91 VFR belching Fuel from Carbs... help

So i put my bike in hasty storage for a deployment to iraq, basically pulled it in my buddies garage. It was running fine at the time. I told my buddy to take it out a few times over the course of about 5 months no problems. I came home about 8 months after I had left and went to start the bike, it would crank over but wouldnt start. So i hooked the battery up to a trickle charger overnight. I tried again the next day and after a few minutes of cranking it and waiting it started up. I let it idle for a few minutes giving it throttle here and there to keep it from dying and after it smoothed out I took it down the street and back a few times to turn the motor and tranny. When i got back i noticed Fuel belching from all the carbs.

Im wondering what happened. My area uses reformulated gas with 10% ethanol, could this be the contributor?

Is this somewhat normal for a bike that has been sitting unused? Im hoping that all i have to do is rebuild the carbs. Idk if the gaskets are shot or what. And i cant even remember where the fuel was coming from but i think it was all 4 carbs. If anyone has any pointers it would be appreciated. And where does everyone get their carb parts? I have a factory service manual i can use for the repair.

 

Common problem after storage.....the float needles may be sticking open or the float bowl gaskets or fuel line o-rings have dried up and shrunk.

Bowl gaskets often swell up and stop leaking after 1 or 2 days exposure to fuel.

It can be very helpful to find exacty where they are leaking from.

 

My bike was sitting with fuel in the tank/carbs... would that change your assesment?

 

fuel in carbs evaporated

 

So you think running it and letting it sit again for a few days might do the trick? Insteresting, if not breaking down the carbs and rebuilding is the only option im sure.

Well Thanks for your sage pearls of wisdom. When i get home i'll try not to squander your help and get to the bottom of this.


Talked to my buddy that ownes a honda bike shop... said it was probably stuck needles... or floats... cant remember which.

 

+1 With what Sqirrel said, very common and will often seal up if left alone for a short period of time.

 

If it doesn't seal on it's own...here's a 'cheap and dirty' you can try before you remove the carbs.

Access the drain screws and drain the fuel out of your carbs. This will give your float needles 'room' to drop down, move around...leave your drain screws open for now. Go around the carb bank and tap the float bowls (carefully) with the wooden handle of a hammer. If easily accessible, remove the fuel line to your carbs and spray carb cleaner directly into it. You can also just run some fuel through them. Turn your drain screws back in and gas back on. Sometimes it helps to tap lightly on the carb bank while it's filling back up with fuel.

The idea is to 'flush' your float needle and seat. The tapping helps 'jar' the needle into movement. I've seen this little trick work many a time.

 

HEY, Dizz, do you think that some compressed air blasted into the fuel line might help to dislodge some crud ( usually flakes of rust from fuel tank) stuck in needle/seat area??

It's worked for me.........

 

I don't like doing that for a couple reasons. If the floats have an adjustment tang, I'd worry about bending that and throwing the height adjustment off. I'd also be concerned that compressed air would for the needle lower than it was intended to go and biind it in the seat, making it nearly impossible for it to close without disassembling the carbs and manually doing it.