Carbs leaking? Here is how to fix it.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ต.ค. 2024
- Carburetor leakage, especially significant leaking while the bike is running, can have a dangerous and damaging effect on your bike. The type of carb leakage described in this video will typically leak from the carb overflow tubes, or out through the airbox or pod filters. Fortunately, the repair is neither difficult or expensive, so take a look at this video, and surely you will agree that you can do it yourself. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or message me.
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I've watched dozens of videos and none of them made sense until I got to your video! Thank you so much!
Believe me, dont worry about harming the ozone with your carb. Hydrocarbon evaporation from the Earths crust is measured in tons, that little bit of gas is not even a good fart from my horse. But thanks for the video, helps me tremendously.
OK .... so I may not have you as my first pick for a partner playing Pictionary, still you did a great job explaining how to recognize and repair.
Just picked up my Suzuki Bandit from the shop having a jet kit installed and withing 5 miles noticed same thing as beginning of your video. Called the mechanic who stated something about most likely being a stuck float. Now I know what he is talking about thanks to your video. Thank you for taking the time to post it and help others.
Glad to help
dude. awesome video. you simply explained how the whole carb works and why gas is overflowing. thanks
Thank you for explaining this! I got my first bike, a 1983 Yamaha Maxim 400, and thanks to wonderful Wisconsin weather I have only been able to ride a few times. When it started leaking fuel I have to say I did panic a little. I am clueless when it comes to anything engine related but it's my bike so I want to know how to fix it. The more I searched the more confused I got and then I found this video. The way you explained it made total sense!! I'm ready to pull the carburetor and get her running again! Bonus: I'm not just following a list of steps without any idea why, now I actually really understand how it works. It's like the thingy in the toilet that stops the water from running ;)
You got it :)
i have cleaned my carbs ,put it back together and it works. I noticed cracks in manifold thing that conects carb to engine and replaced it. Job done Muhaha. Now if i sell my bike i will not sell it as cheap as i was thinking because i know what is inside. Thank you , you earned me money and better bike.
Thank goodness for videos like this. I have found my offending jet needle and after replacing it, cleaning and re-seating I am ready to re-install carbs. Panic over. And I checked the floats actually FLOAT too !
Thats what im here for bud
thanks to all the guys that are posting all these intructional videos. I finally fixed my bike. it wouldn't run without the choke on so I cleaned a the jets with 1 piece of wire brush then sprayed it with carb. cleaner yeah!
Quick fix: I was in difficult place to make a larger carb cleaning operation and was able to make the float work again by shutting off fuel while engine running, then the engine will continue running on the remaining fuel in the carbs. When the carbs are nearly empty or empty open for fuel again and wait for the carbs to fill up, repeat a couple of times and your problem is likely fixed :D
Ive had this issue for a rediculous amount of time, had a "friend" try and fix my carbs twice, even put in a new carb kit. Yet still dumping out of my right hose, I watched this earlier, and decided first thing tomorrow AM im going to try this, see for 1, if he actually put in my carb kit (ill kill) or if something is just gummed up. What an outstanding video! Ill get back and let you know how this turns out!
Right on dude yeah these systems are ridiculously easy to repair once you understand how they work
mrmaxstorey Hey man, took it all apart, no issues with the floats, took them off and tested in water for air bubbles, they werent sticking either. Took out the needles, they have a visible discoloration ring but nothing drastic and look otherwise good? (idk much about motorcycles, learning as i go.) However, in my endeavor i realized that the choke slide bar (no idea technical name) that pulls what look like pins in and out of the carb, one of the pins is actually broken off (which is same side as carb that was dumping. And the slide itself doesnt move freely and nice, it clicks and sounds off. I took pictures off everything, and also have a conditionj of some of the coloration and deterioration of some things in the carb area near the float and all that. Im sorry for my lack of termanology.....If you have somewhere I can send pics that may make this easier? Thanks for your help man! Im actually very much enjoying working this out.
