ok, I think I have identifed my source of a slow gas leak (slow, as in, I can't see gas hit the ground, but it stinks up my garage)
I just got the bike back from the shop (after a month!!) so I'm a little reluctant to take it back there for fear of how long it'll take 'em to fix it.
I think this part is where my leak is coming from. Following the hoses, it looks like what feeds part of the tank-mounted fuel petcock.
(http://www.fint.org/gs500/part2.jpeg)
Does it look normal? Can anybody see any obvious reasons why its leaking? I don't know what I'm looking at well enough to be able to tell if a hose isn't seated well enough/etc.
Well that one hose looks pretty well saturated. You might try replacing the hoses with new and wipe everything down real clean so you can see where the leak may be coming from. Could be from the o-rings for the pet-chicken itself or it could be the petcock to gas-tank gasket. Don't you just love the little GS500 and this forum?
C.......
That's weird that you posted this. I just got done taking my bike apart and had noticed that my tank-mounted petcock was looking like it was the culprit of my smelly bike as well. I didn't really study it much, I was in a hurry to put the bike back together and take advantage of my day off... but I did notice that it looked like on mine that it was the front mounting bolt was the source, whereas yours looks pretty clean. I also noticed that even turned all the way "OFF" it still will leak just a wee bit.
Take the petcock off and see what your gasket looks like... (part #10 HERE (http://houseofmotorcycles.bikebandit.com/partsbandit/assets/schematics/Suzuki/SU0083_039.gif)). That's what I'm guessing is messed up/non-existant on my bike...
good luck, post back if you fix it!
trey
Nice photo! :thumb:
Gee ... I've never seen that kind of gunk on the tank-mounted petcock before. It looks like you caught a drip-in-progress just to the right of the "R" (which marks the "R"eserve outlet, by the way).
In case you haven't seen it before, here is an old picture of my petcock:
(http://www.bbburma.net/MiscFotos/100_1300_TankPetcock_REServeTubeLabeledWithRaisedR.jpg)
Right below the hose clamp there is a "bulge" in the brass outlet tube. You can see how the hose gets "thinner" below that point. Your hose clamp may be mounted a bit too low - right ON the bulge instead of just above it. That may make for an imperfect seal.
But when I see that drip forming before my eyes, that hose clamp appears to be the least of your worries. I suppose the leak could be caused by a bad seal inside the petcock itself, but I wouldn't know what to do about that besides replace the whole petcock.
The first thing I would do is try to get a good look at the petcock from the REAR. I'm hoping that you'll find a leak somewhere around the rear mounting bolt, which should be fixable by replacing the gasket between the petcock and the fuel tank.
Why would a leak in the rear make the front get so dirty? Good question, but if the fuel leaks down to the "drip point" shown in the photo it could get whipped all over by the wind from there. And then dust & dirt stick to it, and so forth.
The bike was in the shop for a valve adjustment and a front fork rebuild. I know you have to take the tank off to get to the airbox/carbs, etc. Would the mechanic have removed the tank-mounted petcock from the tank (and maybe lost/damaged the gasket), or just un-done the hoses?
Either way, I never smelled gas before its month-long trip to the bike doctor. Would it be unreasonable to think the problem could have started from something they did?
Thanks Kerry for the pic and the info, very helpful to a newbie like me! :cheers:
Quote from: FintThe bike was in the shop for a valve adjustment and a front fork rebuild. [...] Would the mechanic have removed the tank-mounted petcock from the tank (and maybe lost/damaged the gasket), or just un-done the hoses?
They should have undone the hoses and should NOT have removed the petcock. I wonder if they got a little too aggressive when they turned the petcock to the OFF position? (This is done by using a flathead screwdriver to turn the slot on the inward side of the petcock in either clock direction until it is horizontal. If they were ultra ham-fisted.... :x )
Quote from: FintEither way, I never smelled gas before its month-long trip to the bike doctor. Would it be unreasonable to think the problem could have started from something they did?
No, not unreasonable at all. In fact - it's very likely. :guns: From now on, come here first! :mrgreen:
Like
cernunos said: Clean the petcock surface thoroughly and see if you can't trace the leak. Hopefully it's just a loose mounting bolt. (Maybe they DID take the petock off after all, and just didn't retighten it all the way. Hold the thought! :thumb: )
OK the basic idea is ... that part should not be opened for tank removal ... however ... the tank prolly was low on fuel or drained ... and the thing kept so that that O ring was away from gas ... causing it to dry and shrivel, and re exposure to gas doesn't make it swell back up to original size ... I have always noticed O rings leaking when they dry and are re introduced to gas ...
Put a new O ring in there ... BTW wd40 or silicone spray prolongs O ring life ...
Cool.
Srinath.
Or, the mechanic placed the tank on the ground (or bench) without any support (2x4 under the two lowest points aft of the petcock and a 4x4 under the frame mounting flange). :nono:
could have been pulled against to "stretch" the lines enough to get to the clamps, or as said before, could have been set down on the petcock.
Just another idea, those two tubes are just pressed into the petcock, so if on of them got banged around, it could be leaking.
I'd suggest remove the tank, put it somewhere you can observe the petcock.
cap the two tubes with rubber vacuum fitting caps. That way you can clean it up real good and see for sure what's leaking before you tear it apart.
Well, I think I got the gas leak stopped. I took off the tank and cleaned everything, and put the hoses back on nice 'n snug. Only problem is, I'm not sure what I did to make it better, as I never found a smoking gun :dunno: I don't smell gas anymore, but I'm going to let it sit for one night in the garage with the door shut before I give it an official blessing. I had no idea how easy it was to get the tank off :oops: it's no wonder everyone says the bike it easy to work on!
Thanks to everyone for their help.