gas coming out of 1 of the carburetor overflow tubes

ratta tatt tatt

ratta tatt tatt

Active Member
seeing if anyone can help me out and tell me what might possibly be wrong. I went to fire up my 77' CB550 the other day and had gas come ripping out of one of the carburetor overflow dubes....I turned the bike off and the gas, then without the bike running I turned on the gas and gas came through the tube again.

not sure what it could be. I thought maybe I flooded it (or maybe I did!) but a few days before that I went out on the bike and check my gas level before going out (almost full tank) and almost ran out of gas 25minutes into the ride. I didn't notice it leaking gas at that time though.

any ideas of what it could be?

cheers
 
Have you cleaned the carbs? Happens to my 750 sometimes. I open the tops, sprag in some carb cleaner, dump some carb cleaner in the tank and it stops.

Comes back after a while so I think I need to open them up soon. But im not in a hurry. Its a few drops, not continious so it does not bug me much.
 
Floats are stuck. They would normally float up in the bowl and shut the valve that lets fuel from the tank in. Pull the bowl off the carb and clean the slides the floats move on and everything else in there. Make sure the floats move freely before putting it back together. Also make sure nothing is blocking the valve
 
My money's with Ryan.

Depending on your carbs, also check the float level when you reassemble. Don't forget to check ALL carbs !!
 
Few reasons for carb leaking are: stuck floats, incorrect float height, bit of dirt on needle preventing it from seating correctly or broken overflow tube (if this gas will be flowing out the overflow tube).

Regardless of what the cause, you should ensure that no gas made its way into the engine as it will quickly turn it into a expensive paper weight. Sniff the oil to check, but if any doubts make sure you change the oil to be sure.
 
Just trouble shot a similar issue (with a lot of help from the guys on here). I found that my float was a little to high and it was getting stuck leaving the valve open constantly, pull the bowls and see whats going on, should be an easy fix (albeit frustrating).
 
tried an easy fix today. seems to have worked. Identified the offending carb. Unscrewed the drain valve screw. Sprayed in a copious amount of wd40. let it drain. Srayed in a copius amount of starting fluid. let it drain. closed valve. Started up. No drips in the last half hour.

not the best long term solution, but works for me.
 
hell sometimes you can fix a sticky float by tapping on it with the handle of a screw driver, then sea foam fi you do not want to tear it down easy to try and costs you like 8 bucks.
 
cool...thanks for all the info guys.....haven't got around to looking at it yet or might not even have time to f*$k with it.....might drag it over to a shop....haven't decided yet !
 
either needle or seat are worn,dirty,corroded- seat is loose- seat seal is bad-float is bad- float pivot is stiff-overflow tube or bowl is corroded(leaking)...sometimes the vibration of the engine running stops the leaking but you should investigate.
joe@ v cycle
 
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