Thank you for the great explanation! My bike always does this if I havent ridden in a while. My first mechanic told me to just ride it off. Its works, but is embarrassing and unsafe to drive around trailing gas.
Thanks for the video, good job!
I have an '84 Ninja 900 which I been working on all this year, restoring it the best I can. The bike is almost finished. Guess what's holding it up, yep the carbs.
I rebuilt the carbs and installed new float needles along with some other small parts. The floats looked good. It is still pouring gas all over the place, coming out thru the 2 small holes on the carb inlet, where the air filter gets bolted on too. The carbs didn't do this before i tore into it.
Did you find the problem
gearhead and environmentally friendly. You my friend are the future! keep it up.
That's the most I've ever learnt about bikes! I appreciate its an old video but Thanks for explaining 🙂
the further the sealant is form the engine and thus the cooler it stays, the longer it will last. I have bikes with repairs like that lasting for years, some it only lasted a few weeks. Enjoy it now, and in the meantime keep an eye out for cheap replacement parts. Good job!
God damn. I have learned so much from watching your video blog, man. A huge internet high-5 to you!
hey man thank you for posting this video! helped me pre plan how to fix my mother's boyfriend's bike. i have watched a few of your videos and they are great and very easy to understand. keep posting them!
This video is extremely helpful. thank you for taking the time to show people how to fix a leaking carb. With my limited tool budget I'm sure I'll be swearing and scratching my head but I'll have a reference to use. Thanks again.
Great video man. I knew mine were clogged, this gave me the confidence to do it. Carbs are way more simple than I thought
Haha one time I had to take a set of carbs apart 10 times before I found the little piece of grit that was causing the problem. It was down in the bottom of the float bowl and it was a little piece of rubber from the fuel line. Each time I filled the carbs back up, it would float up and clog the float needle, but when I drained the carbs it would settle down at the bottom, so I was always looking in the wrong place for it, at the needle/chamber, while it was always down in the float bowl
Amazing video, couldn't have said it better myself. Keep up helping out man, we appreciate it!
Thank you again, I will check that video, you are saving me from a lot of frustration not to mention the money.
Thats what Im here for bud
mrmaxstorey I owe you a cold beer.
This is exactly what I needed to see! Planning a carb strip down after mine leaked just like this!
I'm looking for a video that shows close up and in focus the 4 carbs being separated
What do you need to seperate them for?
Glad to help! It could be gas from the gas cap, but first make sure there is no gas pooling in your airbox. Gas in the oil is the big thing, track the level of your oil in your sight glass to make sure it is not going down or especially up, if you don't see any in there then you are probably ok. Any semi-open containers of gas sitting around nearby?
Thank you for sharing this information, two of my three bikes are leaking and I was so afraid something really bad can be the cause, now I will try this first, only problem is one of my bikes is a V twin and carbs are really hard to reach.
Check out my video on removing/installing v style carbs its not that hard
Ive noticed that a lot of new riders have this irrational fear of the carburetors, they always take them to the shop because they think as soon as they open them up, a whole bunch of tiny parts are all gonna jump out springloaded. I take this tone in this, and my dozens of other videos on carbs and other maintenance techniques, not just to show the semi-competent how the process done, but also to instill confidence in the novices who just dont know yet that they do have the skills.
I attached a sync vacuum gauge assembly and saw a radically fluctuating needle (not good!), but they were all the same. Used a small plastic tank got off ebay with the sync kit, seems to work pretty good. Well I will check the float height next few days...the carbs look new, I cleaned 'em really good. This bike has been modded, it is not stock. Basani comp exhaust and the jets are 148 main, 98 idle. I did drive the bike home about a year ago, but it didn't idle below 2000 rpms.
Thx for your help
Great tutorial. My 1980 yamaha cafe racer project as been giving me hell from the beginning. Fuel is coming out of my air box!!!!!
Great video. Thanks so much for sharing. I have gas leaking back through the air filter. I'm hoping it's a similar situation.
Have you checked the float height? How about the floats themselves, were there new ones in your kit or are you using old ones which might be damaged and not floating so well anymore? Finally whats the condition of your float needle chamber, where the needle sits, is there possibly some corrosion in there that is preventing the needles from seating properly?
