Help! My bike reeks of gas!!

Since i bought the bike (86 vfr700f) i have smelled gas around the heads/carbs. This being my first experience with carburetors i assumed that was normal but the other day i filled up and when i parked my bike, i noticed the next day the gas smell was even stronger (more pressure?). I've removed the tank and it has no leak and the lines are fine all the way up to the carbs, so i assume it's a carb thing? A gasket perhaps? are there any common problems? I want to think it's a little vapor leak. the bike has almost 20,000 miles and the smell seems stronger on the left side, which is the side the bike leans on since i have no centerstand. HELP! Is there a good but affordable gas leak detector gun or something? Any feedback is much appreciated, thanks.

 

Sounds like when my floats were stuck on my bike. Gas filled the cylinder and overflowed the carb boots. And also made it's way to my oil.

- Take the dipstick out, wipe some oil on your finger and move away from the bike. Smell your finger and see if it smells like gas. If so, fix the carb float problem and then change your oil. Gas is a poor lubricant.

- Look on the left side and wipe your finger on top edge of the carb boot right next to the carb. You should see and smell gas. Another thing you can do is to remove all the spark plugs, turn the kill switch off and hit the start button for a second or two. Now look at the sparkplug holes. If a float was sticking, there would be gas in the cylinder - which should now be on the engine around the sparkplug hole.

I took the carbs off and inspected the float needles. Didn't see anything and I put them back on.

Also my tank had a petcock problem. It wouldn't turn completely off. A new 3 o-ring thingy gasket fixed it.

I de-rusted my tank because I think a flake of rust kept the float needle from sealing.

This stopped the gas smell problem.

Note: if you suspect a float leakage problem, flip the kill switch to off and hit the starter. If the bike spins freely, you are not hydrolocked and are free to turn the kill switch back on. The reason you do this is so the bike won't ignite and bend a rod.

 

Hello mate, check your float bowl gaskets & ensure your float bowl drain screws are tight.
You do tend to get a whiff of petrol from your cap (breather) this sometimes smells like its coming from carb area.
Hope this helps
Cheers

 

masonv45 had all the correct info. Very common for this to occur on these older bikes. I ended up rebuilding my carbs, changing the carb boots, etc. Make sure you are running an inline fuel filter.

 

yeah so my oil dipstick had a liiittle gas smell to it. I pulled the tank and the top of the intake and the filter off and stopped there to be safe. The heavy gas smell seems to be coming from between the back two cylinders, where the fuel lines connect. It's hard to see with that big basin (lower part of intake). I have no prior carb experience however I just helped a friend clean up the carb on his cd175 today.. it seems a lot more primitive than ours but i think i got the gist of it.. I'd like to get the carb rebuild out of the way now and hopefully not have to worry about them for some time.. I guess i should look for some rebuild kit before i go any further, any suggestions?

 

The bummer is the parts you need aren't cheap. I recommend getting gaskets kits (1 for each carb) and float valve needle and seat sets (4). The carb boots will most likely be hard and brittle I would change those too. Get a service manual if you don't have one already, it will be very helpful. I have a lot of pictures I took when I did mine. Feel free to PM me if you think I can help you out.

On the other hand your bike is relatively low miles and if it was stored indoors you might get by with just a good cleaning and new bowl gaskets. I usually hold off buying parts until I know exactly what I need. Especially if you are trying to save a buck.

 

yeah i will probably be PMing you as soon as i figure out how and get some sleep.. i guess the next step is taking down the carbs and seeing what parts i need. I mean, the bike works fine as far as I can tell (this is my first bike and first interceptor so I don't have a lot of reference) so I'm hoping i can get by with just a gasket kit.. The gas smell is just really getting on my nerves www.mrcycles.com has a gasket kit (part no: 16010-ML7-305) but you make a good point, thats probably just for one carb? I guess i need to call them and see what the gasket kit entails. And yes i have service manual. So youre saying if i'm going to get them spiffed up i might as well replace the float valve needle and the sets? Are they usually the first to go?

 

I tried to go budget with mine and just inspected and replaced what looked bad. I ended up pulling the carbs again and doing the float valve needle and seats. They are around $35 a set and you need (4). Your's might be good. They just tend to harden over time and don't seat as well. I would just inspect yours first and go from there. You probably have a bunch of sediment in the tank that's getting in the carb and keeping the needles valves from sealing all the way thus the flooding.

You will probably need new bowl gaskets at a minimum even if you just decide to clean and inspect the carbs. Unfortunately those are also sold individually, but the sets come with all the other o-rings/gaskets too so that's a plus.

Keep shooting questions I'll be more than happy to help.

 

For the best prices try ServiceHonda.com or Honda Parts Direct.com.

 

Just gas smell, or actual leak?

 

Before removing carbs.......you might try:

open float bown drain screws to lower floats, then blow compressed air into the fuel line that goes to carbs.......sometimes clears up float and saves time....

 

That's a good idea. I forget how accessable those drain screws are.

 

just a strong smell, there was no leak i could see, it flooded out a bunch of gas once and never did again but i couldn't really see where it came from. where does the gas come from when it floods? The smell is hopefully just worn out rubbers, there was no real problem with performance.. but the carbs are really grimey so i'm taking the opportunity to scrub them down.

Also, i didn't see the aluminum cover over the pilot screws i read so much about. In fact, there are some sort of flat head adjuster screws that are circular with a little notch sticking out on one side on all four carbs. (I can get pictures tomorrow hopefully) I can tell someone has been in the carbs, a lot of the screws are worn. What exactly do pilot screws do?

Thanks!