a little microscopic debris, or even just a bit of dry surface can cause some stiction in the bore. When the entire bore is wetted with fuel, and any microscopic debris are carried away (gasoline is a great solvent), then everything works as it should. If you didn't give any attention to the bore (using carb cleaner, qtips, and maybe some brass or nylon brushes) and the outside of the needle that rides the bore, you can do that too.

I'd say test the carbs for leaking a couple more times, just to be sure it's all set. All of the above advice is right for leaking carbs, but if something is still wrong with the carbs, they won't stop leaking.

Question, how are you determining that you have a leak in you carbs? With the rack on or off the bike? If off the bike, what is your setup like? If on the bike, once your carb issues are sorted out and you're ready to run the engine, you'll need to change the oil and filter, because it's likely that gas also flowed forward into the cylinders and can leak past the rings into your sump, diluting the oil.

Also, consider rebuilding the petcock too, even though the float needle should stop fuel flow regardless.

 

Cheers manbot, they have stopped leaking under all circumstances.
I think part of my kneejerk - straight to the forums reaction was because I've been putting off buying the rebuild kit for so long. a whole bunch of pointless excuses. hindsight has a perplexed look of horror.

Off the bike, carbs were sitting horizontal (resting on a bit of wood)with the tank above.
On the bike I installed carbs without the airbox/boots so I could watch the carb mouth for any signs of moisture (hand on the petcock).
I found that they like to leak out the airjet at the front, pooling in the mouth. theres enough time to turn off the petcock before things get overly dramatic.
However, with the whole system fully installed, theres no warning and the petrol can get high enough to flow back into the engine and yes I've previously had to replace all my new oil as a result.
Still, I'm confident that the misery is behind me and I can divert my attentions to the seventh hell of rejetting.