Gas leaking out of one carb.

I cleaned/rebuilt the carbs in 2008. Put about 5000 miles on since then. I did not drain the carbs last fall just went into the garage every other week and set the tap on prime for a few minutes and switched it back. On the first start of the season, tap was on prime for a few minutes and the bike was running on the two left cylinders. After a minute or so the two on the right side fired up. No problems. Going for a ride three weeks later, set tap on prime for 10 minutes or so. Starts normal running on all four cylinders. Today, after not riding for a few weeks, set to prime for a minute or two, starts on two left cylinders, and as I sit waiting for the other side to come alive, I smell gas. I look and there's a puddle of gas under the bike. I see the carb just to the right of the idle adjustment, as viewed from the back of the bike, is leaking gas. I remember an old trick for my lawn mower when it would not start after it ran out of gas and would not start after I put more in. I hooked up my drain hose to the carb that was leaking and drained(allen head drain screws from Len are a must have, thanks a bunch) the gas. I then turned the tap to prime while I left the drain open to let a bit of gas clean what ever was stuck in the needle and seat. I close the drain on the one carb, let it fill a while, and restart the bike. It seems to be running better. As its running, I open the drain on the leaking carb and let a little gas out then close the drain. By now the bike is running like a Swiss watch like it always has since the carb rebuild, and I go for a ride. No leaks or problems. Letting the bowl drain washed out what ever may have been clogging the needle and seat as fresh gas came in...or freed the stuck float. I have an inline filter and put stabil in the tank last fall. Just wondering when I will have to dig into the carbs again. Ofcourse, with the clear drain hose hooked up and ready to go, I forgot to check the float level. It runs and starts now like it should and I will be adding stabil to a full tank of gas and draining the bowls next fall.

 

remove the oil filler cap and sniff test to see if fuel reached the crank case. if so change oil immediately. hope this helps.

 

It is obvious that you have a float needle not working properly. When to go in and clean it or replace it is up to you. If you are willing to risk the carbs flooding and getting gas in the crank case while you are out and about...

Yo should check it right away, I am not sure why would you wait?

 

He may have just had a mildly gummed-up float from sitting.

When I wake a bike back up from storage (ANY bike, not just the XJs) I always open the drains, drain out everything that sat in the carb(s) over the winter, and let fresh gas run through for a few seconds before closing the drains and allowing everything to fill.

I would definitely keep an eye on it and carefully monitor your oil level for any sudden rise, however.

 

re-built 6yrs ago. imo church is due. go over everything to insure diaphrams, springs, washers, needles, jets, etc. are in good shape. I would not break rack unless visual/propane test show bad shaft seals. I plan to do it every 5. hope this helps.

 

It's been driven less than 5,000 miles in the six years since the carb rebuild. Personally I would pull them off and go through them again just so I had piece of mind.

 

I noticed something didn't sound right. I could tell it was running on three cylinders. Two sounds smooth, four sounds smooth and three sounds bad. It was only 30 seconds or so until I smelled the gas. It was leaking between the airbox boot and the carb. Made a small puddle on the floor. I'll go check the crank case for the smell of gas. Probably time to change the oil anyway. It's two years old but doesn't have a thousand miles on it yet.