Hey all, so I was driving home last night and thought i heard it starving for fuel so I switched my petcock to prime. Parked it, forgot to switch off prime, left it for about 8 hours. Came out to a small puddle of gas and the bike won't crank. It tried to turn over but didn't make it past the first rotation.
So what do I do? I know its flooded but god I hope that's all lol, had to bring the truck to work today

You've hydrolocked your engine, it has too much fuel in the cylinder and cant compress it. I dont think the GS starter motor is powerful enough to bend a rod with a locked engine but you better hope you're lucky. Take your plugs out and turn it over to clear the fuel out then put them back in and it should start, you need to change your oil straight after as it will be contaminated with fuel and GS's need the best lubrication they can get.

Quote from: mjj4 on May 29, 2013, 03:18:40 AM
You've hydrolocked your engine, it has too much fuel in the cylinder and cant compress it. I dont think the GS starter motor is powerful enough to bend a rod with a locked engine but you better hope you're lucky. Take your plugs out and turn it over to clear the fuel out then put them back in and it should start, you need to change your oil straight after as it will be contaminated with fuel and GS's need the best lubrication they can get.

+1! 

Well crap. Just did an oil change in april, too.
Thanks guys!

While we're on the topic, aren't the carbs supposed to stop letting fuel into the cylinders if the bike is off?

Turn it over BY HAND with the ignition off.  You don't want to have a spark next to the gas coming out of the cylinder and start a fire.

Quote from: m_melen on May 29, 2013, 05:50:26 AM
While we're on the topic, aren't the carbs supposed to stop letting fuel into the cylinders if the bike is off?

In an ideal world yes. However your ideal world can be ruined by a tiny bit of wear on the float needle, a soft spring ... a leaky O ring, a speck of rust etc etc etc ...
Cool.
Buddha.

Quote from: bombsquad83 on May 29, 2013, 06:34:06 AM
Turn it over BY HAND with the ignition off.  You don't want to have a spark next to the gas coming out of the cylinder and start a fire.

Or take the plugs out of the caps

I'll do it outside with a fire extinguisher handy. The plugs won't be in the caps anyway. How do you turn these over by hand?

the caps could still possibly arc (even without the plugs in them), creating a source for ignition.

Pull the plugs out, put it in a high gear and just push it down your street a bit. You can put a shop towel or something over the plug holes if you want cause gas will push out. Wipe it down, put a squirt of oil in each cylinder, change the oil, good to go. Don't ask how I know. 

Quote from: dry_humor on May 29, 2013, 07:43:28 AM
the caps could still possibly arc (even without the plugs in them), creating a source for ignition.

Thanks for pointing that out.  Ignition should be off and kill switch on for safety.  Also don't forget to drain any gas out of your airbox too.

I'll try pushing it down the street then. Is it safe to start it for a few seconds before I change the oil just to make sure it'll run? I won't have a chance to do an oil change before the weekend.

Did you check the oil level in the case?

Was gas in the crankcase or the level unusually high?

Be sure you remove the gas in the cylinders before you try to push it down the street, it might bend "THE" rod, and then you will be sourcing for an engine.
Also, a great amount of the gas you had, ended up mixed with oil. How much gas you think you have in there?
If it's safe or no to start it, depends on how bad that oil is diluted!

She was maybe a third of a tank full. Oil level is now reading pretty high, probably due to dilution. Its still that nice fresh oil change yellow too, such a shame the oil got wasted

Just pulled the plugs and pushed, then cranked, then installed the plugs and she fired up. Sounds like crap, I only let her run for about 10 seconds since she needs new oil. Thanks all!

Quote from: m_melen on May 29, 2013, 05:50:26 AM
While we're on the topic, aren't the carbs supposed to stop letting fuel into the cylinders if the bike is off?

The carbs shouldn't let fuel into the cylinders if the bike is off.  If the bike runs ok on the normal petcock settings, the leak is slow enough that you don't have to rebuild them immediately, but you probably should put that on your to-do list to mitigate the chances this will happen again.

See me.. I would flush that oil with some new and seafoam. Let it idle a few minutes and then do new oil. I would change the filter on that last change.

Just me. Its what $10 more in oil to flush quick and $6-9 in a bottle of seafoam.. which you wont use the whole bottle for this anyway.

$15 extra dollars or so for an additional flush.

I dont know everyone elses take, but you wont get all the fuel out in a drain and refill in my opinion.

I must be some kind of rebel. I always just pulled the plugs and cranked it with the starter. Except when it hydro locked at work on me and I had no tools at 11pm... Just kept bumping the starter and pushing the bike forward until it cleared out... Had to do that 3 times I think

Quote from: Snake2715 on May 29, 2013, 11:35:59 AM
See me.. I would flush that oil with some new and seafoam. Let it idle a few minutes and then do new oil. I would change the filter on that last change.

Just me. Its what $10 more in oil to flush quick and $6-9 in a bottle of seafoam.. which you wont use the whole bottle for this anyway.

$15 extra dollars or so for an additional flush.

I dont know everyone elses take, but you wont get all the fuel out in a drain and refill in my opinion.

THIS!!!