Thanks for the video, very easy to follow. I had a similar problem with fuel overflow into my air box and leaking everywhere. Bought a rebuild kit and the with the rebuild kit the floats sat to low so I reused the the old gear and just changed the O rings. But it's still leaking.
You might be leaking around the float needles if they are all crusty, or in the needle chamber, or the floats themselves might be sticky
Just wanted to say you are the man thanks for the help....to anyone who need help on a bike ask this guy
10:05 top tip, replace all the cross head screws with allen head ones! No more stripped screws.
MrMaxstorey explains this process well and does the job right. However, if the leaking is happening when the bike is not running it could just be bad o-rings on the drain screws. Every bike is different but I have heard of guys just pulling the valve body out and apply a thin coat of copper sealant to the body/oring and reinstalling. I have even heard of some cheapskates plugging the drain hose and having no problem for years. Lets just say this is what a friend of a friend of mine did. Just be safe out there.
Worked a treat on my CBR600, many thanks!
Nice job Max!
By the way, if your video camera is like mine, it will have variable close focus depending on the zoom. It's counterintuitive, but most zoom cameras will have better close focus limits when set to wide angle. So, if you find that it can't focus because the camera is too close, try zooming to wide angle and you will be able to hold the camera closer. Strangely, the loss you get from wide angle is less than the gain you get from ability to hold the camera closer.
Cheers.
Thank you sooo much just. Bought a 1981 kz 550 ltd and one carb has this slow drip from the over flow valve..... this helps a lot. I'll be pulling the carbs soon!
fyi,guys. take lots of pictures with your smartphone before removing the carburator
Better tip: shoot a video when doing it. First time my friend forgot how to put everything back in place and second time he filmed it and it helped A LOT!
Ugh I hate that. I used to be a major perpetrator of sloppy wiring jobs, and having to deal with all that from the other end has taught me to clean up my act. Usually now I will re-wire with snap connectors and try to keep the coloring of the wires the same
Well, generally you can tell if your floats are the issue. If you have the brass hollow style floats, just shake them and see if they have gas inside. If they are the black plastic floats, look really hard for any cracks or places in the material where gas could be soaking in. If they look uniform they are probably good. Before you spend any more money, just do a little experiment and lower the float heights a bit, and make them all the same, and see if that helps
What i did was after cleaning the needle i took out the petrol from the petrol tank and cleaned the tank and made a very fine filter for the petrol tank to stop the crap constantly clogging onto the needle. It really helps if you find your self constantly pulling apart the carb apart to try and clean it and fine that it just keeps on leaking.
@zrultima Can you isolate where it is leaking? From the overflow hoses, or from a gasket, or the little plastic tubes that run between the carbs?
@dwidthekid What do you mean the engine turns like a key in an ignition? Does it sound differently while its cranking than it did before?
Great video, thank you, video and explanation were great, might include how to adjust float level to the proper setting
based on the manufacturer's specifications. Mine wasn't stuck, (on my Polaris ATV) just wasn't adjusted properly. Keep up the good work on the videos !
Best video i have ever viewed!!!!!! You freakin drew it out, now i get it!!!! Best help ever"!!"!!!!!!"
To remove a hinge pin use a spring-loaded centre punch on the end. One click usually does it.
Right on man, I just picked up 2 of those same bikes, Im about to make 1 out of the two. It sounds like you are overflowing, check the float height and that the float/needle/pin is clean
Great video. Learned a lot in just a few minutes.
When you turn the fuel back on the rush of fuel washes the needle clean and it seats properly. You may have to do this several times but it has never failed me on a bike or a car since the 1950's. On an old car you crimp the rubber line from the gas tank to the fuel pump with a vice grip and follow the same procedure.
You shouldnt put sealant on the float bowl gaskets, only use the gasket. Im not entirely sure which bolt you are talking about, is yours stripped or stuck?
