have you had a hydrolock?

[Gavin_Sons]

Trying to get an idea of how many people have experienced this issue.

[George B]

In all my years with VWs, Corvairs, Urals, BMWs and now a Valkyrie, I have never had a Hydrolock. By the grace of God, go I..... It can happen to most any engine with a carb on top. The Valk starter seems to be vulnerable. I used to always kick through with the ignition off when starting a Ural. I wish we had that option.....

[Tfrank59]

not I. yet.   OEM petcock.

[Bone]

Not yet, OEM petcock converted to manual 2010 71k now 145k.

[Fazer]

Not me--Dan Marc installed with OEM petcock which I never touch.  98 Tourer, 32,000.

[Gideon]

Not yet -2003 purchased new - Stock petcock. 

[ciddriver]

Nope, Dan Marc with manual petcock

 

[BINOVC]

Twice.  One on '00 I/S, one on '99 I/S.  Neither resulted in damage.  OEM petcocks.

[rockbobmel]

No. New to Valks 12-2017. Will install Dan-Marc......

[Harryc]

Installed a Dan-Marc, a Pingel, and replaced all of the float needles. If it happens now I am going after everybody on this board. Lol

[Gavin_Sons]

Installed a Dan-Marc, a Pingel, and replaced all of the float needles. If it happens now I am going after everybody on this board. Lol

Happened to me, same set up

[Harryc]

Installed a Dan-Marc, a Pingel, and replaced all of the float needles. If it happens now I am going after everybody on this board. Lol

Happened to me, same set up

What was the final cause?

[reg]

Once at 35K miles.  No damage - gas exited through the exhaust.  Installed a pingel.

[Willow]

Trying to get an idea of how many people have experienced this issue.

I don't think you'll get a reliable poll.  Anyone who has experienced hydrolock and comes across this thread will likely participate.  Many of those who have not will simply pass it by with little interest.

It's actually very rare.

[Gavin_Sons]

Installed a Dan-Marc, a Pingel, and replaced all of the float needles. If it happens now I am going after everybody on this board. Lol

Happened to me, same set up

What was the final cause?

Stuck float and bad float needle, even though the needle was less than 2 years old. Less than 2 years prior I was having a high gear issue where the bike was "doggy" in 4th and 5th gear. I pulled the carbs and found 2 clogged main jets. Replaced all the jets and float needles. Installed a dan marc and pingle at that time also. Bike ran better than ever.
Fast forward a couple years and it hydrolocked.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Installed a Dan-Marc, a Pingel, and replaced all of the float needles. If it happens now I am going after everybody on this board. Lol

Happened to me, same set up

What was the final cause?

Stuck float and bad float needle, even though the needle was less than 2 years old. Less than 2 years prior I was having a high gear issue where the bike was "doggy" in 4th and 5th gear. I pulled the carbs and found 2 clogged main jets. Replaced all the jets and float needles. Installed a dan marc and pingle at that time also. Bike ran better than ever.
Fast forward a couple years and it hydrolocked.

I’m missing something. Was the DanMarc not working properly ?

[Gavin_Sons]

Installed a Dan-Marc, a Pingel, and replaced all of the float needles. If it happens now I am going after everybody on this board. Lol

Happened to me, same set up

What was the final cause?

Stuck float and bad float needle, even though the needle was less than 2 years old. Less than 2 years prior I was having a high gear issue where the bike was "doggy" in 4th and 5th gear. I pulled the carbs and found 2 clogged main jets. Replaced all the jets and float needles. Installed a dan marc and pingle at that time also. Bike ran better than ever.
Fast forward a couple years and it hydrolocked.

I’m missing something. Was the DanMarc not working properly ?

That was my initial thought.  After testing it externally with a 12v power supply hooked up to a 2 gallon gas can it worked just fine. Never leaked a drop over a 7 day period. Sometimes these bikes hydrolock for no apparent reason no matter the precautions you take. I attribute a big part of it to shitty gas/dirty gas. Ethenol builds up on the internal parts and could cause a float to stick or a float needle to not work properly. Dirty gas could do the same but only with a small grain of sand/dirt that gets by the filters. I think the best preventative measures is a manual petcock, dan mark and ethanol free gas and to ride these bikes often to keep the internal carb parts loosened up from any debris that could build up/find their way in. Ethenol can build up and break loose at any time. So another measure I takei s to run Some sort of carb cleaner through at least once a month. I like the b12 stuff. Those of ypu in warmer climates do not have to worry about this as much as us gjys in the cooler climater. I assume your bikes get ridden more ofter in the winterthan ours. This is by no means the way you have to do things. Just an opinion by a guy that has witnessed it 3 times.

