Left the gas on

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Mwood7800 said:
Am I missing something? How could gas get in gear box?
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1)You go to the gas station and fill up a 10 gallon gas can. You fill your roadster tank right to the brim, then you allow your sticking floats to let the entire tank of fuel to run down the intake and fill up the cylinder washing it clean and filling the crankcase with fuel.

2)Then you kick the bike over a few times trying to start the bike, blowing the crankshaft seal right out of it's seat. You scratch your head and check the fuel tank to find it's empty of fuel. You deduce that the bike didn't start because it was out of fuel, so you fill the tank right to the brim again, and start the cycle over again, helping the fuel towards it's final destination,... the gearbox.

3)It's going to take a lot of fuel to fill both the crankcase and the primary case up enough to have fuel migrate down the clutch rod cavity and begin to fill the gearbox, but it IS possible if you were too cheap to buy a dynodave clutchrod seal, AND you refill the fuel tank 3 more times, which let it drain into to crankcase...

... sounds possible? right??
 
Thanks all!!

I've got the oil out of the tank and the primary drained and wiped out. I've left the engine drain plug out for the night. I had a look in the gearbox before seeing the newer relevant comments, and it looks great in there.

Tomorrow I'll take the screw out of the overflow first. Then I'll put the engine drain plug back in, change the filter, add oil to the tank and the primary, kick it over a dozen times or so with the plugs out to get things primed, and then try to start her. If she starts and runs ok I'll open the float bowl and see what the heck is on the go. Planning to do it in this order just because I know that everything was running beautifully before the great flood of 2019. Does that all sound ok?
 
It will be fine, at lease you will have a nice clean motor inside lol, I wonder why the overflow hose was blocked off, very strange, it only takes a bit of dirt or something to make the float needle stick or float and sometimes when it happens just a tap to the bowl will fix it and it can happen to any carbie.
If it happens again then there is something not right but taking the screw out of the overflow hose should be the first thing to fix and if it does flow out then remove the bowl to find out why.

Ashley
 
Supercat said:
Thanks all!!

I've got the oil out of the tank and the primary drained and wiped out. I've left the engine drain plug out for the night. I had a look in the gearbox before seeing the newer relevant comments, and it looks great in there.

Tomorrow I'll take the screw out of the overflow first. Then I'll put the engine drain plug back in, change the filter, add oil to the tank and the primary, kick it over a dozen times or so with the plugs out to get things primed, and then try to start her. If she starts and runs ok I'll open the float bowl and see what the heck is on the go. Planning to do it in this order just because I know that everything was running beautifully before the great flood of 2019. Does that all sound ok?
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It’s just gas. No damage done. Drain and let dry out. Refill fluids and it’s all good. No big deal.

You’re right I’d also confirm the main seal is ok.
 
Supercat said:
Does that all sound ok?
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No,

Leave the drain plug out of the crankcase, and fix the carburator float first. Why would you seal the bike back up with new fluids then turn the fuel tap back on to feed more fuel to the carb that flooded your crankcase with fuel and caused the problem in the first place?

Also, if you had fuel in the primary, you need to check that the crankshaft seal wasn't blown out of place by the hydraulic pressure of kicking the bike over with a crankcase full of fluid.
 
Thanks again guys. Is there a way to check the crank seal without taking everything out of the primary?
 
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maylar said:
No.
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The good news is that the primary is not as hard as it looks. You just need the right puller for the front pulley, er, sprocket. With a belt drive it's maybe 30 minutes if you're slow.

But you really should look at it and hell, if you're in that deep just replace it.
 
swooshdave said:
The good news is that the primary is not as hard as it looks. You just need the right puller for the front pulley, er, sprocket. With a belt drive it's maybe 30 minutes if you're slow.

But you really should look at it and hell, if you're in that deep just replace it.
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And of course the clutch compressor tool. And every Commando owner should be able to disassemble the primary in 20 minutes, 'cuz we've all been in there before.
 
Hmmm... Other than a Yamaha puller, which I know isn't going to fit, I just have one generic puller that I doubt will be suitable. And I definitely don't have the clutch compressor tool yet...