Me too...cleaned the carbs first thing this morning, everything looked good until i took the float needle out of the leaking carb and found a very small chunk of rubber under it, checked all needle valves and jets of each carb before putting them back on.
A good tip for stripped screws, use valve lapping compound on a screwdriver. I've actually gotten a screwdriver to bite so hard I snapped the tip off my screwdriver a quarter inch from the tip of the tip, and it was like a standard #8 Phillips, not a tiny screwdriver either.
@Miralis27 The choke richens the mixture of the air and gas, either by blocking off the air, adding more gas, or both. If you have fuel leaking it is probably not directly associated with the choke, probably something else
Whoa whoa whoa, sweet chil'o'mine! I personally disagree MiltonRoe - I am a beginner (actually, just took apart my first set of carbs yesterday on my first bike which I bought only 3 weeks ago) and I find these videos absolutely invaluable. As an engineer, I'm slightly biased since I really enjoy (and benefit from) the diagrams and operational theory MrMax goes in to. Carbs are neither scary nor difficult. Some would argue I act like a 6-yr old child, but I'm a 6-yo that just saved herself $400.
Brilliant, brilliant video, many thanks.
Quick question. My 2002 (ok, not exactly vintage but it has gone round the block) leaks a small amount of fuel (not like the amount in this video) from one of the hoses down by the rear brake pedal - i am assuming this is the overflow hose you refer to.
I'm guessing that this is due to a sticky float and that i should overhaul all the carbs? Or just open it up and see which one is not playing ball?
Carb overflow is the most likely problem, right?
Awesome easy to understand video, thank you!!!!
Thank you for your video, I just recently had my permit as a new beginner I don't know much about motorcycle and I don't know which motorcycle should I get for my first bike, 1993 Suzuki GSX 1100G BUT it has a muffler leak and need 2 set of carbs and the 2nd bike is 1981 Honda CM 700 don't need nothing what's your opinions thanks
Id go with the honda, that suzuki is a big bike
@@mrmaxstorey Thanks for your advice will do
How far up did you fill it? And which overflow tube, form the carbs or the tank?
Good video...but I have to correct you on the arms that hold the float pin. I had a carb that had a broken arm, I J/B weld it, and it worked great, didn't have to buy new carb.
@jdogface Haha no worries dude, glad to help. If your gas leaks into your cylinders, it can lead to a very bad situation. It will foul your plugs and make your bike run poorly, but more importantly it will dilute your oil, making it much thinner, and therefore unable to lubricate your engine. Your engine will wear rapidly and soon the cylinders will scour. You need to change the oil anytime it smells gassy, and more importantly fix that float leak asap. Send a message if you need some more help.
Since your first carb is lower when the bike is on the kickstand, sometimes it will leak even if the overflow is coming from a different carb. Re-check those float heights, the needles, and the floats that they dont have small leaks and are still floating well. As for your leaking bowl, theres not much that can go wrong there. Either the gasket is in good shape and the bowl is tight, or it isnt. Try tightening it some more. Might be worth replacing the screws with allen heads for a tighter seal
Gotta love the illustrations bro! Ease of explanation! Its like reading an idiots guide for me! If u could.. can u do more explanations through ur drawings and the actual parts? Humbly appreciated ifya can. Thnx man
Floats are not identical, but not too far to cause problems (IMO- I could be completely wrong and need to re-adjust). There were not new floats in the kit- can you buy the floats alone? That is the one thing I have been afraid of. They don't look like they would allow liquid to flow into them but that is looking more and more like a culprit. I was really hoping this was going to be a "fixed by cleaning thoroughly" kind of job. Guess I have to spend some more dough. Thanks for the video btw
@YoshiMan246 Its actually not too hard, get yourself a digital touchless thermometer, like $15 on ebay or autozone, and track the temperatures of the header pipes as they warm up. Start with the bike cool, start it, then track the temps of the pipes as they heat up. If one doesnt warm up then you are not firing there, or one warms up way faster than the others, it is burning way too lean. This is a preliminary test but it could let you know wheres the problem. Also, did you synch the carbs yet?
