Manual, not solenoid, petcock

[LaGrasta]

After refurbishing my decade old idle bike, it won't start. If I spray starting fluid, it does. This means, it's a fuel problem. It may stem from the fact I don't know the proper operation of my petcock. The service manual, one of the worse I've ever used, doesn't even list my style, let alone how it operates. Mine does not have a solenoid style, see image. Anyone…?

[paulnaz]

 It appears that the petcock is on the Right side of the tank. If this is true where is the pressure regulator mounted, on the Left side? You may want to start with a fuel hose diagram and make sure everything is plumbed properly.   The petcock turns anti clockwise to close, clockwise to open. ( when sittting on the bike) They do get stuck and may need removal and cleaning.  Table 33.31v11_lemans-sport-naked_2001-2002 | Cadre Cycle

   Paul B

[Weegie]

Yup they used these POS's a lot, good design let down by inappropraite material.

@Lucky Phil has thread where he tore one down then modified it to work properly.

I think it's an O ring that the gas swells and makes the tap hard to use.

It looks to me like that one is in the Open position, but it might not be fully open, they are a bitch to use and I end up using a pipe wrench on them to open and close.

Clockwise to close and Anticlockwise to open as viewed from the floor looking up to the tank, obviously the opposite if looking from the tank downwards towards the ground

Good catch @paulnaz I never noticed and checked my Sporti and HiCam (don't have a V11) and the fuel tap is on the left on both bikes looking from the rear of the bike towards the front)

[Weegie]

Just to add that I don't think it'll make any difference on which side the Petcock and pressure regulator are, providing the tubing in the fuel system is rearranged to suit.

However if the Petcock and pressure regulators have just been swapped over then I doubt the engine would start. You'll also be running the pump dry and that won't be doing it any good either.

Line from the Petcock should run to the fuel pump inlet, the pump outlet then runs to the fuel filter, from the fuel filter a line runs to one of the injectors then the other after that a line runs up to the regulator on the tank (ASS-uming it's the same a HiCam or Sporti).

I'd follow the Petcock line and make sure it's running to the pump inlet, if it's running to one of the injectors then you'll need to swap the Petcock and pressure regulator components around.

Apologies if I'm "teaching my granny"

[LaGrasta]

Thank you for these replies. Yes, this is mounted on the left side. Are you saying it belongs on the right? I figured counterclockwise opened this, and yes I needed a wrench to fully open it, lol.

[LaGrasta]

I'll double check the plumbing as suggested, I thought I had them correct. The size of the hoses, sort of dictate where they go as their sizes vary greatly. The petcock hose, from the pump is huge!

[GuzziMoto]

1 minute ago, LaGrasta said:

Thank you for these replies. Yes, this is mounted on the left side. Are you saying it belongs on the right? I figured counterclockwise opened this, and yes I needed a wrench to fully open it, lol.

Your image makes it appear it is on the right. That petcock should be on the left. If it is, maybe the image got reversed accidentally.

When you turn the key to ON, does the fuel pump run for a few seconds?

[LaGrasta]

it is on the right. I must have mixed this up when reconstructing everything. Just the same, I don't think it matters, and I believe the plumbing is correct. I'll check again. thank you!

 

looking at the schematic, it does seem to be on the right.

[Lucky Phil]

The tap should be on the left so the odd sized 12mm outlet hose is as short as possible directly into the fuel pump. There's limited room down there and the 12mm hose is quite stiff so you don't need it taking up more space than absolutely necessary and also putting unnecessary strain on the pump inlet with it looping around under there. The taps are a good design let down by cheaping out on the seal material. They can't be disassembled and re assembled without modification. I did a thread on the modification I came up with on these so they use Viton seals which don't swell in fuel instead of the std nitrile which do and it can be rebuilt in the future. The mod also means the tap doesn't jam after time when the original seals swell. using pliers to close them for tank removal puts strain on the fuel tank fastener inserts and if you damage one of these then the whole tank is junk.

Phil

[docc]

6 hours ago, LaGrasta said:

it is on the right. I must have mixed this up when reconstructing everything. Just the same, I don't think it matters, and I believe the plumbing is correct. I'll check again. thank you!

 

looking at the schematic, it does seem to be on the right.

That fuel supply schematic is bizarre! (and unclear, at best) I never noticed that before. The actual tank schematic shows the fuel level sensor and electric fuel tap (petcock on the left, but the tap forward of the level sensor (incorrect).

It is looking entirely possible that your fuel plumbing got mixed up . . .

[Lucky Phil]

45 minutes ago, docc said:

That tank schematic is bizarre! (and wrong) I never noticed that before.

It is looking entirely possible that your fuel plumbing got mixed up . . .

Your are in a manner docc reading the schematic wrongly. The tank and frame are ghosted out and not really part of the schematic and are just there for "context" not absolute indication. So as an example the pump and filter assy aren't really mounted on the LHS of the frame as the parts manual image tends to show by the ghosted frame. You also have the issue at times of the optical illusion problem of "which perspective you are viewing from. You need to be careful with schematic representations of parts orders as well. In aviation it wont save you in a court of law as they are legally "representations only" not absolute indications. Same for shop manuals that are often made with images of pre production bikes that change and often differ a bit from the production versions.

Phil 

[docc]

Really good point! Parts Catalog exploded views are not assembly diagrams.

 

[LaGrasta]

so many aftermarket choices, will none of these options work for us?

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=12mm+petcock&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_odkw=moto+guzzi+petcock&_osacat=0

 

[LaGrasta]

Look what I found, they just got my $25!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/173280260339

 

[GuzziMoto]

1 hour ago, LaGrasta said:

Look what I found, they just got my $25!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/173280260339

 

Is there something wrong with the one you have now?