Triumphrat

funhunter63 · 08-30-2007

I have a 99 Thunderbird. A few hours after I put away yesterday, the garage smelled like gas. I looked all over and never saw where it was coming from but I shut off the gas for safety. Went for a ride today and when I came back I noticed that where the kickstand was last night outlined. Apparently some gas ran down the kickstand last night. I pulled the plug out of the drain line coming from the air filter. A few Tablespoons of very gassy oil came out!! I am not sure what could cause all of this. My first guess after reading some old threads is a stuck float. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Should I pull the carbs off before trying the Sea Foam trick?

I did look at the oil level. It looked perfect. It apprears normal. Could I have gas in the oil?

WoodsieIII · 08-30-2007

Good idea to pull the tank off and remove the petcock, clean the filters and the tap itself out. There is also a little filter in the fuel line near where the fuel line tees into the carbies themselves. Good idea to clean that too. The flooding is generally caused by the crap in the fuel. I clean my tank and filters once a year.
Always turn the fuel off when the bike is stopped.

BE EXTREMELY CAREFULL WITH FUEL IT IS VERY VOLATILE, KEEP ALL IGNITION SOURCES AND NAKED FLAMES AWAY, I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH.

A fellow I used to work with blew himself up with a motorcycle tank, he took the fuel tank into the laundry to be able see what was inside, the pilot light from the hot water service ignited the fumes. He ended up with third degree burns to 60% of his body, be ****en carefull

MickMaguire · 08-30-2007

clean out the lines etc as advised. Clean out the carbs and fit an inline filter on the gas line.

Now... TURN OFF THAT PETCOCK when the bike is not running. That's why the "off" position is there - to stop this sort of thing happening. When it does, at best you get gas on the floor at worst you get a fire or engine damage from the gas pouring into the bores.

jimmyj900 · 08-30-2007

Mick understated the potential for disaster a bit...

Consider your engine locking solid at high speed with a broken connecting rod stuck through the side of the engine while you're being doused with boiling coolant.

It could spoil your day.

Jim

patrol21 · 09-07-2007

Had the same issue when I first picked up y 95 bird......parked it and it just poured gas out of the carb overflows. The bike had sat for years and I had to pull the banks to clean up up anyway. After 3 rounds of cleaning/replacing a float bowl/petcock replace, it still would drop some gas with the petcock open while sitting. You may have a float hanging up. I am in the habit of turning off the petcock when I'm not running the bike just from years past and owning a 69 Bonnie with duel amals and duel fuel lines that always leaked a bit. I finally got the TBIRD to stop by running a hot shot through the fuel system. I have first run Mikuni's that were only on the earlier VIN's. My guess is that you have Keihens. Call your local dealer before adding any fuel system cleaner as seals vary and some of these are pretty rough on the rubber parts.

gregp · 09-07-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmyj900

Consider your engine locking solid at high speed with a broken connecting rod stuck through the side of the engine while you're being doused with boiling coolant.
Jim

From a stuck float???
C'mon.

jimmyj900 · 09-07-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregp

From a stuck float??? C'mon.

Yep.

Liquid gasoline doesn't compress, so if you get liquid gas into a cylinder the piston will 'jam' (AKA: hydraulic lock) and bend the connecting rod.

A bent connecting rod seldom fails immediately on these bikes -- it takes anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand miles before it breaks and rips through the side of the engine.

The hydraulic lock / later destruction syndrome was a 'known problem' on the earlier 885 Tiger models where a left side fall over allowed engine oil to enter the airbox and flow into the #1 cylinder.

Fortunately it wasn't a common problem since the engine had to have stopped on the intake cycle with the piston in the down position before it could happen and the odds were against that.

Jim