Posted: 10/23/2005 8:04:31 AM EDT
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Alright, I my stepdad let me take his 95 Dyna Wide Glide out for a spin for the last 2 nights. I never turn the gas line off on my Ninja, so naturally out of habit, I didn't turn the gas off of the dyna. It is carbeurated if that helps. Here is my problem. I pulled into my garage, shut off the bike and parked it. About 3 hours later when I went to go clean up the yard before Wilma, there was a puddle of gasoline under the bike. I couldn't see very well, but I saw the gasoline dripping down the head where the shut off valve is for the fuel. Is this common to happen if the gas valve is left open? |
| It can happen, but the petcock on that bike is vaccuum operated. If it's leaking when the bike is off, it means the diaphram in the petcock is bad. Fairly common. Turn the petcock off, pull the plugs to let them dry, and crank the motor a few times to clear everything up. The carb is probably waaay full, so it's gonna take a few minutes for everything to settle down. |
If there is any doubt that the cylinders may have filled up with gas due to a leaky seat on the carb and heat/pressure from the gas tank, you will need to crank it with the plugs out to prevent bending a rod or valve. Do this out side, away from flames, with a towel covering the spark plug holes. This happened to me with a brand new carb, so this can happen to anyone, particularly if the gas tank doesn't have an adequate vent. Change that petcock immediately. 
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+1 I have never had any luck with the vacuum operated petcocks. |
The newer ones (TC88) have the vacuum operated petcock, not sure if a 95 does. |
+1 My chop leans over quite a bit on the kickstand. As a result, the float sometimes get stuck in the carb, i.e. the fuel supply never shuts off.  Forgetting to close my petcock cost me alot of money once. Gas flowed into the cylinders and down into the crankcase. I misdiagnosed the gasoline as having leaked from the petcock. A VERY expensive diagnosis. All that gas in the crankcase thinned the oil, and roached my bearings. I had to pull the motor and replace a few things.  I don't trust vacuum operated petcocks. Mine is nice and simple: It's either on or off. Real simple. I never forgot to turn it off again, either. |
....I agree - Pingel is the ONLY way to go, IMO - ESPECIALLY for any type of performance Harley... Besides clearing the cylinders of gas, I'd check the oil tank - odds are the oil supply is now gas contaminated... If it is, and you don't change the oil ASAP, severe engine damage could result... - georgestrings |
Being a h-d tech for 25 years this is a true statement. However, the cylinders are PROBABLY not filled with fuel, just running over the engine. The carb has an overflow as well, it will not get "waaay full". AB |