problem winterizing (petcock) need help

hey everyone i got a problem. i got everything ready to store my bike for the winter today (*cry*) after putting in the sta-bil and changing out the oil. i went to drain the float bowls. well i dont know if it was just me but it seemed like there was no way in hell those float bowl drain screws were moving without removal of the carbs.

i decided i would just disconnect the vacuum line and let the bike use up all the gas in the floats. never happened. after 20 minutes the bike was still running so im thinking "what the heck?"

so then i disconnected the fuel line from the petcock to see what was up. big mistake. gas went everywhere! i checked all settings of the petcock (RES/ON/PRI) nothing shut off the fuel flow. i may be new to this but if im not mistaken gas should only be flowing when the bike is turned on and the vacuum starts through the vacuum line correct? does this mean my petcock is broken or am i missing something here.

its absolutly freezing outside so i dont really have to many options. i bought a battery tender currently got the battery charging. i had everything ready to be stored but now my only problem is i cant drain the float bowls. even if i could. gas would just fill right back up in them.

so what should i do? i could just start the bike for 10 minutes once a week. but i really wanted to do this the right way and just set it to be stored for 4 months. i could leave the sta-bil'd gas in the carbs and hope for the best (why am i thinking that this will still mess my carbs up next year) so lay it on me. what should i do?

 

If the gas is running and there's NO Vacuum when the Pointer is ON in the regular position ... not RES or PRI ... your Petcock is leaking and you are fortunate to have found-out about it before laying the bike up for the season.

You can visit a Hardware store and Put-in a Briggs & Stratton Fuel Shut-off and turn the Valve OFF and be confident NO Fuel will leak-by the Shut-off.

Or, ... you can rebuild or renew the Petcock.

Since so many rebuild stories have ended with the Petcock STILL leaking.
68-Bucks seems like a good investment in a new Petcock.

 

Why would you drain the carbs if you put the Sta-bil through them? That helps protect the parts from corrosion.

 

Drain the Carbs ... period!
The slightest bit of evaporation of the petroleum leaves a residue that will Clog Jets.

Shut-off the Fuel Supply.
Run the bike out of gas.
Pull the Drain Screws.
Spray a generous amount of Carb Cleaner into the Bowls.
Let that drain.
Leave the Drain Screws OUT and keep them in a safe place until you are ready to replace them.

 

are petcocks close to being universal? rick i think i have a few spare petcocks lying around the garage. (not xj specific ones though) but i do know i have a few that are just on/off/reserve (non-vacuum ones) would it matter if i put a non vacuum petcock on my tank and then just plugged up the where the vacuum hole is on the intake manifold boot? im thinking that it wouldnt matter much, and that way i could get a new petcock for free. what do you think?

 

I would rebuild the petcock but if thats not in the budget then a inline shut off valve is the ticket. I have used a small set of vice grips and clamped them on the fuel line to shut off the flow of fuel and run the bike till it dies.

 

If your older Non-Vac Petcock is working properly and does not require any or too extensive a Mod to provide you with Gas and Shut the supply OFF when you are parked ... I'd go with it.

Petcock Problems are starting to spike. Looks like 25-years is all you can expect a petcock to provide. (But, 25-years is a lot before a part fails)

But, if the choice is remembering to turn ON the Gas ... (Easy. The Bike will quit if you don't) ... and, remembering to turn OFF the Gas ... (Not so easy when you are in the habit of not having to -- before) ... to prevent coming to the Bike and finding a Crankcase full of Gas.

I'd say:
Substitute a Non-vacuum Petcock
or ..
Add a Shut-off
or..
Buy a Brand New Petcock

Before:

Wasting money on a Kit that doesn't have the hallow tapered O-ring and will leak-by fuel and fill the Lowest spot it can flow to with Gas.

