Fuel Petcocks..

[Major Voltron]

i may be having a problem with my fuel petcock .. would it better to rebuild it? or shall i just buy a whole new one ... and i know that part is expensive .. like 150 bucks expensive.. so trying to decide what to do on that part..

[rockat]

Can you describe the problem?

[Kreylyn]

i may be having a problem with my fuel petcock .. would it better to rebuild it? or shall i just buy a whole new one ... and i know that part is expensive .. like 150 bucks expensive.. so trying to decide what to do on that part..

Rebuild is a simple and inexpensive way to fix soft parts going bad. That happens on petcocks, as they have rubber orings and the diahpram is what controls the fuel on/off options with vacuum.

I've redone several and they all work like new.

But... yes, before going into that... what is wrong with yours?

Krey

[Major Voltron]

i just got the carbs cleaned.. i will be riding then all of a sudden it will bog down and shut off .. then take a few mins to start up.. i had a friend ride it and he said while riding it bogged down and what not and he swapped it to prime for a minute or two and it didnt have any more problem .. he said it could be starving for fuel through the petcock . cause it couldent be the carbs. there was also no debris in the fuel filter so i guess it whittled it down to the petcock....

[Surviverguy]

There's some risk with a repair kit compared to a new one. The risk is if the parts in the kit aren't right for the petcock you have. There are lots of different petcoks out there. Kits are in the 25-30 dollar range. A new petcock can be found for 50-80 range- never pay 150! Not everything is included in a kit also. A new petcock is easier and less risky but costs twice to three times more.

[Kreylyn]

i just got the carbs cleaned.. i will be riding then all of a sudden it will bog down and shut off .. then take a few mins to start up.. i had a friend ride it and he said while riding it bogged down and what not and he swapped it to prime for a minute or two and it didnt have any more problem .. he said it could be starving for fuel through the petcock . cause it couldent be the carbs. there was also no debris in the fuel filter so i guess it whittled it down to the petcock....

I would test the petcock before going any further. You can even open it up to determin what/where the issue is. May be as simple as cleaning it.

There's some risk with a repair kit compared to a new one. The risk is if the parts in the kit aren't right for the petcock you have. There are lots of different petcoks out there. Kits are in the 25-30 dollar range. A new petcock can be found for 50-80 range- never pay 150! Not everything is included in a kit also. A new petcock is easier and less risky but costs twice to three times more.

The only "risk" is if you break ****. Repair kit comes with all the consumable items. Anything not in the repair kit is something that should not be replaced or your broke (with the possible exception of 1 spring, and that spring is definately not the issue this person describes having).

Repair kits are fine, and unless someone else has gone in and broken something, will fix the issue 99.9% of the time.

Krey

[Major Voltron]

Where is a good place to buy a fuel cock for a decent price .. I have been looking and I havent found anything yet thanks for your help...

[Major Voltron]

The local motorcycle shop ..... Say they don't offer a rebuild kit for the petcock... And the new one are 130+.. this is killing me .. no its not . But I gotta get her back on the road its my only source of getting around ..Hmmmmmm I know there is a plan B. I just gotta figure it out ..

[blitz2190]

you can defiantly order a rebuild kit online i believe krey was the one who wrote a how to on rebuilding it, its very simple.

2 min search found this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Suzuki-GSX-600-750-Katana-Fuel-Petcock-Repair-Kit-/390425420121?hash=item5ae72b2159&item=390425420121&pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr

[Dexter]

It sounds to me like you may have another issue. A petcock doesn't go bad overnight after a carb cleaning... unless you were having this issue before (which would probably have been what prompted you to get the carbs cleaned in the first place.)

My suggestion would be to test the petcock like Krey suggested, before buying any kits or new parts.

Pull the tank off, complete with the fuel line(s) that go to your carbs. Put the line(s) in some water bottles and apply vacuum to the small port on the back of the petcock. If fuel flows freely, the petcock isn't your problem. You can even quantify the flow by marking increments on the side of the water bottle and timing the flow to compare between prime and on modes. With this procedure, you'll also end up checking all your line connections in the process.

It'll be worth the 20 or so minutes it will take you to test this. I used to throw new parts at a symptom before I knew what the real problem was, hoping for a quick fix. That method rarely worked well for me.

[Surviverguy]

I'd do some testing like others have mentioned. If it works on prime- then you could turn it to prime to ride and then back to "on" when you turn the bike off- (until you get a new one or a rebuild kit). Other sources besides ebay are OEM Suzuki online parts dealers like (Bike Bandit, Boulevard Suzuki and others). Bike repair shops tend to jack up prices to cover their overhead. Online retailers have lower prices due to competition, but you pay shipping costs. I try to order several parts at once to reduce shipping costs per part.