Well first make sure that is a carb overflow hose, your battery drain hose also will typically route down by your brake pedal and that is an entirely different problem. But yes if it is coming from your carbs then it is a very good idea to go in there and take a look at all 4. Whatever is causing your leaky carb to leak might be building up and fixing to cause a problem soon in the other ones
Hey, I'm working on the CB550f again- my carbs started leaking a while ago so I took them apart and cleaned them up thoroughly but they still leaked like crazy. I ordered a rebuild kit for all four and replaced all of the jets and grommets in the bowls. The nipples are springing the bowls just fine, and the problem persists. I was going to take it to a shop recently when they magically stopped pissing all of my gas out right when I got there. I stopped for fuel today- started again. Help?
Man I’m having the same exact problem in my cb400sf do you remember what the problem was?
@dwidthekid Are you sure it wont go in? You are not stripping the threads? Look down into the spark plug hole and see if you see anything in there blocking its way, your engine may have eaten a valve
Is it a black plastic float, or a hollow metal float?
Great video thanks. Now i understand why my carb leaks.
Honestly I don't know that answer to that question, but it wouldnt hurt anything to give it a shot. Go ahead and plug it but if you get fuel starvation issues you'll have to unplug it
Nice video...
I have some carb leaking problem, I opened carb of my first motorcycle and now it is leaking. I think it has more to do with seal so I bought type 3 aviation gasket sealant and still not much luck. It drips very slowly any idea how to solve that problem?? And another question how did you remove the bolt that is right beside the float hinge? (8:30 in video right below your index finger)
@trufbros1 Make sure your needle moves in and out of its chamber freely, float heights are set appropriately, and that it is not leaking from anywhere else like a float bowl gasket or bad fuel lines
Yeah I will often use an inline fuel filter from a lawn mower, you can buy them at autozone, I buy them by the lot of 10 from ebay
@Drumnguy77 That is probably the bowl plug, normally there is a screw there that you can remove to drain the bowls. You'll need to get another one. Go on bikebandit and look up your bike, they sell them for like $3.50
Hi and thanks for you tutorials they are great help and I have learned alot form you in maintaining my Suzuki GSF 600. Although i have rectified this issue earlier on with the carbs I know have an issue with the tank overflow pipe under the engine (it keeps pouring out petrol when I top up fuel) can you advise me on the possible causes, much appriciated
@mrmaxstorey my 150cc scooter has been leaking like crazy, I'll put a full tank (1.76gal) and the next day it will be down about 1/2 of gas. Once it hits the 1/2 mark it doesn't leak anymore though, I opened it up and the leaky spot seemed like it was coming from the fuel line input, I do not believe the clamp was any good, I tried tightening the clamp up but then it still started leaking, I'm going to buy a new clamp soon, do you think it is the clamp that is broken? Or is it something else? TY
@ElderPromethean Where was that gas coming from? The exhaust pipes?
Man thats a bummer, its frustrating because you really can't muscle them free. I will usually spray them, soak them, heat them with a blowtorch, or tap them lightly with a pick and hammer. Beyond putting them in a sonic cleaner, thats about the best you can do
Yeah man, I just replaced all the o-rings on my '81 CB650C carbs. Did the trick.
@zrultima Check your float needles, if the one carb that is leaking is the side that your kickstand is on, then almost definitely your float needle on that carb is stuck open
This is a quality video. Perfect for noobs like me! Thanks again
Thats the kind of stuff I like to hear in the morning
I own a 1981 Yamaha XJ650 Maxim which has four carbs. In viewing my bike from the side it is obvious that the carbs are tilted a bit fore and aft. With both wheels sitting on level ground and the bike supported upright I was able to establish that the carbs slope downward in the aft direction by about five degrees. I took this slope into consideration when I proceeded to adjust the floats. With the carbs off the bike, I supported them in a fixture I built that holds them at the same five degree tilt as on the bike. The fixture is also constructed so that the bowls are easy to remove and install to allow fine tuning of the floats and fuel level. Once I've established the right fuel level on one carb, I took a vernier caliper and measured the height of the adjusting tang on the float lever. I then set the adjusting tang on the remaining three floats to the same height with good repeatability. All this detail paid off. The bike has never run better.