 

I've re-built my bikes pet-cock twice now and each time it has leaked fuel. I finally bought a s/h unit off ebay which works fine but I am also going to get an on/off tap just to be sure next time I'm in England. I rode bikes for years that had just a simple tap and had no problems so I can't understand why some people seem to be against fitting them.

Faighaigh

 

ok sounds good. thanks guys now i know what i gotta do. now im left with what to do about the carbs?

does running the bike untill the carbs run out of gas actually get rid of all the gas in the carbs? or is there always going to be a little left in there. im having a hard time getting the drain screws off.

also if i go with an on/off petcock and thus have no need for vacuum im assuming i need to plug up the intake manifold boot that had the vacuum line in it. whats the best way to do that since i dont have the rubber plug for it like the rest of the boots have.

 

Unplug the Vacuum line from the Petcock and stick a Golf Tee in there to seal it up.
Run the bike out of gas.
You should open the Drains and shoot-in some Carb Cleaner ...

If the Drains are stuck.
Undo the Gad Line going to the Carbs and spray some Carb Cleaner in the Supply Line.
Run the Bike on the Carb Cleaner until it quits.

The Carb Cleaner won't leave a residue that won't easily easily dissolve.

 

oh good idea! i didnt even think of that.

when you say spray some carb cleaner. how much do you mean exactly. like hold the spray down for 5 seconds? ten seconds? the engine wont be damaged if it takes in carb cleaner? kinda makes me nervous.

 

*bump*

sorry hehe. anyone know the answer to carb cleaner in the engine question? bought an inline briggs and stratton fuel valve and im about to go install it.

 

Cranking the engine over is gonna pull the carb cleaner into all the parts of the carbs. No it wont hurt the engine but its not gonna run well if at all. But no long time issues. I'd run it while spraying the cleaner till it quits...30 seconds or so.

 

I'd fill a Ear Syringe up-full of Carb Cleaner and stick the end in the Gas Line going to the Carbs.

I'd feed the Carb Cleaner in there and let the Bike use it as Fuel.

The engine might race because it is going to burn Lean ... that's OK.

For the short time the engine runs like that ... your Jets and lower Internals are going to be cleaned and there won't be any residue from the Carb Cleaner that will harden in tiny metering ports of Jet openings.

 

ok. got everything done! everything went pretty smoothly. Thanks everyone for your help.

heres a pic of the valve installed. ill have to worry about fixing the petcock in the spring. its just too damn cold right now. btw the bike ran suprisingly well for running on almost pure carb cleaner. interesting hahah.



thanks again.

 

too bad we have to wait 'till April to see if the carb cleaner is going to move all the varnish into the pilot jets in the bowls. I'm with Rick's "run it dry-leave it dry" method, { he posts 7.75 X a day! } but after looking in my bowls, I'd find an hour to pull the carbs. It's fun anyhow.

 

So much fun that the Dealerships are turning away XJ-Bikes because the Tech's don't want to mess with them anymore.

Sure. After you've taken off the Carbs on your OWN Bike ... it becomes routine, because you know you can deal with what you have to do to get them off.

But, the Tech at the Dealership doesn't want to struggle with taking-off Carbs anymore. All he wants to do is unplug an Injector, so he tells the Manager to tell you to go see Donna, the specialist.

Donna D'Rhode!

You can either take it to Donna D'Rhode, or go to Helen Waite!

 

well I just read this post, my petcock isnt leaking, actually quite the opposite, unless its in prime I get no gas at all, but I just remembered that when I put it away for the winter about a month ago I left it in prime, so it can still get gas, worst case scenario what could happen if I just left the gas on? could it do damage?

 

well apparently since my petcock was "always on" i would say that no it wont hurt your bike as long as your float needle valves are working properly. but the problem is if your valves go bad your gonna flood your carbs pretty easy.

if you mean in the every day running of your bike then nah there wont be a problem till your float needle valves stop working. but if your gonna store the bike over the winter. dont leave it on prime obviously. turn the gas off and drain the carbs.

 

oh good I was worried for a minute there