Petcock is leaking

[JimL]

I smelled gasoline in the garage yesterday and suspected that it might be the Tourer because I had taken it out the day before to give it some exercise after it had been sitting for a while. 

I looked at the petcock and noticed a drip of gasoline  on the bottom of it.

I checked the hoses to make sure that they were secure and there was no leak around them.  They appeared to be fine.  As I was unscrewing the shutoff stem from the petcock the flow seemed to worsen.

The diaphragm seemed to be working fine, no fuel flow when the valve was closed.

Question, has anyone ever heard of the petcock housing itself developing a hairline crack which resulted in a leak?  I can't seem to find one, but I need someone more experienced than me to chime in with a suggestion.  Please!

Jim

[fstsix]

Try a vacuum hose to the Petcock diaphragm and a vacuum pump and see if it holds, Or Tool Man Tim Alan method, hose and lip suction...be careful  Should NOT be fuel in that side

[lee]

I have never heard of one leaking around the manual switch shaft. But its possible.
If you look at the picture below (M) the ball keeper shaft goes through the plate.
(the shaft that the switch handel goes on)
There is an O-ring seal on the shaft that could go bad.  You would have to drill out the
revits to replace the O-ring.

The picture does not show the O-ring I am talking about.
And I gess you could have a crack if your kinda hard on the switch.

[x]

I'd bet money you have a hole in the diaphragm, allowing gas to the wrong side of it.

[JimL]

I'd bet money you have a hole in the diaphragm, allowing gas to the wrong side of it.

Thanks SE, Lee and fstsix.  Lee I don't think it is actually leaking around the switch shaft, it just seemed to get worse as I was taking it loose.  Thunderbolt also suggested that the diaphragm could be a problem causing it to come out the weep hole.

[Jack B]

I had my leak out the weep hole so I put a rebuild kit it and all is well

[Jack B]

The kit was from I think KL it was $15 alot less than Honda's rebuild kit I brought it at my Honda dealer

[highcountry]

I pulled my tank to replace the air filter and noticed gas dripping out of the valve.  Turned the valve a little and it only got worse.  Pretty scary since it could have caused hydrolock even though the valve was closed.  I chose to pitch the pot metal piece of junk and installed a Pingel.  Not as convenient, but a bulletproof manual valve.

[fudgie]

Pretty scary since it could have caused hydrolock even though the valve was closed.  I chose to pitch the pot metal piece of junk and installed a Pingel.  Not as convenient, but a bulletproof manual valve.

    

[PharmBoy]

Jim, The first thing that I had to do when I got my I/S home was to drill out the rivets on the switch side.  It was leaking around the outside rubber gasket.  After cleaning & drying, I put it back together with a very small amount of ATV applied to both sides of the gasket.  When drilling off the rivet heads, only remove enough metal to get the side plate to come off, then carefully file it down where it is only slightly below the surface of the plate.  Then to attach the plate again, you can either drill and tap through the remaining part of the rivet or drill all the way through and attach the plate with a small bolt & nut.  The small bolt & nut should be available at a hobby shop where they sell model airplanes & cars.  The model shop would probably have the correct tap also if you decided to go that route. I think that I used a 4-40 which may be available at a good hardware store also.  But first, make sure that you know where the leak is coming from.  This, however, was my first experience with the infamous petcock...JTL