Gas in Air Filter

[T-Skully]

Went to go for a ride today and when I entered the garage I could smell gas. On further inspection I narrowed it down to be coming from the air filter area. When I removed the filter cover there was gas in the bottom of the cover and the filter was soaked. Anyone have any ideas as to what would have caused this? It’s a ‘96 Road King w/ Keihin CV Carb.

 

[BUBBIE]

Went to go for a ride today and when I entered the garage I could smell gas. On further inspection I narrowed it down to be coming from the air filter area. When I removed the filter cover there was gas in the bottom of the cover and the filter was soaked. Anyone have any ideas as to what would have caused this? It’s a ‘96 Road King w/ Keihin CV Carb.

I would think that it LEAKED by the carb float NEEDLE .....
It may need a cleaning at the FLOAT NEEDLE SEAT

I would ALSO suggest to "ALWAYS" TURN GAS VALVE on tank ""OFF"" every time ENGINE is to turned OFF.... THAT being a GOOD HABIT that will prevent any problems like an gas bypass into the carb..

CAREFUL to note HOW MUCH GAS LEAKED BY and pull plugs BEFORE STARTING ENGINE (kick over and note any RAW GAS coming out) JUST to make sure the GAS DIDN'T FILL THE CYLINDER....

LIQUID DOESN'T COMPRESS AND IF A LOT OF RAW GAS IS IN THE PISTON AREA ,,,,,,UPON cylinder going UP on COMPRESSION stroke IT CAN BEND THE ROD OR BUST A PISTON!!

IF gas drained enough to get BY the RINGS YOU WILL NEED to change oil...

NOW I'M talking IF A LOT OF GAS!

that is my GUESS and it HAS happened on my 97 evo.

signed....BUBBIE

 

[fin_676]

Id sugest pulling the float bowl and checking the float needle valve and its seat while you are in there you will need to un block the overflow as any fuel extra fuel getting past the needle valve normaly runs out through the over flow
its the pipe that sicks up in the middle of the float bowl something must be blocking it if the fuel is getting to the air filter
as the bike would most likley have been on the side stand then as stated above fuel will have run into the cylinders as they are down hill from the carb when on the sidestand

Brian

 

[Bud White]

Bubbie's got the right ideal here make sure ya didnt soak the cylinders or dump a ton into the gas .. also check to see if the vacuum petcock might be leaking down the vacuum tube

 

[Jack Klarich]

Id sugest pulling the float bowl and checking the float needle valve and its seat while you are in there you will need to un block the overflow as any fuel extra fuel getting past the needle valve normaly runs out through the over flow
its the pipe that sicks up in the middle of the float bowl something must be blocking it if the fuel is getting to the air filter
as the bike would most likley have been on the side stand then as stated above fuel will have run into the cylinders as they are down hill from the carb when on the sidestand

Brian

If this is a stock C V carb there is a drain screw to drain the float bowl before you remove it, it just makes less of a mess, good luck

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

Bubbie has you covered, be careful if you smell gas on a carbed bike, time to shut the fuel inlet valve OFF and check things out. In this case you may have caught it early enough.

The simple and easiest explanation is rich mixture, could have "burped" or backfired expelling extra fuel when starting the last few times. The more ominous and possibly more likely is the tank drains by gravity past the fuel shutoff valve (if old automatic, vacuum operated valve when running) the only thing stopping fuel flooding is the float/needle assembly, after that all the gas will overflow dumping gas into the air filter or much worse, fill the combustion chambers, bubble past the rings, pistons (flushing all the top end lubrication by the way) and diluting the oil in the crankcase.

If you smell raw gas in the crankcase oil...DEFINATELY do not fire up the engine lest serious damage result...! This can and does often happen without proper winterizing before hibernating the bike over 4 or 5 months parked with old gas, that is all it takes.

 

[Crule39]

Ok so i have a 92' FatBoy that iv'e had only a few weeks . it had this problem when i started it earlier today. I assumed it was a burp scenerio and the drip slowed significantly after warming up. I filled the highside tank this morning not even thinking. Ive heard this can toy with the vac/vent system. after a determining the bike was running fine and idled well, i took it for a short spin. When i was finished the bike had no leak idling hot. I can't pull my air cleaner housing because the previous owner had over tightened the central screw and blew out the sleeve . Is it more likely im looking at a burp/backfire scenario or should I park it and wait until i can pull the air cleaner assembly and get a look inside the carb?? thank you for your time

 

[dbmg]

Ok so i have a 92' FatBoy that iv'e had only a few weeks . it had this problem when i started it earlier today. I assumed it was a burp scenerio and the drip slowed significantly after warming up. I filled the highside tank this morning not even thinking. Ive heard this can toy with the vac/vent system. after a determining the bike was running fine and idled well, i took it for a short spin. When i was finished the bike had no leak idling hot. I can't pull my air cleaner housing because the previous owner had over tightened the central screw and blew out the sleeve . Is it more likely im looking at a burp/backfire scenario or should I park it and wait until i can pull the air cleaner assembly and get a look inside the carb?? thank you for your time

Pm a Mod and ask to have your own thread on this one. When you have a question or concern start a new thread in the appropriate area of forum. This way you will get the proper amount of responses to help in correcting your problem.