Is there any way to figure this out by watching what happens with the oil after I add some? Happy to order tools and a new seal, but I'm in a remote place and it'll take ages for things to arrive. I just literally waited for three and a half weeks for a tap and die set to arrive from the next province over :).

But anyway, if not pulling the primary puts me at risk of destroying the engine, then I'll wait as long as is necessary.
 
Supercat said:
Hmmm... Other than a Yamaha puller, which I know isn't going to fit, I just have one generic puller that I doubt will be suitable. And I definitely don't have the clutch compressor tool yet...

Is there any way to figure this out by watching what happens with the oil after I add some? Happy to order tools and a new seal, but I'm in a remote place and it'll take ages for things to arrive. I just literally waited for three and a half weeks for a tap and die set to arrive from the next province over :).

But anyway, if not pulling the primary puts me at risk of destroying the engine, then I'll wait as long as is necessary.
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Once you got everything dried of gas and refilled (leave the primary dry) you could start it up for a little bit and see if you are getting oil in the primary. Shouldn't hurt anything.

Anyone disagree? Obviously not ride the bike like that.
 
swooshdave said:
Once you got everything dried of gas and refilled (leave the primary dry) you could start it up for a little bit and see if you are getting oil in the primary. Shouldn't hurt anything.

Anyone disagree? Obviously not ride the bike like that.
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You are the man Swooshdave. I'll finish cooking and eating supper and will keep checking to see if anyone raises any major concerns about your suggested approach before I head out to the shed. What you're saying sounds like a good way to go to me :).
 
swooshdave said:
Once you got everything dried of gas and refilled (leave the primary dry) you could start it up for a little bit and see if you are getting oil in the primary. Shouldn't hurt anything.

Anyone disagree? Obviously not ride the bike like that.
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+1 from me.

No way I’d pull the primary apart ‘just for fun’.

What swoosh says is a risk free way of checking BEFORE committing to a relatively big job.
 
Supercat said:
Thanks all!!

I've got the oil out of the tank and the primary drained and wiped out. I've left the engine drain plug out for the night. I had a look in the gearbox before seeing the newer relevant comments, and it looks great in there.

Tomorrow I'll take the screw out of the overflow first. Then I'll put the engine drain plug back in, change the filter, add oil to the tank and the primary, kick it over a dozen times or so with the plugs out to get things primed, and then try to start her. If she starts and runs ok I'll open the float bowl and see what the heck is on the go. Planning to do it in this order just because I know that everything was running beautifully before the great flood of 2019. Does that all sound ok?
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I’m no expert, but have you pulled the bowl or the carb yet? Ethanol fuels can sludge up a carb float, float needle, overflow in a short period of time
 
The primary should be fine but like SD said just start it and see if any oil gets into the primary, but of course check to see if the float hasn't stuck, but unblocking the overflow pipe will tell you if its stuck or not, just have your hand on the fuel tap ready to turn off if it does.

Ashley
 
Thanks Fast Eddie, Northton and Ashman! I'm gonna go with SD's suggestion and follow what you're saying too Ashman. If the float is stuck I'll pull the bowl and see what's on the go in there.
 
NPeteN said:
Bet your floats are full of gas
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Yes forgot about that one,if the float has fuel in them then they need replacing, they won't float if they are full, I be pulling the bowl off before any start up, its not hard to do and should be one of the first things done while unblocking the OF hose.

Ashley
 
Supercat said:
Thanks Fast Eddie, Northton and Ashman! I'm gonna go with SD's suggestion and follow what you're saying too Ashman. If the float is stuck I'll pull the bowl and see what's on the go in there.
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What carburettor /carburettors do you have?
If it's a single mikuni or similar sometimes they have a plain float needle, these do sometimes leak you can change it to a viton tipped type this usually sorts it out
Also to get the needle valve seat into really good condition get a Q tip dab it in metal polish and spin it in your fingers on the valve seat ,I usually use a cordless drill but I'm lazy
Cheers
 
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