[oldsmokey]

No. Although I have only owned it less than 2 years. I know for certain original owner never touched anything other than fluids, plugs, and air filter. Always treated and drained fuel system. Then again its only got 20k on clock.

[indybobm]

It would be nice if you could see see how many voted for each choice.

[Houdini]

It would be nice if you could see see how many voted for each choice.

Vote, then you can see the results.

[Firefighter]

I have never had any trouble, but in south Texas we can ride year around. Missing two weeks is about the longest for me. Even when I broke my leg I managed to start the bike once a week. I do my best to refill the tank after every ride and keep the bike covered in a garage. Never used to shut off the oem petcock but have been lately.

[Valkyrja]

I bought an IS 2 weeks ago. I have not yet started it. It was running properly in the garage of the guy I bought it from. I loaded it onto a trailer and drove 4 hours home. I was worried that the gas may have leaked from the carbs while being bounced around on the trip. Of course I put the factory petcock in the off position. It was extremely cold for the drive home, and it was on an open trailer, so I figure that immense cold could have caused the fuel seal in the carbs to possibly leak. I am going to go out and start it today, as this is the first day above freezing in over 2 weeks. As I think about it, if gas had leaked into the cylinders on the intake stroke, I would think given enough time it would evaporate, assuming is wasn't constantly leaking due to a faulty petcock. I also think that if the gas was leaking, wouldn't there be a strong smell of gas in the garage? Would a simple sniff test indicate there could be a problem?

[Harryc]

I bought an IS 2 weeks ago. I have not yet started it. It was running properly in the garage of the guy I bought it from. I loaded it onto a trailer and drove 4 hours home. I was worried that the gas may have leaked from the carbs while being bounced around on the trip. Of course I put the factory petcock in the off position. It was extremely cold for the drive home, and it was on an open trailer, so I figure that immense cold could have caused the fuel seal in the carbs to possibly leak. I am going to go out and start it today, as this is the first day above freezing in over 2 weeks. As I think about it, if gas had leaked into the cylinders on the intake stroke, I would think given enough time it would evaporate, assuming is wasn't constantly leaking due to a faulty petcock. I also think that if the gas was leaking, wouldn't there be a strong smell of gas in the garage? Would a simple sniff test indicate there could be a problem?

As simple as this sounds it's what I would do if I was uncertain about the fuel delivery situation on a new to me Valkyrie. Simply remove the plugs and turn it over. If there's any gas in the cylinders you'll know about it quickly because it will cover all nearby surfaces plus you'll avoid damage from hydrolock. I recommend doing this outside. No gas from the cylinders? Reinstall the plugs, turn on the Petcock and choke and start it. Check for fuel leaks elsewhere...like the fuel rails. If no leaks go riding.

[Tfrank59]

I bought an IS 2 weeks ago. I have not yet started it. It was running properly in the garage of the guy I bought it from. I loaded it onto a trailer and drove 4 hours home. I was worried that the gas may have leaked from the carbs while being bounced around on the trip. Of course I put the factory petcock in the off position. It was extremely cold for the drive home, and it was on an open trailer, so I figure that immense cold could have caused the fuel seal in the carbs to possibly leak. I am going to go out and start it today, as this is the first day above freezing in over 2 weeks. As I think about it, if gas had leaked into the cylinders on the intake stroke, I would think given enough time it would evaporate, assuming is wasn't constantly leaking due to a faulty petcock. I also think that if the gas was leaking, wouldn't there be a strong smell of gas in the garage? Would a simple sniff test indicate there could be a problem?

As simple as this sounds it's what I would do if I was uncertain about the fuel delivery situation on a new to me Valkyrie. Simply remove the plugs and turn it over. If there's any gas in the cylinders you'll know about it quickly because it will cover all nearby surfaces plus you'll avoid damage from hydrolock. I recommend doing this outside. No gas from the cylinders? Reinstall the plugs, turn on the Petcock and choke and start it. Check for fuel leaks elsewhere...like the fuel rails. If no leaks go riding.

 

[Valkyrja]

As simple as this sounds it's what I would do if I was uncertain about the fuel delivery situation on a new to me Valkyrie. Simply remove the plugs and turn it over. If there's any gas in the cylinders you'll know about it quickly because it will cover all nearby surfaces plus you'll avoid damage from hydrolock. I recommend doing this outside. No gas from the cylinders? Reinstall the plugs, turn on the Petcock and choke and start it. Check for fuel leaks elsewhere...like the fuel rails. If no leaks go riding.

