Darn Petcock!

[Sparky51]

Beautiful day yesterday, great 100 mile trip.  This morning, dreaded hydrock again!.  Time to yank plugs and roll it down the driveway to clear the cylinders.   Been only 6 months, (Inzane) since the petcock was last rebuilt.  To make it more interesting, got a full tank of gas in there, so I will need to be doing some draining before replacing or rebuilding it.   Will get some tubing to the fuel line and do the vacuum test on the petcock to confirm the problem.  Hard to imagine she could lock up just overnight!      

Crossing my fingers that there is no flywheel damage, but I did not hit the starter after the first lock.

Darn thing, and such beautiful afternoons coming up for riding!  Got a weekend project ahead of me now!

[hotglue #43]

Could you tell which cyl loaded with gas?  You may want to pull that carb and check the float valve... it may be stuck or have a bit of trash in it.... there is enough gas on the fuel line between the petcock and a carb to hydrolock a cyl if the float is letting gas by.

[Sparky51]

When I yank the plugs I will look for a wet one as well as see where the gas spits out when I roll it in gear down the driveway.   (I do not want to hit the starter and squirt gas 20 ft)  I have never tackled the carbs before, but you are probably right, it might be time to look into them.
Thanks HG!

[Houdini]

(I do not want to hit the starter and squirt gas 20 ft)

It's best to do this while holding a cigarette lighter real close so you can see which cylinder the gas spurts out of.     I also recommend a video camera about 20 feet away so you can share the experience with us.   

[Sparky51]

Thanks!  With friends like you......      A saying I use all the time at work: "show me something you are good at fixin' and I will show you something that breaks too often!   

[Mofla]

I'm with HG on this one ! I had h/d lock after trailer ing my bike from LA home to San Antonio. I tore down the petcock, put it back together, no new parts. I have cleaned the carbs an have to date note had any more probs. over 10k miles. I'm thinkin sittin carbs make for stickin carbs, bowls an so forth !
Also I don't like the idea of cranking the starter with plugs exposed an fumes around ! ie: cigarette lighter syndrome , but that's just me !
Good luck with it !!!
Mo
PS just sayin HG made me hungry for BBQ !!!!

[hotglue #43]

To get fuel into the cyl to lock it up, the needle valve on the float has to fail....  if they are working, the petcock can be open and fuel will not make it to the cyl.....

Yep... I'm about ready for some BBQ too!!!!!

[Sparky51]

Looks like I got a project for Friday and Saturday this weekend!  I have pre-ordered bowl gaskets and carb screws from red eye.  HG, do you think I should have ordered the whole rebuid kit from red eye for the carbs?  I have never had them apart in 25,000 miles and am a little "scared"   When I find out what bowl has the sticky float, do I stand a chance at removing the bowl with carbs still on bike? 
Also wondering if it is best to have both sets of jets on hand rather than trying to wire clean a plugged jet.  As always, I value the input of you all.

[Sparky51]

#1 cylinder was filled with gas.  At least I know which float is stuck or filled with trash.  Coming up next is testing the petcock.

[hotglue #43]

Good job!!!!  I think the carb bowl can be pulled and cleaned out without pulling all the carbs...  At least now ya have a place to start!!!! 

[Sparky51]

Update:  #1 float was stuck, Plus Petcock was leaking fuel with engine off. (had put clear plastic tubing on the carb bowl drain and when turning petcock to ON, fuel kept on coming, would not stop unless I turned fuel off)   So I had confirmed the dreaded suspicion, both petcock leaking by and the float.  So What I did was first put a plastic tube to the offending carb bowl drain, then back flushed the carb bowl with berryman's carb cleaner, let it soak a minute and then lowered the tube to drain it out, did that twice.  With the clear tubing still connected, turned fuel back on and flushed out the bowl with gas from the leaking petcock.  With the leaking petcock, I could raise the tube up, and see that the float was now working, cause the tube would not fill with gas past the float level.    So while working on the bike decided it was a good time to change all intake o rings.  Guess what? If you have a stuck float and a bad petcock, it is really obvious when the intake tube is yanked. That rubber tube should be nice and dry, even with the petcock leaking by.  I found one more carb with a slow "drip" while proceeding to change the other intake rings.   Repeated the back flow with carb cleaner trick, and success, stopped that one from its leaking by!   (By the way, all this done with the bad petcock still in and fuel turned on.   So after checking all and changing the rest of the o-rings, I proceeded to yank the tank and change out the petcock, the old one was leaking by, I rebuild it, and tested it, and pulled it off and set in the drawer as a spare.  Installed a new petcock, tested it, and put tank back on. and all is good! This bad petcock is the same one that had me almost stranded, (except for my TX buddies) on the rode in Arkansas headed to INZANE. 
  BTW, one caution:  When fooling like this with the drain tube, good idea to pull the plugs, and turn the engine with your wrench to clear the cylinders from extra carb cleaner.   Don't ask me how I know that tidbit.        Now time to order a complete carb  rebuild kit for a future project! But at least I won't be missing any more beautiful days like I did all last week!

[R J]

When trailering, ALWAYS turn the gas off....

[hotglue #43]

Good job Sparky!!!!!!  Glad things are going your way!!!!!

[Joevalk]

Got me a taste of a hydro- lock today. Hopped on my interstate this morning, hit start button and Clunk!!! rolled it backwards a few times and popped the clutch , tried the starter again and Clunk!!!  l pulled the three plugs that I could get to. Number five cylinder was the culprit. Hit the starter again and cleared the cylinder out. Put back together road it the rest of the morning. Petcock rebuild is in order then carbs if I decide to keep it.

[Sparky51]

I feel your pain! Mine occured in about only 12 hours after I had just rode it.   I am going to get back to the habit of shutting off the fuel every time I stop "just in case" 

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

After my diaphram started leaking I just made mine a manual valve and now just turn it on and off all the time. Always did that on the endro bikes so the habit is not strange to me. Been that way for over five years now.