What would cause fuel to pour out of the main air jet bleed?

[TheFleshRocket]

I recently shotgunned the carbs, pulled and cleaned pilot air jet 1 and pilot air jet 2 on all four carbs, and replaced the idle mixture screw assembly (screw, spring, washer, o-ring) on all four carbs (a couple of the originals had a little corrosion on the outside, so I replaced all four).

I fired up the Vmax for the first time this morning. It wouldn't start, and then fuel started pouring out of the main air jet bleed. (I took off the airbox and verified.)

I'm just about positive I put everything back together properly, so what's the most likely cause of the main air jet bleed pouring out fuel?

 

[TheFleshRocket]

Here's where fuel comes out:



The fluid is water--I sprayed off the gas do it wouldn't eat away the engine paint. No I didn't spray any water into the carbs.

 

[maleko89]

You float is stuck open. You can try lightly tapping the float bowl cover with a rubber mallet.

 

[Rollie]

Agree on the stuck float.

 

[TheFleshRocket]

I kinda figured stuck float, but this time I didn't have the float covers off. I'll try tapping the float cover and if that doesn't work, I'll pull the carbs and remove the float cover to unstick the float. Thanks, guys!

 

[alorio1]

I would open the drain screw that carb and turn the ignition switch on and see if it flushes the debris from the needle. Do this several times and then close the screw and tap the carb while turning on the ignition switch on and off a couple of times until the bowl fills.

 

[TheFleshRocket]

I decided to skip trying to fix the problem externally (because given my luck with this uncooperative bike, it wouldn't have worked and I'd have wasted time I could have spent just removing the carbs). I removed the rack and checked the float on carb #2 (left rear), and the float appeared to be working normally. I briefly considered checking and adjusting the float level but then decided, eff that, I don't friggin' care.

So I bolted it back together--every step, I'd turn on the key to make sure the carb didn't puke gas again--and it went together without any more puking. So, this ******* bike apparently just decided that I hadn't already spent enough friggin' time working on it over the last couple of months and made me spend a couple hours chasing down a problem that didn't appear to have any justifiable reason to exist.

So, the ******* bike is back together and tomorrow morning, come rain or shine, I'm riding the damn thing to work. If my 5-7K misfire isn't fixed, my next post is going to be in the classified section. Maybe I'll buy a Gen2, maybe I'll take the proceeds from the sale and light them on fire--it would give me about as much joy as I've experienced with this bike since I bought it two months ago. This will be my last carbureted bike, and definitely my last gen1 Vmax ever. I missed the first one I had, but if I don't get it fixed, I sure as hell won't miss this one.

 

[fmcandrew]

I think you need to be more of a "journey" type person vs. a "destination" type person to deal with the older anything. For me, at least, the destination is just a starting point for the next journey...and my Max has taken me on many frustrating, but most certainly rewarding, journeys...

 

[D-Max2012]

I've learned so much working on my 91, which was abused by its previous owner. Even though its taken me for some real head scratcher's (and still trying to iron out 1, but getting close), I'm still prod of what I've accomplished. Its true that not everyone shares the enthusiasm of meeting a challenge and overcoming it. We're all different and that's is a good thing.

I drove to work about 4 months ago. Getting 1 mile from destination, the bike started to sputter. I had to baby it to work. Once parked, I smelled raw fuel, and looked down and it was flowing from Carb#2 overflow tube. Took off the air box and banged on the carb with a mallet. No matter what I did, as I started the bike, fuel would spill out. I had to get it towed home. Broke down the carbs once again, and found that little wire that's attached to the float needle was out of alignment and jammed itself on the floats tab, effectively pinning the float in one position and leaving a gap to allow fuel to escape from the top. Here's the not do obvious part. Since I didn't take any other carb apart to compare what a working wire looked like, it looked perfectly normal. I only noticed it when I decided to compare it to the other 3 working carbs. Once I bent the wire to be a true square to fit over the float's tab, which allowed for free movement, I haven't seen any more peeing. Note: these float needles are only 6 months old.

Hope this helps.
Peace, My VMax Brother from another Mother.

 

[TheFleshRocket]

Well, my Max has dodged a bullet--the misfire is gone. I'll post about it in my thread on the matter. Thanks, guys!