old topic - Leaking petcock 1984 FJ, again

[cm08]

Tried the o ring under the spring routine and it worked for a while but leak is back.  Anyone have a source for a complete rebuild kit locally (USA or Canada) or has anyone tried these folks "bitz for bikes"? 

http://www.bitzforbikes.co.uk/Petrol_Tap_Repair_Kit.-ref-11485-788-453-280.html   

They seem to have a "petrol tap repair kit" for the older FJ1100?  all except the little O ring and the spring for which the wiki (petcock) already has the kawasaki part numbers.

[Dan Filetti]

Make certain it's not the "L" fitting on the bottom of the petcock, which, should be safety-wired anyway...

Worth a read:

http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=7647.msg68686#msg68686

Dan

[cm08]

Thanks. 

For sure it is not the fitting.  I was aware of the safety wire fix and incorporated it already.  I think it is most likely the spring and little o ring which we can get from kawasaki but I want to take the opportunity to do a full rebuild and change diaphragms as well.  Hence the question on a rebuil kit available in north american and similar to the one I found on the UK site.  I find it hard to believe that the parts needed for a full rebuild are not available locally perhaps similar to another motorcycle (kawasaki for example).

Obviously I can replace the entire unit either with a part from RPM, partzilla, or some universal mod but it seems unnecessarily wasteful.   

[FJ1100mjk]

Obviously I can replace the entire unit either with a part from RPM, partzilla, or some universal mod but it seems unnecessarily wasteful.   

And expensive!

Try this: Get some Flitz and polish the surfaces on the petcock body that the little o-ring interfaces/seals on. Just polish, remove minimal material.

You can maybe match the spring rate of the OEM spring by feel, and pick up a stainless steel one from a good hardware store, hobby store, or buy the equivalent Kaw part. You probably can play around with a stiffer spring rate to get more preload on the o-ring, but there'll be a limit to that with what the diaphragm can overcome. You can use a Mityvac or similar tool to pull the diaphragm, and check for a vacuum leak (tear or pin hole).

Pick up a Viton o-ring with a Durometer of 75 (softer if you can find one).

Use the website's search engine and combine DavidR AND petcock to see if you can find one of his posts where he swapped o-ring sizes until he hit on the correct one. Maybe someone else can find it quick, and post a link to it. Someone? Not sure if it was ever confirmed fix though.

I'm thinking that on these old leaky petcocks, that surface finish, maufacturing tolerancing, old, hard and/or shrunken o-ring (I suspect that the material used for the OEM one, doesn't like the blends of today's fuels either), and perhaps a sacked out spring are playing a part, or are a causal variable with the problem.

Disclaimer: I have yet to go through the above in the hopes of saving some hard-earned coin. My 1100's "NOS" petcock, that held back the fuel tide successfully for two years, started to leak again.   Another item on the Winter FJ Maintenance List.

Remember, hard work never hurt anyone, it might have killed them though 

Good luck.

Marty

[rktmanfj]

http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=2208.0

http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=3260.0

[racerrad8]

It looks like the o-ring is on the tip of the diaphragm on the kit.

No, the spring is not there, but everything else appears to be.

I have purchased ever petcock rebuild kit I can find here in the US and none of them have the proper diaphragm. The seals are very universal, but not the diaphragms...

Randy - RPM

[cm08]

received the petcock rebuild kit and it is not the same as the one I have on my motorcycle.   I would post pictures of the differences but don't know how.  The kit I received is exactly like the one on the bitz for bike site, and is the wrong one.  The diaphragm and sealing oring is definitely not the same nor is the seal (with the 4 holes) on the valve side.  (epic fail)

I will contact the supplier and see what gives and if anything good comes out of it I will advise. Back to the drawing board.