Fuel-lock !!

[Patrick]

I had a fuel-lock years ago for no reason.. Petcock is always shut off upon shut-down.. That was with the Honda petcock and no filter.. That was probably at least 10 years ago.. Well, it happened again today on #2 cylinder.. So, these monsters can lock with a fuel filter and a Pingle valve in the off position.. So, be careful !!

[John U.]

How about the suggestion made on another thread recently: turn off the fuel before you get to your destination so the fuel bowls are not completely full?
This seems like a workable idea, as long as you can remember to do it. I've been doing it for a while now but I have to admit, only when I'm arriving home. Doing it every time I get off the bike probably requires more fore thought than I can muster.

[Patrick]

Me too John, we must be reaching 'the age' ..

[The Anvil]

Running the bowls empty is a good way to accumulate a lot of crap and varnish in there. I personally would not do that.

[fudgie]

Is this a man pingel or a vac one? Noticed mine was on for 2 weeks and never a problem. I agree with Anvil.

[PhredValk]

There shouldn't be enough fuel in the bowl to cause hydrolock, should there?
Fred.

[Steve K (IA)]

Running the bowls empty is a good way to accumulate a lot of crap and varnish in there. I personally would not do that.

+1 
And I sure don't drain the carb bowls for the winter.  No carb problems, two Valks, 11 years.  Do whatever makes you feel good. 

[Patrick]

Its been in for at least 10 years and I don't think they had vacuum models then.. So its a manual unit and its always turned off when the engine isn't running, its been a habit for 50 years.. So, 2 locks in 13 years may not be considered much of a problem, but, its a problem none the less..

[Patrick]

There are some that say there is not enough fuel in the bowl [and related fuel line] to cause a lock, however, I have always disagreed with that..

[John U.]

Running the bowls empty is a good way to accumulate a lot of crap and varnish in there. I personally would not do that.

+1 
And I sure don't drain the carb bowls for the winter.  No carb problems, two Valks, 11 years.  Do whatever makes you feel good. 

The suggestion about turning the fuel off before you get to your destination wasn't a reccomendation to run the carbs dry. The idea is to create some room in the bowls so that they will contain some additional flow/drainage before overflowing into the intakes.

I don't agree with draining the bowls either.

[Robdawg13]

So my bike has been sitting a month, and will be sitting a while longer before I get home...

And all this talk of hydro-lock has me paranoid, So I was thinking - If I pull all the plugs and turn it over a couple of times before trying to start it, would that blow any fuel out of the cylinder and eliminate the risk of hydro-lock?

[Danny]

That is exactly what I did after taking a real good look and trying to figure out exactly how much fuel was in there. I used a old dip stick I had lying about...one of my cyclinders was almost full...sucked or used the air compressor to blow out what I could then pulled the remaining plugs to check all cyclinder conditions ...left them out and disconnected the ignigtion( no sparks etc) and turned her over in short bumps... used a lossely wadded towel to prevent as much a mess as I could. Done this twice or three time that I can remember and has worked well for me. Rebuilding my fuel system now to try and fix a hydrolock problem...among others. Good luck.


Danny

[Ricky-D]

The amount of gasoline the float bowl holds does not enter the equation.

It is the amount of available gasoline in the system upstream from the float valve that is important when considering hydrolock.

The carburetor has the ability to overfill to some degree before gasoline starts to drain down the intake riser.

I think it would have been revealing if an examination of the fuel filter showed it to be either empty or full.

An easy test is to drain one carburetor completely while the petcock is in the off position. You will see the amount of gasoline being held in the float bowl (which means you will have to collect the draining gasoline) and then if any gasoline can escape the capillary action of the system you will also see the total amount of gasoline available to perform a hydrolock situation.

Since a fuel filter is employed to eliminate the possibility of a hydrolock situation I would suggest throwing it away.  it sure didn't do the job it was intended for and may have possibly contributed to the hydrolock.

***

[fudgie]

Be interested when take the pingel off on what you find. Did ya call Pingel about it? Your the 1st to have a pingel problem. 

