Float repair?

[sploogemonkey]

I've got a small (really small) hole in one of my floats.

 

Anyone know of a fuel resistant sealer that they have personal experience with that will actually hold up for some time? I just need to dab a bit on the float to plug the hole, but I don't want it to come loose and end up plugging my pilot circuit.

 

Anyone have any suggestions?

[sploogemonkey]

Guess I should have Googled it first.

 

A fifteen second search returned this... http://eclecticproducts.com/sealall.htm

 

I'm gonna find out who has it locally and go pick some up. I'll report back on whether or not it works. I figure I'd rather spend five bucks on a tube of this stuff and see if it works before I blow sixty bucks on a new float set.That's good beer money.

 

[bork]

I've used it & was amazed, so far its holding fuel. pin hole in metal tank.

[HeadTrauma]

Huh, I didn't know the foam floats could actually spring a leak.

[sploogemonkey]

Huh, I didn't know the foam floats could actually spring a leak.

 

Dammit! They're foam?

 

I just assumed (I know, I know) that they were hollow plastic units that would fill up and cause running problems. No?

 

The bike is running fine, I just thought I'd check my float height 'cause the float bowl is overflowing. I measured the height at 14mm, but my Clymer specs the float height at 18mm, so I tweaked the tang a bit, then I went back to the garage and adjusted the height to spec. Edited to add that I read the wrong year in my manual, 14mm is correct.

 

So is the float abrasion a non-issue?

 

I'll go grab my camera, pics to follow.

Edited October 17, 2013 by sploogemonkey

[HeadTrauma]

I'm pretty sure that the floats are solid foam like Nitrophyl blower floats for Holley carbs and they don't really break down or become saturated with fuel that I know of. I have even seen good floats that appeared to have some surface porosity. I suppose it's possible though; these bikes are getting old enough now for us to see age-related parts failures that were previously uncommon.

 

In my observations, overflowing carbs are mostly caused by a leaking float valve.

[sploogemonkey]

I'm pretty sure that the floats are solid foam like Nitrophyl blower floats for Holley carbs and they don't really break down or become saturated with fuel that I know of. I have even seen good floats that appeared to have some surface porosity. I suppose it's possible though; these bikes are getting old enough now for us to see age-related parts failures that were previously uncommon.

 

In my observations, overflowing carbs are mostly caused by a leaking float valve.

 

 

Yup, I figured the float valve might have some crud in it, which is why I pulled the carb, however everything was clean inside. Since I left the cables attached to the carb, I had it resting on the seat frame rails, and when I turned around to grab a screwdriver I heard a "thunk". I turned to see my carb resting against the front rotor hanging from the cables. The impact dinged one of the floats pretty good.

 

Anyway, after you mentioned the foam thingy, I decided to take a file to the float and smooth out the imperfection. One benefit is that if I ever sell the bike I can count the custom hand contoured, weight saving float modification that smooths out the fuel delivery do to the radiused reshaping of the float.

 

Here's a pic of my high speed, low drag float mod.

 

 

 

And my pig ready for the trail again.

 

[Go Big Red]

Ummmm, that's a clean and sweet looking pig.  I've got XR envy.

[sploogemonkey]

Thank you sir. I'm down to my last two bikes after several years and many different motorcycles. My pig and my street bike will probably be the last I own, so I tend to dote over them a bit. What I need to do is find more time to ride.

I was noticing your sig line, that's quite a collection there. I'm guessing that Remington insurance is probably policy number 870!