petcock replacement

[fjlouie]

G'day a quick question probably already asked but cant seem to find. Which alternative petcock will fit my 86 fj atm I have a manual one on there but it is leaking I have looked for a kit to fix it but cant seem to find the one with the same diaphram. slightly frustrated as just put a heap of work in to the suspension and was about to test ride it when I noticed fuel leaking looking for a maybe quick fix till I can find an original new replacement any thoughts as to what I can use.
Thanks Louie

[keand3]

Is the leak coming from the petcock itself or form the oring seal?
If you are looking to replace it, you might fit the 84-85 model petcock with out the electrical reserve switch, or with 86-87 with electrical reserve.
You can find them both on Randys website.

84-85
http://www.rpmracingca.com/proddetail.asp?prod=M%2FC%3A84%2D85Petcock

86-87
http://www.rpmracingca.com/proddetail.asp?prod=M%2FC%3A86%2D88Petcock

Cheers
Ken

[fjlouie]

Cheers Ken it is leaking round the diaphram have replace the orings in it was going to do the diaphram also but the I was supplied was the wrong on, guess it didnt like the clean. Will see if I can find a kit for the 84 85 if not will have to look for the correct one guess will be a couple more weeks before I can ride her guess I will learn some patience

[keand3]

A leaky petcock is no fun. Hopfully you find the parts needed to fix it.
I am sure Randy might hook you up with right parts. Just send him an email.

Ken

[FJmonkey]

I am not aware of a kit to rebuild the petcock. others have found the right size O-ring to stop the internal leak, and I am sure you can improvise and fix any leak between the tank and mounting flange. When mine failed on my 86 (the diaphragm won't hold vacuum), i switched to the 84/85, no electrical reserve but it cost less and still has the vacuum function. Now I know it is good for another 20 years.

[keand3]

As you mention it Mark, neither am i. I don't think there is any rebuild kits available for the petcock.
I have not seen any yet. I do think I would rather replace it then rebuild it thought as i consider it a critical part which it's function is critical for the bikes performance.

Cheers
Ken

[fjlouie]

Thanks monkey I have the 84-85 on there atm and will replace with the same just a pissa that I will probably have to order of o s as supply in Auss is not great on any older bike. Frustrating as it will be another couple weeks till I get to ride. I am sure she will be worth the wait tho.
Thanks for the advice.

[FJmonkey]

Petcocks seem to taking a piss at alarming rates.... Another member with an 87 had a vacuum leak, replace it and all was reported to good again.

[Dan Filetti]

I found a model-specific petcock rebuild kit for my Ninja 250 on eBay.  Sure seems like there should also be one for the FJ...

Dan

[fjlouie]

  So a big thanks to all for the advice on the petcock, I got on to my local yamaha dealer and to my surprise surprise they had a fj1100 in stock altho a bit more than Randy's I was able to pick it up today. A thanks to Randy for the reply to email and I will be sure to use him for any future mods. Anyway got to test the bike after the suspension has been modified and awesome need to work out the preload and spring tension but that will came with time.
One very happy new fj owner

[fintip]

For the record, I contacted Randy on those some time ago, and he informed me that he had looked, and nothing from other kits seemed compatible. He had started talking with someone about making such a rebuild kit available, but it was not at all concrete at that point and some distance in the future if at all.

In other words: no hope.

I fixed my leaky petcock in a fix when I first got it by getting a rubber washer to stick behind the spring (after replacing the o-ring, which didn't do it), effectively upping the closing force. Apparently there is some kawasaki part # that corresponds to a spring that happens to work well, also.

Shortly thereafter, though, my bike developed monkey-itis and started to fail vacuum as well; a couple of months later, and I don't push the bike more than 125 miles at most before filling up, because without the added pressure of the weight of a full tank of gas, the gas won't flow well enough.

Given that I 'upped' the pressure of the spring, that also may have over-raised the vacuum required to open it... Though at first, it worked perfectly.

YMMV, good luck. I am going to experiment with liquid electrical tape and/or black RTV in the future on mine, see if that has any useful effect.