[fudgie]

Take off the fuel line to the pingel and see if it flows out. That should tell you if its bad or not.

[Patrick]

I would not have put this thing back together if the petcock was leaking..

[Valkpilot]

Your the 1st to have a pingel problem. 

Fudgie, I don't think that's true.  There was a recent thread where someone had a Pingel manual petcock that didn't close completely.   http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,31496.0.html  In the particular case in the link, it may have been due to the reserve tube modification, but it also could have been due to a faulty Pingel petcock. 

[fudgie]

Your the 1st to have a pingel problem. 

Fudgie, I don't think that's true.  There was a recent thread where someone had a Pingel manual petcock that didn't close completely.   http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,31496.0.html  In the particular case in the link, it may have been due to the reserve tube modification, but it also could have been due to a faulty Pingel petcock. 

I was at Sturgis and missed that post. Sounds like his was a resv issue. I guess thats 2 pingel probs in my 11 yrs here. Sure beats 2 a month with the oem. 

[art]

Probably drained all the gas out of the line an filter into the carb an due to a faulty needle valve in the carb it allowed the gas to get into the cyl.Don't think the gas in the bowl can get into the cyl if the engine is not running

[gordonv]

So my bike has been sitting a month, and will be sitting a while longer before I get home...

And all this talk of hydro-lock has me paranoid, So I was thinking - If I pull all the plugs and turn it over a couple of times before trying to start it, would that blow any fuel out of the cylinder and eliminate the risk of hydro-lock?

You can always turn the engine over by rolling the bike while in 2nd gear (recommended by others). If it siezes up, then you can remove the plugs, and squirt out the fuel in the cyclinders. I would also check the oil at that time too, I can't see fuel not get by the rings into the crank.

[John U.]

The carburetor has the ability to overfill to some degree before gasoline starts to drain down the intake riser.

***

I won't disagree with that but if the carbs ability to accept overfilling was sufficient to avoid hydrolock....?
Not to belabor the point but if the float bowls are not completely full it should be obvious that the carbs will be able to accept more fuel before overflowing. Lets call it an ounce of prevention.
Will it work every time? Not if the petcock is faulty or not turned off but it's simple and it's cheap and beats doing nothing IMHO.

[Willow]

... 2 a month with the oem. 

That's pure BS, Fudgie, and the stuff that Chicken Little is made of.      

[Chillerman]

... 2 a month with the oem. 

That's pure BS, Fudgie, and the stuff that Chicken Little is made of.      

We can agree on this anyway!! I have a spare OEM petcock if and when my original fails on my 98 standard. I believe that at least some of the hydrolock issues are maintenance related. I also think that some of the petcock rebuilds have been done incorrectly. If your fuel system is kept clean I see no reason to replace the OEM. 

[fudgie]

... 2 a month with the oem. 

That's pure BS, Fudgie, and the stuff that Chicken Little is made of.      

Hence the '  '. That was my exageration face. 

[Ricky-D]

"That's pure BS, Fudgie, and the stuff that Chicken Little is made of. "

Chicken Little is made of CS   Fowl stuff!

***

[Patrick]

So I pulled and flushed the tank, replaced fuel filter and flushed fuel thru the drains after it locked again the following day.. All sparklers pulled and #2 was full again.. Before starting for several days I pulled #2 and started it, fuel flew out #2 for 2 more days even after several flushes..
So, either the Sea-foam did its work and ate a chunk of varnish or the flushing finally dis-lodged a piece of junk but everything appears to fine now..
This bike has not been run much lately which is probably the main issue, but, it appears something in the fuel line ended up stuck in the float valve.. I was just about to pull that chamber and will do so if it happens again..

[marbleusmike]

I've had vapor locks a couple times... The first time I thought that I got some bad gas and kept riding to try and use it up... I eventually pulled over and shut her off and opened the fuel tank took a look and closed the cap, started her and she ran perfectly!  It seems that every once in a blue moon when I fill her to the brim it happens... so I just pull over and open and close the cap and she goes right back to normal!  No big deal!

[Fritz The Cat]

Are we talking vapor lock or hydro lock?  ???