'83 bs34 fuel leak

nj1639

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Some morning musings.....

Turned the aftermarket petcock on and fuel pours out of the right carb.

These are '83 carbs with the cable activated choke mounted on the left handlebar.
I have replaced all the top and bottom Phillips head screws with Allen heads for ease of removal, especially the float bowls.

I removed the right float bowl with the carbs in situ and worked the float. Held the float up in the shutoff position and turned the fuel on.......no leaks. Put the bowl back on and turned the fuel on and gas pours out.
OK, yank the SOB's.
I had read that if you remove the support that breaches the tops of the carbs that you can get the carbs out without having to remove an intake manifold, so with the Allen heads having replaced the Phillips we'll give it a go. You still have to remove the cam chain adjuster acorn for clearance.
The choke cable was left secured to its mount , just the bracket that secures it to the top of the carb was removed along with the two carb top support.
The carbs did come out with a bit of wrangling. I believe these '82 and '83's with the cable choke are probably the tightest fitting and clearing carbs of them all but it did come out with no further disassembly.
With the carbs now in hand both fuel bowls were removed and an inspection given.
The right carbs plastic float would stick in the closed position...wtf? Closed it shouldn't pour fuel. Hmm....good side to side play on the pivot pin....wtf? Now it works, now it sticks.....wtf?
Alright, time to pull the float needle valve and see what's going on. Hmm.....the little bail wire that rests on the float tab is sideways compared to the other one....could it be that simple? Well let's just turn that back like the other one and see. OK, float no longer sticks.
Put the bowls back on and bench test with an auxiliary fuel tank. No pouring out.
Remounted carbs to the engine and turned the fuel on..........no leaking.
Fired her up. Good as new.
Something so simple.
 
Nice job. It's good to be able to fix something without having to place an order and waste time and $$.
 
How did that little wire retainer get turned around?
And, will it do it again?
Or, did it start out thataway?


I did have an idle-non firing issue on that side a little while ago and pulled the bowl, again in situ, and cleaned the bowl choke circuit out.....newish tank and a bit of debris.
It's possible and probable that I somehow turned it then and didn't notice.
I've been riding the '77 so the '83 didn't get much attention since then.
Got to be what happened.......or gremlins.
 
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