First Post - Fuel in Airbox

[claylev]

Hey gents,

So, about six months ago I bought a stagnate 2003 from a neighbor. It ran for awhile, albeit not awesomely - long periods of full choke to smooth (in the summer months and Southern California) and when I say smooth, it still wouldn't idle ALL the time (I got used to regularly rolling throttle at stop lights just to be sure). Checked idle adjustment and it was full-tilt upwards. The exhaust also backfired pretty regularly (although I'll be honest, this just made me smile because it made the 250 feel more "manly"). Fast forward a month ago and I decided to try and start'er up and switch over to her as my daily driver. She wouldn't start though, but she would crank until the battery would just give up. Tried a couple of times trickle-charging the battery and starting over but it seems like it lost it's amperage. Here's my admissions of various things I've done (stupidly or without enough knowledge to know better):

1) Attempted to crank over longer than 5 seconds
2) Probably didn't have enough gas at least some of those times
3) Since it's been 7 years since I've owned a non-Fuel Injection bike, I likely had the bike in any number of Prime/On/Off (In fact I can guarantee that I screwed this one up hard)
4) At some point I also decided to change the oil and did not change the oil filter
5) Replaced spark plug
6) Removed the tank at some point - I believe I reconnected everything right (followed the manual on this site) it's possible I did not.

So finally, I went ahead and got a new battery for her (well, used a battery from another bike) and she revved up like a madwoman. Not even a choke required. I also made sure she had plenty of gas in her. As I was visually inspecting a white smoke coming from the right side of the engine (as I write this, it makes me think head gasket? Guessing here) I suddenly noticed tons of fluid spilling onto the ground. Inspection followed it back to the airbox and it was MOST DEFINITELY fuel - the roommates won't stop bitching about the smell in the garage. I opened her up and then following one of the other posts on the forums I popped the airbox's drain on bottom and caught the rest of it. From here, I've pulled back my haphazard attempts at blinding firing at problems in the "maintenance" mindset and I'm now in the full on "Do nothing until you've verified everything" phase.

Here are the things I've done since reading here, researching through the various "rebuilding" bikes books I have, and the magic of youtube:

1) Ordered a new air filter (should be here soon...ish)
2) Following tips from the other related thread, and learning from this guy's instructional videos: - I've broken down my carb and begun cleaning it out. It wasn't what I might consider too dirty, but I'm being extra cautious here
3) Following one of his other videos, I've checked for a leaking petcock, but nothing there - seems fine

Here are my questions:

I want to make sure this (obviously) doesn't happen again. LUCKILY, this is a secondary "play" bike and it's not urgent, so I want to not just fix it, but i'd like to learn how to prevent things like this happening again. The youtube guy above has been helpful and so have the books, but since I'm a novice wrencher and I made so many early mistakes I'm just putting my toe in slowly and looking for help in the mean time. I have aspirations of really getting into this bike and fixing her up to gifting her to a friend of mine, so don't be afraid to give me the "here's what you should do to absolutely fix all the problems" answers. Money and time aren't much of a factor here, just experience.

Attached:
Image of bike when I picked it up - visually it's been decently maintained so at least it's got some hope
Image of airbox with fluid (fuel?) in it.
YOUTUBE: Video of the working-but-sucky idle from the summertime. Disregard any terrible narration:

-Clay

[blaine]

Welcome.This is a common problem on this bike.If the petcock is left on "PRI" instead of "ON" the fuel flows all the time & the float cannot hold the pressure,this is more of a problem if the carb is gummed up & dirty.The airbox and engine are flooded with fuel.You will need to clean out the air box & change the oil.When you go to start the bike you can put the petcock on "PRI" for about 10 seconds,(long enough to fill the float bowel) than turn the petcock to "ON".That way fuel only flows when the bike is running.(petcock is vacuum operated in the "ON & RES" position)
:cool:

[Water Warrior 2]

There is a drain tube from the air box leading down to the bottom of the frame. It should have a plug in the end. Remove the plug and drain any fluids out. Replace the plug(this is a must do). The air box does get contaminants from blow-by and just general operating conditions. If the air filter is contaminated you best get a new one. Also keep in mind the air filter must be removed for inspection. The air fliter has a reverse flow and gets dirty from the inside to the outside.

[claylev]

Originally Posted by blaine

You will need to clean out the air box & change the oil.When you go to start the bike you can put the petcock on "PRI" for about 10 seconds,(long enough to fill the float bowel) than turn the petcock to "ON".

Killer. Air filter and oil filter on order, oil change incoming, air box drained. While I wait for the parts to get in I'm ripping off all of the hardparts and sanding it all down / primer-ing. I figure while I've got it torn, why not tweak a bit too.

[Stryker]

How is your bike running now? Have you solved the problem?

I have a similar issue. I'll try what some of the other have posted.

Thanks
Rich

[claylev]

Hi Stryker,

So I cleaned out the carb, replaced the air filter, the plug, dumped the (fuel filled) oil, and flushed the air box. I found out that my Petcock was leaking (and thus causing the major issue) so I replaced that as well. At this point, the bike certainly does RUN but it still cannot effectively idle (even with idle pin all the way in) and she can't start without full choke (though she can RUN without it).

I use her daily even with these problems even though I probably shouldn't. Her top-end seems gone, and third gear feels to be about maxed at 40mph but I honestly can't remember what the "before" on her was. Doesn't matter, I live in a small city and most major streets are 35mph max anyway.

Now I just need to re-attach her license plate and brake lights.

Good luck!

[JWR]

So how did you clean out the carb???

Sounds like trash in the jets to me.

[claylev]

Pulled it entirely apart following instructions from this guy: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL ... ature=plcp and then put back together. I think there might also be a bit of a vacuum seal issue which I'll be testing this weekend.

[daisymazy]

Originally Posted by Water Warrior

There is a drain tube from the air box leading down to the bottom of the frame. It should have a plug in the end. Remove the plug and drain any fluids out. Replace the plug(this is a must do). The air box does get contaminants from blow-by and just general operating conditions. If the air filter is contaminated you best get a new one. Also keep in mind the air filter must be removed for inspection. The air fliter has a reverse flow and gets dirty from the inside to the outside.

omg water warrior, thank you so much. was going riding yesterday and my gz wouldn't crank . first time ever. noticed gas running out of that tube and found your comment . plugged it up,primed a few seconds and turned to on. fired right up. woo hoo. i am so happy . love this forum

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by daisymazy

omg water warrior, thank you so much. was going riding yesterday and my gz wouldn't crank . first time ever. noticed gas running out of that tube and found your comment . plugged it up,primed a few seconds and turned to on. fired right up. woo hoo. i am so happy . love this forum

:rawk: :rawk: