Gas leak from carb boots

So I went to go fire up my xj550 this morning and noticed a nice pool of gas under it.. I traced the source back up to a leaky carb boot from the manifold. It somehow drained my battery as well? Any advice as what to do from here? should I just replace the boot or all the boots? is it hard/expensive? and do I have to take the carbs out to do it or can I just do it with the tank off?

 

Your "boot" isn't leaking gas, in that it isn't supposed to have gas in it .

The source is a stuck float needle in your carbs, which allowed the bowls and then the rest of your intake to fill with gas. In addition, if you didn't leave the petcock on PRI, then your petcock needs a rebuild as well.

Also, gas is in your crankcase, dilluting your oil, so once you fix the leak, you need to change your oil and filter. You'll wreck your engine if you run it like that.

The battery is unrelated, but I'd trickle charge it and test it an a local autoparts store, and once you get the bike running again (AFTER fixing the above), check your charging system output. It should output 14.5V DC +/- 0.3V, above 2000 rpm (not higher or lower). If that test fails, you'll have to fix your charging system too, to avoid getting stranded.

 

be sure the petcock (fuel valve if you are not aware of that term --> its the gas tank valve) is left in the "On" position. I've read a little bit about your previous problem with gas soaking your plugs and when you installed new plugs it fired right up. My thoughts are the tank is still letting fuel flow when you don't want it to. these petcocks are vacuum operated & should be left in the "On" position except for a few instances like starting for the first time in a long time or when you are approaching an empty tank. its just a suggestion

the PO of my 550 had the petcock in the wrong position when he tried to fire up the bike and sell it to me. I knew right away he didn't understand them & kept myself quiet. purchased the bike and fired it up the following day I bought it

 

This IS the problem.

The solution is to service your carbs; replacing a manifold will not "fix" the issue.

You'll need a manual. And it does need to be fixed before you run the motor any more.

 

Whoops...good catch bigfitz, I totally skipped over the solution to leaky float valve.

Recap on your problems:
1. Leaky Float valve -> service carbs (bottom end for this specific issue, but a premeptive, full, rebuild might mitigate future headaches).

2. Leaky Petcock (IF you didn't leave it in the PRI position) -> rebuild petcock

2.5 Gas is in your crankcase -> After completing the above, change oil and filter.

3. Dead Battery (unrelated to the first two) -> charge and test. Replace if bad (regardless of age, when it was purchased, etc - if you deep discharge a new battery, you CAN ruin it, because............)

4. Check your charging system -> this COULD be the reason your battery is dead. It will require a manual, circuit diagram, multimeter, time, and patience to troubleshoot, but is something that you can learn to do.

5. Check your manifold boot? Gas/oil usually leaks out of the breather/airbox, not the manifold. Maybe things will get seated when you remove the carbs, but if it's leaking from the manifold, you'll have an air leak once you get up and running.

ALL of these should be addressed before getting back on the road.