[cec9]

I’m moving on to other areas of the bike as I wait for a few engine parts. I pulled the petcock today and am now a little stumped.



1) The lever is very difficult to switch back and forth and feels like it needs to be cleaned. How do I get the pieces apart, it appears to be riveted?



2) My petcock kits does not match the parts that are in the petcock. Will they work? What is the spring for? Any suggestions, graphics on how to assemble with the kit?



3) Should the plastic tubes have some out of the tank with the petcock? The tanks will need cleaning.



Oh, and just a little thanks to the PO who thought a self tapping bolt was a better idea than replacing with the right screw. Probably had something to do with why it leaked and the rubber parts don't look that bad. Will likely repair with a helicoil, just wanted to complain.



Thanks

Clay

 

[rickbert]

Normally that part that is still stuck in the tank comes out WITH the petcock....that thing does not look good at all.

 

[cec9]

Thanks, was able to pull the strainer out without much force using small pliers. It seems to be in decent shape, just didn't want to yank on it until I new it needed to be out.



Would like to get this one fixed if possible to avoid replacement cost. Any help is appreciated

 

[DaveF]

1) The lever is very difficult to switch back and forth and feels like it needs to be cleaned. How do I get the pieces apart, it appears to be riveted?



That's also my understanding, although I've never had occasion to disassemble this section of the petcock. This would require drilling out the rivets. It has been done by others here on the forum. Some very small screws will be needed for reassembly.



Once you get it apart you may or may not even be able to correct the problem, but it sounds like you don't have much to lose anyway. Maybe you could try cleaning it in an ultrasonic cleaner first.



2) My petcock kits does not match the parts that are in the petcock. Will they work? What is the spring for? Any suggestions, graphics on how to assemble with the kit?



Judging from your photo, it appears the kit does contain parts that match the one in the petcock. But it does not include everything that may be needed to rebuild a petcock.



Just last weekend I had a vacuum petcock completely disassembled. I wish I had taken photos of it at the time. The rebuild kit I used was the same as yours.



Note I ran into a fuel starvation issue documented here. Your rebuild kit may not have this problem, but be aware the potential is there.



This image shows the assembly order of the components in the petcock. The order is outside cover, spring, plastic spring seat, rubber vacuum diaphragm, metal coupler, divider section, rubber valve, and petcock body. The outside cover contains a check valve and cover for it.

If the spring was missing, the previous owner probably removed it to disable the vacuum operation function. It can be omitted if vacuum operation is not wanted.



3) Should the plastic tubes have some out of the tank with the petcock? The tanks will need cleaning.



The inner tube should have come out with the petcock. As you've probably figured out, it is used for the reserve fuel function.



The outer tube is simply a mesh filter. Make sure it and the tank are clean so that trash does not clog up the filter and restrict fuel flow.

 

[cec9]

Thanks for the suggestions. I actually picked up the ultrasonic cleaner today as harbor freight had a sale, I had a coupon and knew my carbs would need it. Got it for $60 which seems like what every one else is paying. Man that thing works wonders. Petcock is now sparkling and the lever moves like it should.



I looked again at the parts that came out. The ones that weren't in the kit aren't rubber so they should be fine to reuse. Makes sense about the spring. I'm of the opinion is easier to fix things the right way once (when you can) but I should have no problems getting it back together. Always a head scratcher when neither the old part, the kit or the diagram agree; I wish those parts diagrams blew up better.



Thanks

Clay

 

[rickbert]

Wow....well good news then eh ?



I've never seen an Ultrasonic cleaner in action but heard wonder stories here about them and if yours made THAT petcock shine and got it so clean that it turns easy now then wow they must be well worth the money.



Glad to see you're gonna get it straightened out !

 

[cec9]

yeah, I was a little bit skeptical too. It took a few cycles and the heat function helped but I am quite impressed. The brake caliper is in right now. Hopefully it will always work that well. I'll update how the petcock function once I'm done but it will be a while before I get the helicoil taken care of and I'm going to derust and paint the tank as well.

 

[Eurovee]

Here`s a better pic of the tap components orientation;