 
[/quote]


Thanks guys. I only had a few mins at lunch, and didn't see your post before then otherwise I may have waited until the weekend and taken the plugs out....
anyway, I went out to the garage and fired it up, and all is well....fortunately!

[rockbobmel]

Thanks guys. I only had a few mins at lunch, and didn't see your post before then otherwise I may have waited until the weekend and taken the plugs out....
anyway, I went out to the garage and fired it up, and all is well....fortunately!
[/quote]

I thought this might also work. I just bought mine in December.
http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,98915.0.html

[gregk]

Mid Wisconsin, over 100, .not yet. Believe I rebuilt the petcock once for preventive maint. Don't ride in super hot climate much. Use Sea Foam in the tank when I put her to bed for the winter and that is the only time I turn the petcock to the off position. During the riding season I keep the petcock in the reserve position.

[rockbobmel]

      I talked to a local tech.  He has worked on quite a few Valks & Wings and said he only saw one case with no damage. He didn't seem too concerned about the issue but advised to rebuild the petcock. 
     He was not familiar with the solenoid shutoff mod. He wondered if there was enough room.
I'm still planning to rebuild the pet and get the Dan-Marc installed this spring.

[Ken Tarver]

No hydrolock here on 3 valks.
But am in a climate where can ride mostly all year long. Still, considering ethanol gas, on almost all fill-ups I add 1/2 ounce of Marine Stabil. I have a stabil measuring bottle in saddlebag of each bike. For refilling the bottles, buy Marine Stabil by the gallon from a marine dealer online, was the best price on gallon size I found.
Local Honda dealer gen mgr reccomended doing this years ago when they received a bunch of tech warnings of ethanol damage, also their own shop experiences of working on carburated machines especially.

Ken

[rockbobmel]

Bump

[clanky]

Yes @ 110K miles, No damage only because I read about it on this forum and did not ruin starter gear.  Pulled plugs, turned engine over  and blew out gas, rebuilt carbs, new vacuum, fuel lines ect , synced carbs and back on the road.
Love this bike!!!

[rockbobmel]

Clanky. Was that after a winter storage?

[clanky]

No it was not.  I'm able to get the bike out year round so it never sits for more than a month. It was early spring and I had already taken several rides and over a weekend I was in the process of installing cruise control when it locked up on me.

[Savago]

It is a pretty good idea to have this kind of question in the forum.

Even though it is a small sample, it seems that hydrolock + damage is around 4-5% (which is not that bad).

The many reports of hydrolock in this forum leads people to believe that it is a common problem in valkyries.

[rockbobmel]

I'm still gonna get some kind of sticker to remind me to shut off the gas.

[MarkT]

I voted yes w/o damage because it happened on the Magna when it was still brand new. No damage. No problem with the Valks but they all have dan-marc's installed when new except George who is blown and has a pingel. Jade also has a pingel.  Deerslayer has OEM petcock which has failed several times with sand in it but the dan-marc stopped any leakdown.

[rockbobmel]

Thanks Mark. Just wondering, Is there enough room to install the Dab Marc if you don't desmog?

[Jess from VA]

I'm still gonna get some kind of sticker to remind me to shut off the gas.

Let me tell you what has worked well for me.  Muscle memory.

When you pull in at the end of the day, you reach down with the right and turn off the key.  And also reach down with the left and turn off the gas.  Do it every time.  Shut down with both hands.  (I also plug in my battery tender 24 X 7 X 365 pigtail when not on the road.  The pigtail to the wall socket is hanging within easy reach of where I park, but I have to get off to reach the battery pigtail zip tied down by the right rear foot peg)

I do not turn off my gas when stopping for lunch or gas or breaks during day riding,  but pulling in for the day back at the house, I do it every time. 

[valkyriemc]

Never had hydro. However did go through two fact. petcocks prior to installing a vacuum pingel, ($175.00) with an inline Golan 10 micron filter. And the flushed tank  - fun. Hoping the former mods mitigated my chances of H/L. So far so good as all this was some years ago.

[MarkT]

Thanks Mark. Just wondering, Is there enough room to install the Dab Marc if you don't desmog?

Smog equipment far away from where the Dan-marc goes.  "Marty" has a Dan-Marc, not desmogged.