Attention:’84 to'87 FJ’s: Safety wire your petcock. Do it NOW!

[Pat Conlon]

Veteran FJ owners have known about this for years, so this is a important message we carry to the newcomers.

If you have a 1984 thru 1987 FJ listen up.
This applies to the vacuum petcocks, not the '88-95 petcocks used on the fuel pump FJ's.

Over the years we have lost a few FJ1100's and 1200's from fires due to the outlet angle coming apart from the from the main body of the vacuum petcock.
This outlet is just press fitted into the cast aluminum body of the petcock, and over time this fitting can come loose and fall out, causing fuel to free flow onto the hot engine. With the vacuum petcocks, where the engine vacuum keeps the petcock open, this can take some time until the engine stops. The engine will continue to run until the fuel in the lines and in the carb bowls run dry, and the engine stalls and the vacuum petcock closes....in the mean time, a LOT of fuel is flowing onto the top of the hot engine.
A VERY dangerous situation.

Here's Dan's yearly reminder: http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=3251.0

Here's the angle outlet disconnected from the body of the petcock. If this happens to you on a ride... . Thanks Marty for this picture.


Here's the angle outlet on the petcock, normal condition. . You want to wire this in a way to assure that the angle outlet it stays on the body of the petcock:



Start by cutting a small notch in the flange to keep the wire in line.


I used some baling wire (grandpa would be proud) Loop the wire around the outlet. See how the wire is crossed at the outlet?:


On the tank side of the petcock, run the wire thru the notch you cut. Position the wire to leave room for your vacuum line.


Twist tie the wire on the opposite side of the fitting. Note the wire in the notch? A nice flush fit.


You can add a dab of (fuel proof) sealant if you wish, but, in no case should the sealant be used as a substitution for the safety wire.

[Savheadbanger]

Just thought I should chime in on this...I almost lost my '87 to a fire from the aforementioned elbow fitting. Luckily, a fire extinguisher was handy and i was in a parking lot, not on the road when it happened.

WIRE
YOUR
PETCOCK

[Pat Conlon]

You are a lucky man!

[racerrad8]

FYI,

There is now not a single 84-86 FJ petcock that was installed new from Yamaha that is not 30 years old. The glue used to hold the nipple in ages and deteriorates. The removal of the fuel tank dislodges the fitting and the filter is usually shrunk up and not sealing properly.

A new petcock from RPM is cheap insurance, it does a couple of things.

1) It is a new petcock which is safety wired, with S/S wire for added security.
2) It also ensures the petcock is working properly, both sealing at shut down and flowing while running.
3) Gives you the proper filtering with a new screen.

84-85 Yamaha Fuel Tank Petcock
86-88 Yamaha Fuel Tank Petcock

Photos attached are from are own CraigO's fire that started on his FJ and burned his house to the ground.

Randy - RPM