I like attention to detail. In all things. Especially things like this you described. Excellent!
No this guy was wrong he's overthinking over-complicating things. It's not that hard to do read or understand. There's a small tool that looks like a carpenter's framing square with the numbers on it it simply goes across the bottom of the carburetor and measures down to the bottom of the float it don't matter if it's level lean this way 5 degrees or that way 5 degrees. I know a picture is worth a thousand words but sometimes people don't understand a simple flat photo. After you do one or two there is absolutely no reason to be a scared of them you are to be able to do all four in less than 4 minutes on your lap.!!!!!
Does it overflow when you fill to the very top, or just moderately full? Also what year bike?
Very helpful video for me, thanks so much
Could be, especially if the leaks are causing you to run rich. I would suggest repairing it
@jkrlabonte Could be, carbs leak from a lot of different places than this movie illustrates. This one really just focused on overflowing carbs, but they can leak from gaskets, fuel lines, connecting hoses, or other places. First step is figuring out from where exactly the leak is coming, next you can address it
@ElderPromethean You gotta clean them like I showed in the video. If it is not this exact problem, then it is something close, like crusty needles
Can you tell me the name of the part where the needle goes in and out of? I think the problem is that it has worn so there is not seal so fuel is pissing out. I am not sure whether it's the main jet, idle jet, needle jet etc.
Thanks for this video... you are a good teacher.
OK I took the bowls off of 2 carbs and rechecked the float height and seat. The seats look new. It ended up being that I plugged the vent holes on top with a plug coming off of the tee. After I took the plugs out, no more leaks, YA!
Now it just needs to be tuned at the idle adjustment. Seems to die when i give it a little bit of thottle, but will idle ok.
great video man helped me out alot.
Yes, thats the same type i use..a 3/8 clear wall filter . When i got the bike a few months ago it didnt have an inline on it and now i see why.
hi mrmaxstorey
i have a 99 yamaha r1 yzf. i have noticed a leak from the crank bolts right behind the stator cover and infront of the counter sprocket ( smaller sprocket). do u think putting a copper washer on those two bolts would stem the leak or i should do something else. thanks
this is an usual place to have a leak. have u ever ran into something like this with the actual carb body? if so what approach did u take on that?
What would happen if one cylinder is overloaded with fuel? would it be enough to kill the motor? (im sure I have float valve problems. After sitting all winter my oil was diluted with gas) I have no gas dripping from my carbs though...On blocks even in gear (first and second) it runs great. While riding it dies soon after taking off (smells gassy) could the sloshing caused by the motion cause my problem. Thanks for your response earlier, hope i dont sound stupid, i know nothing bout carbs.
So I have a few problems with my carbs, and hopefully you can help. I have a kawasaki kz750, my carbs recently had new floats and needles installed, and their levels are okay. No stuck floats, no adjustment needed. My first carb leaks from the overflow valve, but I'm confused, because the fuel level isn't even high enough to reach the overflow tube. My third carb leaks excessively from the bowl-body mating surface, even though the o-ring gasket is new and undamaged, but this only happens when th
@Drumnguy77 That does sound like the needle is stuck open, either the float is stuck or the needle got dislodged when you were reinstalling it, or something like that.
Thanks for the video
I have the same bike and am having trouble with my carbs. If you look at the carbs from the top you will see the piston on each carb. Well where the needle from the piston goes into is fuel coming out. Two of the carbs have no fuel coming out and are bone dry but the other two are pouring out. When a screwdriver is pushed against the far right syncronisation screw the leaking stops. There is a also a hissing that stops with the screwdriver, any help would be appreciated,
@zrultima Remember that both the floats and the float needles need to be able to move totally unencumbered. While you are in there check your float heights (I have another video up for that), which can also cause overflowing if they are off. Also be sure to tighten up all of your float bowls extra tight.