2008 Venture leaking fuel between 1 and 2

[Kozubek]

Hello experts,

 

So a couple weeks ago I took my carbs off my 2008 Venture and cleaned them, put them back on and synced them everything working great. The wife and I went on a six hour ride and it rode fine. Went for a ride Sunday and all was good. Jumped on the bike this morning and drove to work and it was running rough. By the time I got home I noticed I went through a half a tank of gas and discovered the over flow from 1 and 2 was leaking fuel on the ground. Took the carbs off again to check the floats and all seemed to be moving freely. Put the carbs back on, started it up and it is still leaking fuel. Last time it did this i hit the bowls a couple time with a socket extension and the leak stopped. Any ideas?

Edited March 20, 2019 by Kozubek

[cowpuc]

Sup Koz... First thought was possibly a saturated float = easily checked by floatin em in cup O' gas and see how they float, but being two jugs,, hmmm.. What did the bowls in the carbs look like when ya tore em down? Any rust particles? Maybe mirror your tank and look for rust? Note that if you find any, IMHO, you can't stop the

stuff from passing into the carbs by filtering,, ya gotta clean the tank and, if its bad = seal it with Red Kote.

Another possibility could be plugged vent lines on the carbs.. Most carbs have very small hoses hanging from them (unless they got lost during a clean up) that serve as vents for the bowl/inner carb body. If those get plugged, it is possible (again - IMHO) for pressure to build and flooding to occur.

Those RSV's got an "off" position on a fuel petcock (never owned one)? Maybe try shutting the fuel off, starting the bike, run it till she cleans out real well and comes back up on 4, run it till she just starts to run out of fuel, tap on those bowls again like you did and see if it corrects. Do it with the bike sitting upright. Maybe the bowls got low and those two carbs had the floats hang up in em..

All I got right now.. Keeps us posted!

[cowpuc]

Ok, just thought of another one.. Remember here that I aint never worked on an RSV but,, some scoots use a vacuum petcock on em. I KNOW for fact that even some Yamaha's use em because I have rebuilt several of em thru the years = if my memory is correct, I did several 650 Yam builds (Chopper stuff) and I am almost certain they had em.. Anyway, if the diaphram in a vacuum petcock goes south it is VERY possible for the vacuum to actually suck raw fuel into the source of the vacuum! This could also apply to ANY vacuum operated device in the fuel system = something to check,,, maybe? Maybe not?

Oh yea,, also dont forget to double check your oil for gas contamination, in my world - just because it didnt hydrolock doesn't mean old brother Murph didn't get involved and sneak some raw fuel past the rings = sneaky varmint that Murph!!

Hope ya get er going brother cause SPRING IS COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:biker::biker::biker:

All the best in the repair!

Puc

[bongobobny]

Needle valve not sealing??

[RDawson]

Ok, just thought of another one.. Remember here that I aint never worked on an RSV but,, some scoots use a vacuum petcock on em. I KNOW for fact that even some Yamaha's use em because I have rebuilt several of em thru the years = if my memory is correct, I did several 650 Yam builds (Chopper stuff) and I am almost certain they had em.. Anyway, if the diaphram in a vacuum petcock goes south it is VERY possible for the vacuum to actually suck raw fuel into the source of the vacuum! This could also apply to ANY vacuum operated device in the fuel system = something to check,,, maybe? Maybe not?

Oh yea,, also dont forget to double check your oil for gas contamination, in my world - just because it didnt hydrolock doesn't mean old brother Murph didn't get involved and sneak some raw fuel past the rings = sneaky varmint that Murph!!

Hope ya get er going brother cause SPRING IS COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:biker::biker::biker:

All the best in the repair!

Puc

 

The RSV has a gravity petcock OEM but that raises a good question Puc. Has anyone here retrofitted a vacuum petcock to insure against hydrolock? Should be an easy mod and good insurance. You've got what little brain matter I have left spinning Puc. I leave mine on without problems so far but who knows in the future. Now back to regularly scheduled programming.

[Kozubek]

Thanks for the advice, I will pull them back off this weekend and see what I can find.

[Kozubek]

Soooooooo, I tried shutting the fuel off and running the carbs dry, hitting them with a screwdriver and turning the fuel back on. Still leaks fuel and runs like crap. Took the carbs back off and completely tore them apart, inspected everything, and tested the floats. All seems to be in good working order. Everything was clean on the inside with no sign of rust, varnish, or dirt. It is 2300 here in Oklahoma so I will save my neighbors the noise disturbance tonight.

 

Is there any chance the fuel pump could be faulty and running all the time?

[cowpuc]

Soooooooo, I tried shutting the fuel off and running the carbs dry, hitting them with a screwdriver and turning the fuel back on. Still leaks fuel and runs like crap. Took the carbs back off and completely tore them apart, inspected everything, and tested the floats. All seems to be in good working order. Everything was clean on the inside with no sign of rust, varnish, or dirt. It is 2300 here in Oklahoma so I will save my neighbors the noise disturbance tonight.

 

Is there any chance the fuel pump could be faulty and running all the time?

 

Hmm, bummer... Dont know so much on the fuel pump,, I know on both my 1st Gen and on my R1 = I like to cycle the fuel pump by turning the kill switch on and off until I hear it slow down and finally stop clicking before I start em after they have been sitting a bit to make sure the bowls are full before I hit the start button. Not sure on yours but I got a gut feeling it should be the same,, like the fuel pump is only capable of pushing so many PSI and then it is not able to pump once the float valve closes.. You might try doing what I am talking about and see if yours does this.. Dont start it, just cycle the pump and see if its stops... I would say that if it cycles to a stop and then you try and cycle it again by going on and off with the key or the kill switch and it makes a couple "clicks" = the float valves are leaking.. No idea what the needle valves actually look like in your bike but I have replaced many of both types = the rubber tipped ones and the solid ones. Both of them are fairly easy to look at and see if they are ridged or grooved. Another possibilty would be if the seats are loose or, if o-ringed for sealing has gone bad = maybe getting fuel past the OD of the seat itself.. I had a Honda 350 drop a Valve Seat once when I was a kid and, for the life of me I could not figure out why that jug would not hold compression.. I finally noticed an odd color around the seat,, took the valve out and banged on the head and the seat fell out in my hand... CRAZY stuff does happen!!

[bongobobny]

S

 

Is there any chance the fuel pump could be faulty and running all the time?

Highly unlikely but not totally out of the question I guess.

 

When you turn the ignition on you should hear the fuel pump click for a few seconds and then stop. There is a circuit that does this. Once the bike starts, (actually once spark is detected) the fuel pump turns back on.

 

Have you checked the float level by using a clear hose in a "U" shaped configuration? Are you sure your needle valve is indeed shutting off?? Perhaps you need to remove the vent hose and install a short hose on each carb to see which one is leaking...

 

Even if the fuel pump was running all of the time the float needle valves will still shut off the flow of gas into the carb. You could always try bypassing the fuel pump and gravity feed your carbs directly from the tank...

[Kozubek]

Turned out to be a float out of tolerance by an 1/8 inch or so. Amazing how that little difference can cause that effect. Thanks for the assistance.

[grubsie]

Turned out to be a float out of tolerance by an 1/8 inch or so. Amazing how that little difference can cause that effect. Thanks for the assistance.

 

That's not a little difference on a float. It's more like a mile.