moparjim Posted March 25, 2009 Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 My Banshee leaks quite a bit of gas from what the manual I have calls the "drain hose" of each carb. Not the "vent hose" which is higher but the very bottom drain hose. There is also a "drain screw" which I have tried tightening a bit but both seem semi stripped out or something they don't go tight. It leaks a LOT if I have the bike off and leave the gas valve on, not so much or barely at all if bike is running and using gas. My question is, is this indeed just a drain and I havea problem with the screws not totally closing, in which case can I just remove the hoses that lead under the bike and cap off the fitting so it no longer leaks. Or, is this more of a fuel bowl overflow situation, indicating a float problem in both carbs and its leaking overflow and probably flooding the bike as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted March 25, 2009 Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 The vent hoses would be for A float height problem, the drains are for emptying the bowls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moparjim Posted March 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 So in that case I should be able to just cap those fittings off so it doesnt leak, and reinstall hoses if/when I ever want to drain the carbs I would think. Thanks, that's the exact info I was looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NitroTate Posted March 25, 2009 Report Share Posted March 25, 2009 No you probably don't want to do that, your bowls could just keep overfilling and cause other issues. Your float valve needles are probably bad or stuck. First try tapping the sides of your bowls with the back end of a screwdriver if it doesn't stop, get yourself a carb rebuild kit. The kit will come with a new float valve needle and it will seal. Also like mentioned before it could be your float level too so check that as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moparjim Posted March 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 No you probably don't want to do that, your bowls could just keep overfilling and cause other issues. Your float valve needles are probably bad or stuck. First try tapping the sides of your bowls with the back end of a screwdriver if it doesn't stop, get yourself a carb rebuild kit. The kit will come with a new float valve needle and it will seal. Also like mentioned before it could be your float level too so check that as well. Hrmm ok so we have two different answers. Which one of you guys is right lol. What you have said is what I was afraid of - that the drain hoses are leaking gas due to a float or needle/seat problem creating a overflow of the bowls. What I got out of Bill's answer is that the drain hose is just a drain hose and should only leak gas if there is an issue with the drain screws, at which point I can just cap them if its just a drain. Anyone else want to weigh in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black sunshine Posted March 26, 2009 Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 It would help if you knew if it was a drain hose or an overflow hose, lol. Open one of the drains, does it start leaking from another hose or the same hose? Eureka!!! Hope this is helpful. I have had my floats stick before and I never had to rebuild the needle/seats. Just took a carb cleaning and resetting of the float height. They do require rebuilding sometimes, but not always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanYE west Posted March 26, 2009 Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 No you probably don't want to do that, your bowls could just keep overfilling and cause other issues. Your float valve needles are probably bad or stuck. First try tapping the sides of your bowls with the back end of a screwdriver if it doesn't stop, get yourself a carb rebuild kit. The kit will come with a new float valve needle and it will seal. Also like mentioned before it could be your float level too so check that as well. I agree with this! Seen it many times.. Try cleaning out the needle/seat if that dont fix it get a rebuild kit. The drain tube is the over flow tube. If you look inside your float bowls you'll see a brass tube that goes down into the drain screw. when fuel rises about that tube.. it drains down that tube and out the "drain/over flow" tube. I just happen to have a stock carb handy so a picture is worth a thousand words.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanYE west Posted March 26, 2009 Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 The side vents are simply that.. Just Vents. If you have fuel coming out these vents then you have some serious issues. The fuel level would be higher then the main jet. If that happens the the fuel would rise through the jet then drain down into your cases. If this happens your running a serious risk of hydrolocking the motor. Here some pictures of the side vents inside the carb. The only Time i've ever seen fuel come out these tubes is when I remove the carbs for cleaning and tip them on thier side and upside down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRed350x Posted March 26, 2009 Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 Gah, stock carbs are so freaking small. I'd say its 1. a float hieght issue or 2. needle valve probably has a little ring groove worn in it from age. Check float height first, if this doesn't correct the issue, then look at your needle valves. If they aren't closing off properly, buy the rebuild kit others have mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F.T.W. Banshee Posted March 26, 2009 Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 Its the float needle more than likely. When you put them in with the float make sure when you lift the float that the needle goes up and down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 Foulledout421 your absolutely right, Ive never really had that problem so I assumed the bottom hose was for draining the bowls. Sorry about the bad info moparjim. If it is A float height problem,it should be 21mm from the gasket matting surface to the top of the floats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrbigsacks Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 sorry to cut in on your topic but I have the same problem carbs have been rebuilt. checked them today everything looks good floats good. waiting on a coil to see if it's good now also adjusted needle height was to rich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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