Strong Fuel Smell

Capt - need a favor; could you take a look at the carburetor assy diagram for a '97 at the partzilla.com site; it seems to me that fuel tubes in the parts list is incorrect...does not match the diagram in my Service Manual. Also the *7 gasket set is not correct.
As it has been several years since I last had the carbs off, I do not remember the details.
Confusion here....appreciate your help.

 

3 & 5 - LG vent tubes
4 & 8 - SM vent tubes
9 (x2) - fuel tubes
7 - Gasket set B - appears to include o-rings for all above. Even though they don't put "7" next to all the orings of those pairs, each style is noted.

The "T" marked 41 is the main fuel T receiving the fuel pump line.

That's how I read it.

Vent o-rings are 99.99% of time just fine. The 7x2mm fuel orings are the ones that should be replaced.

https://www.oringsandmore.com/fkm-o-ring-7-x-2mm-minimum-10-pcs/

 

What confused me is that for #4 &# 8 the part description has "Joint Set, Fuel" and #9 just has "Joint Set".
I am going to take your advice, replace the four 7x2mm O rings, see if that takes care of the fuel smell.
Thanks.

 

Yeah, maybe I have 4 & 8 and 9 swapped. Also, parts diagrams often have errors. When they are exploded like that it does make it harder. I was kinda going off location and relative sizes too.

EDIT: What tipped me off that #4 was vent is the vent hose pointing down in the upper left off of #4. And 37 & 38 are fuel lines going to each #9.

 

Nope, ,you have them correct, the parts description is incorrect; #4 & #8 are the SM vent tubes and #9 are the fuel tubes.
And yes...that bent rubber vent tube is what I saw as well....making #4 & #8 vent tubes, not fuel.
O rings on order.
Will need to either drain the tank or ride to low fuel lite on as the fuel petcock does not shut fuel flow 100%....maybe about 90%, as I always have a trickle of fuel coming out.

 

Is this what you are smelling then? Could just be releasing fuel that is filling the bowl and dripping into the engine cavity and evaporating. IDK

 

They also have fuel pumps Rogue. The fuel would have to go down to the pump, make it thru the pump and then go uphill and then still overwhelm the float valves. Nope.

Plus... the fuel valve is not vacuum operated. It's always full open (unless you manually close it), so every bike would have that problem.

 

I only mentioned the fuel petcock not shutting fuel off 100% as a problem in removing the tank with a lot of fuel in it as fuel would dribble all over in the time it would take me to get the tank down and some kind of cap on it...which I do not have. If I have very little fuel in the tank I can tilt the tank to keep fuel from coming out.

My first thought was that the fuel between the fuel pump and the float bowl was getting into the cylinders, vaporizing and the smell coming out the exhaust pipe until the fuel pressure was relived. I am going to try to test this by plugging the silencer with something, see if the fuel smell is still present.
The strong fuel smell does stop, it is not continuous.

 

My bikes, while smelling a little "rich" on the road, do not smell like fuel when I get home and park them in the outer garage. I often come back out to empty a tank bag and do not get hit with a gas smell at all. Just the sweet smell of a bike that had been running and is still warm.

I think you do have a small issue that can be addressed. Eliminating the carb o-rings is a very good step if only future-proofing yourself. Which reminds me, when was the last time you replaced the float bowl orings? I have the part number from orings-n-more (if you went that route). You can probably contact and amend your order to save shipping.

https://www.oringsandmore.com/fkm-o-ring-76-x-2mm-price-for-1-pc/

 

I sure hope this is a small issue that can be addressed....
By float bowl O-ring do you mean the formed one between the carb body and bowl? If so, then I replaced those when I did the Stage 1 jet kit; I never reuse float bowl gaskets.
I did order from orings-n-more...and just received an email from them saying that they were out of stock, 10-14 day delay in shipping. So I have more than enough time to ride to use up the fuel in the tank.

 

I did mean that o-ring. I would add some to your order. They are cheap, fit perfect and sit slightly prouder than the square cross section OEM ensuring a nice squish and seal for years. Get 8.

 

It's probably my fault...

 

Fn guy, buying up all the o-rings in the world with your mega VFR collection!! hahahaha

 

What other O ring sizes should I get for the carbs since I am putting an order together?

 

Quick update here:
carbs are off and I just separated the two halves. All vents and fuel tube came out very easily.....too easily I think....
I am going to replace both vent tube O rings as well since they appear to be original.

 

Have you removed the orings from the tube yet? Wondering if they are gonna instantly crack like mine always do.

 

Just an FYI for everybody else, we are working behind the scenes to finalize the vent tube replacement sizes with some info worth sharing. I have been using something on about 8 sets of carbs that I am 100% comfortable using, a little small / thick that when installed, is perfect. But never felt that I wanted to publicly endorse the size.

Hope this was ok to hi-jack momentarily LannyL81.

 

I removed one O ring each of the three sizes....none of them cracked. The large vent O rings are the most squashed ones, look more like a square ring that a round ring.

No problem at all with the hi-jack.

 

When I did mine, I looked at the old ones, they were flat, they did not instantly crack and crumple though. Crumple makes me think of Coffee Cake and milk, yum

 

I replaced the fuel and vent O rings, found one small vent tube O ring was not there.
The intake boots were more like plastic than rubber, so they all got a three day bath in the mixture I learned about from Magna Andy....worked wonders....boots all are nice and soft now. Boots easily popped onto the heads, carbs easily popped into place.
After getting everything back together, powered the fuel pump to fill the float bowls up.
Engine fired right up and then I did a carb synch, got the lines within 3mm of each other.
Was not able to take for a ride, nor did I find out if the strong fuel smell is gone or not....have to be another day.