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Changing Petcock to normal gravity petcock

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by Suvoth, Jun 14, 2021.

  1. Suvoth

    Suvoth Member

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    Hey all. So my petcock is leaking/broken. My boyfriend says if I get a petcock with the same bolt pattern that I can just plug the vacuum line and I can get a gravity fed petcock with an off switch. Anyone had any luck doing this? I want to go buy it tomorrow and my boyfriend lives across the country from me so I'm hesitant
     
  2. Jetfixer

    Jetfixer Well-Known Member

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    What do you mean petcock is broke? An overhaul kit is usually around 25$ and is easy to rebuild. The problem with most aftermarket petcocks are hit and miss for quality. The other disadvantage is unless you always shut off the fuel after riding , the fuel will flow as long as your carb needles are in good shape it is not a problem...BUT if one or more leaks you can wind up with a crankcase full of fuel. The stock vacuum petcock only flows with engine vacuum, unless it is set to PRI or RES . There is another thing to look at carefully is some of the aftermarket petcocks the on/off lever can hit the tank flange,and you have to ensure the fuel inlet is on the correct side of the fuel line to the carbs. The very best petcock is the Pingle petcock for Harley Davidson's but it is threaded into the tank . Cheers good luck.
     
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  3. Suvoth

    Suvoth Member

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    Last night I came home from a ride, turned off the bike and was going to put my new gremlin bell when I noticed a leak. Fuel was coming out of my air box. Boyfriend talked me through clamping off the fuel line, taking the tank off, draining the tank, removing the petcock and of course i cleaned my air filter what a nightmare I swear! As soon as I took that tank off, just pouring out of the petcock. It was already"fixed" two years ago
     
  4. Suvoth

    Suvoth Member

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    Does anyone have a petcock they've changed to without issue?
     
  5. JMark

    JMark Member

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    Mine is not a vacuum one. It works fine but it was installed by a previous owner. I did have sticky floats but changing oil after the event (which you need to do BTW) wasn't that big of a deal. BUT it happened in my garage not on a trip. As long as the floats are good it shouldn't happen, but as Jetfixer mentioned the gravity petcock will lead to a more serious outcome when they do fail. I would add, though, that I am not sure if I would have noticed if it hadn't come out of the airbox...
     
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  6. jayrodoh

    jayrodoh YimYam Premium Member

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    I’d rather rebuild a stock petcock over taking a chance with a aftermarket one. The internals in yours are at least 35 years old and probably due to be rebuilt. Len sells kits that’ll restore it to new condition and will probably last another 30. If you were able to go through all that you can rebuild a petcock.

    Fuel coming out of the air filter was not the fault of the petcock but the needle and seats in at least one carb. Shutting the fuel off after a ride is merely a bandaid. Search up the church of clean carb thread, yours probably need it. There are plenty of threads on this and resources here on that subject. You should probably change your oil at this point, if it was running out of the filter it’s most likely in the crankcase too.

    Welcome and happy riding!!
     
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  7. Suvoth

    Suvoth Member

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    Ugh now I don't know what to do. I want something fast. And I literally just did an oil filter and oil change and need a new crush washer and o ring too. Was very difficult to stop the leaking oil and was hoping to do it at the end of the season
     
  8. Suvoth

    Suvoth Member

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    And yeah, me all by myself. Is it easy to rebuild this thing?
     
  9. Suvoth

    Suvoth Member

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    Anyone have a link to this rebuild kit? I need crush washers and o ring too for my oil filter and I need a rush delivery
     

    Attached Files:

  10. jayrodoh

    jayrodoh YimYam Premium Member

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    Email Len @chacal info@xj4ever.com for parts

    Start a thread in the Tech Assistance on the specific issue for help

    There’s a really good thread here about rebuilding a petcock but searching this forum doesn’t work well with bourbon. I’m sure @k-moe can reference it quickly.

    Get that “gotta get back on the road quick” mentality out of your head now. Quick fixes get you home but take some time to sort things and you’ll have a bike you can ride when you’re ready, not when it’s ready.
     
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  11. Suvoth

    Suvoth Member

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    Thanks. I'm gonna try cleaning first. It's really hard to turn and one of my friends turned it to reserve to show me how to do it while riding and this happened. So it apparently might be just dirty because it has a new diaphragm from 2 years ago
     
  12. Franz

    Franz Well-Known Member

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  13. JBurch

    JBurch Active Member

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    If you're interested, Yamaha does make a simple gravity petcock, don't remember the part number, though Len does carry them. I put one on my Seca, it's a conditioned behavior learned from owning a British bike; go for a ride turn the gas on, all done, turn the gas off.
     
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  14. cgutz

    cgutz Well-Known Member

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    I rebuilt mine several years ago using Len's kit (xj4ever) and directions referenced above. Easy to do, and now works great.
    All it takes if you have any leaky float valves is one time forgetting to shut off a manual, and you are once again paying for an oil change. One mistake costs the same as a rebuilt kit, and it is easy to do.
     
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  15. jayrodoh

    jayrodoh YimYam Premium Member

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    I was looking back through your threads to see what bike you have and it appears this is not a new problem. In 2019 you posted:

    "I got a Jerry can of gas and was putting it in..yeah, dripping it everywhere then I noticed it dripping fast out the bottom of it near this black case."

    "All fixed! This bike doesnt off. I have it on pri thinking that was off"

    Not really fixed, you will want to tend to those carbs at some point. You should be able to leave it on PRIME without any fuel leaking past the needles.
     
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  16. Suvoth

    Suvoth Member

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    Carbs were all done. My friend turned my petcock to show me how easy it would be tondo on the road and TADA, all this. I believe it's dirty. The carbs? Well, we just had winter and it was in storage and the guy I stored it at didn't have the key until like March (his idea, not mine). So I'm sure it's just sticking.
     
  17. JCH

    JCH Active Member

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    It doesn't flow on reserve only on prim with engine vacuum off.
     
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  18. Beck

    Beck Member

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    I’m glad you said that. I usually park mine on anything but prime. Speaking of which, wouldn’t switching to a regular gravity flow petcock be the same as leaving it on Prime all the time? I know mine has a special starting procedure, where I start on Prime then switch to either of the other 2 settings. Mine will flood if left in the first position once started. Or at least I think that’s why it’s flooding.
     
  19. JCH

    JCH Active Member

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    In theory it's not suppose too meaning if you leave it on prime and I never do... it's up to the integrity or condition of the carb needles and seats to stop the flow of fuel into the crankcase and air filter box.
     
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  20. Suvoth

    Suvoth Member

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    Just wanted to give you all an update. I took apart my petcock, cleaned it, put it back together, and she's good to go!
     
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