OK. Has anyone that's installed overflow tubes in their carbs noticed a greatly increased gas smell? My bike has gone from smelling like a gas station to smelling like a refinery!! Good thing I don't have any pilot lights in the garage. If I can't figure out a way to reduce the "aroma", I'm going to plug the holes where I installed the tubes and go with a straight manual petcock like a Pingel or such. The Triumph uses two of them and so far I haven't forgotten to turn them ON or OFF. (So far!!) Maybe sometimes simpler IS better! Any ideas? Eddie Sanford, FL 2005 Concours 1969 Triumph Bonneville AMA# 686667 COG# 7073 CDA# 0136 http://picasaweb.google.com/Eddie753
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Overflow tubes
- Thread starter EddieM
- Start date
From you description it sounds like there isn't any visible puddle underneath the bike. Is it possible that there may be a leak in the fuel line coming from the tank to the carbs? Check the fuel line to make sure it doesn't have any cracks or tears especially near the ends where the clamps secure the fuel line to the tank and the carbs. Be sure to check that the vents from the carbs are routed properly and aren't blocked.
Jay, thanks for the replies. There are no drips or puddling under the bike. The line from the tank to the carbs is OK...less than one year old. No signs of fuel leaks anywhere! I did install clear tubing from the carb nipples and don't see any fuel in them. The existing vent tubes are routed correctly and are open. I did read on the other forum where people put a loop or "trap" in the drain tubes and that seems to help to gas odor. Guess I'll try that and see what happens. Eddie Sanford, FL 2005 Concours 1969 Triumph Bonneville AMA# 686667 COG# 7073 CDA# 0136 http://picasaweb.google.com/Eddie753
Got that rite Eddie. That's a big reason why I luv my Conc in the 1st place. Mine sleeps in the garage with a natcheral gas H20 heeter, jest nuther reason why there's NFW I'd ever do this wacky mod. 01 Conc, Mijami Floriduh OTP 06: http://tinyurl.com/2vk9o2 route map: http://tinyurl.com/4p7pmd
FWIW Eddie, my petcock was seeping gas externally and dripping a tiny bit at times, no gas smell since I've rebuilt it.Paulie...yeah, I'm rethinking this mod! The manual petcock seems the simplest except for the $$$! Mark, thanks for that idea. I know on the Connie there are several points for gas odors. The primary one on my bike being the gas cap. I have checked the petcock before but maybe I need to do it again. What I can't figure out is that my old Bonneville with it's Amal Concentric carbs, which leak gas like a sieve, doesn't have nearly the odor the Concours does! Just another mystery of the universe I suppose! But I will check the petcock again. I put "drip" loops in the drain tubing today to see if that makes a difference. Maybe if Rev Rider perfects his EFI setup... Eddie Sanford, FL 2005 Concours 1969 Triumph Bonneville AMA# 686667 COG# 7073 CDA# 0136 http://picasaweb.google.com/Eddie753
you guys are seriously uninformed. There's nothing new about the overflow tubes at all - in fact you can go back to any bike from the 60's and they had them, Probably even before that. The voyager uses carbs that are almost identical to the connie carbs, and they have overflow tubes from the factory. After reading lots of responses on the overflow tubes, and personal experience, I'm sure the issue here is the high evaporation rate of ethanol. When working on some carbs and having the bike up on the lift, I could actually SEE the gas vapors shooting down out of the bowl nipples from the overflow tubes. I mean it was a steady stream with pressure, just from the evaporation of the heated fuel. Another thing that graphically points out the evaporation is that guys running ethanol are finding they have to put the bike on prime to re-fill the bowls if the bike sits for even 3 days. With regular fuel, that doesn't happen. On my bike, I have a low spot or "trap" in the line. a small bubble of fuel sits in there, and stops the evaporation. Still, when the bike sits, I have to use prime to fill the bowls. At this point the evaporation is through the carb throat, air cleaner, and bowl vent hoses. Paulie, unless you have a petcock failure you won't have any issues. Your bike never sits long enough to cool down. For those of us whose bikes do sit, anything to protect the engine is a good thing. Think you don't like a fuel smell? Youre' really not gonna like the bent connecting rod feature a whole lot worse. I'd like to make another comment, to those who mess with carbs or other mechanical stuff and then never get it ironed out, Though you're SURE you've done everything correctly, apparently you haven't and you are your own worst enemy at this point. I don't say this critically, I say this because I've BTDT. I remember many years ago that I built a chevy engine that I was sure was a good engine. For some reason, it didn't want to idle. I was all over the fuel and ignition systems, I knew it wasn't the engine, I built it, I know it's right. So after days of ****ing around, this old mechanic says "lemme look at it". we start it up, and right off he says "it's the valves" ???? I just built it, CAN'T be that. He persists. I leak tested the engine, sure enough, valves. so I pull the heads off and find the valves bent and not seating. The customer I built the engine for provided the heads, assuring me they were good heads he'd just bought from a shop, just bolt 'em on. My fault for not catching that. The point of the story is that now, even though I build or assemble something, I NEVER assume it's right till it runs right, and If I have a problem I go back to the beginning, and mentally allow that I could have screwed up. Since adopting this philosophy I have dug myself out of a couple issues that would have stumped me, had I steadfastly beieved I didn't do anything wrong. One more point is that if you have an issue, say with carbs, and you can't find whats wrong, it could easily be that you don't know the system well enough to diagnose what's wrong. For example, I've had several guys send me carbs they were SURE they worked on correctly, but the carbs were hosed. I've found everything from clogged pilots, fuel levels way high, floats set so the needles wouldn't let the fuel into the carbs; missing needle jets (how many even know what part that is?) ripped diaphrams and missing orings on the idle needle screws. In every case, I was assured that fuel levels were checked and correct (impossible!) no parts were missing, etc. But in each case the guy who did the work was sure he'd done it right. Food for thought... Steve
Steve in sunny FL makes a good point which I quoted below. Eddie, Any chance that you can take your tank off and put it outside of the garage to see if the gas smell dissapates? This way you will have a better chance of distinguishing the origin of the gas smell. I had trouble with the gas smell in the garage a while ago and found out that it was a SSSSLLLLOOOOWWW leak in the petcock.
Steve does have good points as always! I always listen. Jay, I know moving the gas tank outside will make a difference as I get a strong gas smell from the filler cap. This is way more than that though. I have noticed a significant reduction since I put loops in the drain tubes. I do need to check the petcock as you and Mark suggested. And maybe send the carbs to Steve as the bike is very cold natured now. Was sure I did everything right when tearing into them but... I have been known to make mistakes. (occasionally!!) Thanks all. Happy New Year! Eddie Sanford, FL 2005 Concours 1969 Triumph Bonneville AMA# 686667 COG# 7073 CDA# 0136 http://picasaweb.google.com/Eddie753