15 years later fuel was leaking everywhere...

[rws]

replaced the fuel valve with a Pingle 1311-CH as it failed at points A & B...(A could be fixed but B would be a little tough), replaced leaking o-rings on carb fuel and air rails, replaced leaking float valves, bowl gaskets and manifold o-rings.  Replaced all fuel and vacuum lines.  

[Warlock]

replaced the fuel valve with a Pingle 1311-CH as it failed at points A & B...(A could be fixed but B would be a little tough), replaced leaking o-rings on carb fuel and air rails, replaced leaking float valves, bowl gaskets and manifold o-rings.  Replaced all fuel and vacuum lines.  

Had the same thing happen also. Ended up putting a pingle.
David

[Disco]

Just curious, but had you ever replaced the cover set or the plastic and rubber bits in that 15 years or did they last that long, too?

[rws]

Just curious, but had you ever replaced the cover set or the plastic and rubber bits in that 15 years or did they last that long, too?

replaced the plastic alternator cover last year...was all wrinkled from gas leaking on it.

[Disco]

Sorry I wasn't more clear, rws.  The cover set I referred to is part 5 in the pic below.

[rws]

Sorry I wasn't more clear, rws.  The cover set I referred to is part 5 in the pic below.

ok...I see what you wanted to know...this was the first failure of the fuel valve components in 15 years.

[sugerbear]

and did you turn off the petcock after each ride during all those years?

[rws]

and did you turn off the petcock after each ride during all those years?

I always tried to remember to turn the valve off when parked...might have forgot a few times though...

[salty1]

Fifteen years of service is not bad!    I wonder if a Pingel will beat that?   ???

[custom1]

RWS, that is a great post with pics. Most of the time we just get a comment "my petcock failed" and that's it. I would guess very few have ever drilled the rivets out to open the manual side, myself included. It's hard to tell from the pic,, what is damaged at point "B"? Is there an O-ring there? I don't think there are parts available to rebuild that side. Just have to replace the whole thing at that point.
I think if everyone had a full understanding of how the stock petcock works it would help in deciding whether to or when to rebuild or replace with a new one or a Pingle.
I rebuilt the vacuum side of mine this spring. The hardest part for me was getting the little nipples on the diaphragms into the spacer. They are a tight fit and I was afraid of tearing the diaphragms.

[rws]

RWS, that is a great post with pics. Most of the time we just get a comment "my petcock failed" and that's it. I would guess very few have ever drilled the rivets out to open the manual side, myself included. It's hard to tell from the pic,, what is damaged at point "B"? Is there an O-ring there? I don't think there are parts available to rebuild that side. Just have to replace the whole thing at that point.
I think if everyone had a full understanding of how the stock petcock works it would help in deciding whether to or when to rebuild or replace with a new one or a Pingle.
I rebuilt the vacuum side of mine this spring. The hardest part for me was getting the little nipples on the diaphragms into the spacer. They are a tight fit and I was afraid of tearing the diaphragms.

There are 2 square cut o-rings held in place by a plate staked to the casting (outer plate is also staked)....would have been real easy for Honda to have made it serviceable using screws.  A little spit or silicone on the nipples and the diaphragms work right into the spacer.

[WamegoRob]

Point 'B' above is exactly where mine failed.  Luckily, I simultaneously I had a weak battery.

I say luckily because of the hydrolock situation that tried to develop when the ball didn't seat well enough and fuel made its way down to #6.
The incompressible fluid had more muscle than the weak battery and didn't afford any damage when I first discovered the problem.
I carried a spark plug socket with me just to blow out the cylinder prior to starting until I could get it fixed.  I did this for much longer than I care to admit.

Not knowing of the exact point of failure, I applied a petcock rebuild kit to no avail before digging further with the help of Stude31.  Neither of us knew that "point B" wasn't an o-ring, but we found out when we tried to remove it =)  Joe stuffed it back into its hiding place (ya... they really should have used screws instead of rivets) and some testing showed that simply 'adjusting' the gasket had created the seal it needed.  I'm supposing it had an imperceptible foreign object but I'm also supposing we fixed it.

That was six months and 5000+ miles ago.

[Disco]

this was the first failure of the fuel valve components in 15 years.

Can I assume that also means you never had fuel in the cylinders or actual hydrolock?

[rws]

this was the first failure of the fuel valve components in 15 years.

Can I assume that also means you never had fuel in the cylinders or actual hydrolock?

one occasion...no damage...pulled plugs and cranked it over

btw I have a TrailHopper too...and currently working on rebuilding the fuel valve on it (parts not available from Suzuki)



Here's mine...

[custom1]

Point 'B' above is exactly where mine failed.  Luckily, I simultaneously I had a weak battery.

I say luckily because of the hydrolock situation that tried to develop when the ball didn't seat well enough and fuel made its way down to #6.
The incompressible fluid had more muscle than the weak battery and didn't afford any damage when I first discovered the problem.
I carried a spark plug socket with me just to blow out the cylinder prior to starting until I could get it fixed.  I did this for much longer than I care to admit.

Not knowing of the exact point of failure, I applied a petcock rebuild kit to no avail before digging further with the help of Stude31.  Neither of us knew that "point B" wasn't an o-ring, but we found out when we tried to remove it =)  Joe stuffed it back into its hiding place (ya... they really should have used screws instead of rivets) and some testing showed that simply 'adjusting' the gasket had created the seal it needed.  I'm supposing it had an imperceptible foreign object but I'm also supposing we fixed it.

That was six months and 5000+ miles ago.

Ok That is confusing. If you put a rebuild kit in it, it should have worked. At least half worked anyway. Let me explain.

The vacuum operated side that you rebuilt is down stream of the "Point B" defect. So once the motor  is shut off the vacuum side closes and prevents fuel from flowing. Now if you only tested it by turning the manual side off while the bike was running, and it kept running,  it would appear that the petcock is bad(and that half is), but once the bike is shut down with the key or kill switch the vacuum side would close and you would not get hydro-lock.  I guess what I'm trying to say is when you got your almost hydro-lock you had at least three things wrong. The petcock was bad at "Point B" and at "Point A" and you had a float needle stuck open at the cylinder that was filling up.

Or if you believe as some do that there is enough fuel in the system after the petcock to cause hydro then maybe you only had a float needle stuck open.