OEM Petcock Rebuild Service....Cores Needed

[markus56]

There's been alot of discussion lately about OEM petcocks, their inability to outlast the bike, and the damage they can inflict when they fail. I'm not here to defend the design of the OEM petcock or advocate the switch to a Pingle instead. That choice is an individual one but you should consider that you can also experience the dreaded Hydro-lock situation with a Pingle if you leave it turned on and any of your float needles leak past the seats! For this reason, I believe you're better off and safer with a properly rebuilt stock petcock as long as they've been rebuilt recently (in the last six years or so). As a result of these discussions, I'm going to offer a rebuild service for these OEM petcocks to the membership here. Thanks to Furchin, I now have three on hand to rebuild and either exchange or will rebuild yours' specifically and return it. The process I'll employ will be to replace all parts inside (1 Lever o-ring - 92055-1027, 1 valve gasket - 11009-1530, 1 oval o-ring - 51039-010, 1 diaphram - 43028-1015 & 1 spring - 92081-1171), use Sealall to seal the filter to the body, and to test all rebuilds with a vacuum pump to ensure they seal off the flow as designed. All petcocks will be soaked to remove rust and corrosion and cleaned thoroughly inside with steel wool so that everything has a good mating surface for the rubber pieces. They aren't difficult to rebuild but care must be taken on the critical stuff I've outlined. This service is for the purists out there that want to keep these bikes stock but want peace of mind about not experiencing Hydra-lock firsthand. If you have complete OEM petcocks that you've given up on and went with Pingles, I will buy your OEM ones from you and offer them on the site. The big thing for me will be the condition of the filters since they are not available anymore. A filter with holes or tears in it is no good to me. I will pay $20.00 for a complete one with a good screen and $10.00 for a complete one with a junk or missing filter. The parts costs me $35.00 and will ship inside the States for $8.00..... more for outside our borders. I'll have $20.00 in the cores and charge $10.00 for my time so I'll round it off and call it $75.00 for a rebuilt and reconditioned OEM petcock to you. If you send me a good core, the charge will only be $50.00 for the service. We'll see how it goes and if I can help the membership out with this and not cost me, then I'll keep doing it. Whether you do it yourself or use this service........rebuild your petcocks before you regret not doing it!! Private message me if you are interested in this service or have a petcock you'll sell. Thanks, Mark

For those of you wondering about the figure8 disease the filter gets after time here's a few pics attached. As you can see the gap between the filter and housing will let the dirt right on by unfiltered. This ends up in your fuel bowls or stuck in your float valves causing the carbs to leak which can also hydrolock the cylinders bending a connecting rod. Common problem with bikes that have this filter design.

 

[markus56]

I decided to include the tap spring in the parts lot that I will replace with OEM parts in this service so the list reads as follows;


1 - lever o-ring ( Service is $45.00 with a good core and $75.00 without a core )
1 - valve gasket
1 - oval o-ring
1 - diaphram
1 - spring

For the members that will be doing this rebuild yourself, do yourself a favor and use ONLY OEM parts! Look these 5 parts up and you'll see that the OEM parts are double what a K&L kit is.......there's a reason for that guys! Don't try to skimp here.....it may cost you a motor rebuild! Get the OEM parts like I do and sleep easy at night. For those that want to put off this petcock rebuild till spring, at least take a tip from Lowlife and disconnect your gas line from the petcock till you do rebuild it! Get these things done people.....it's a very serious thing!

 

[markus56]

I just want to reinterate here that I will buy your OEM petcocks outright from you in the event that you decide to go with the Pingle petcock instead of rebuilding your OEM one. I pay $20.00 for a good one with a useable plastic filter so don't throw $$$ in the trash as has been suggested on this forum. If you alter your tank for the Pingle to fit, chances are that you won't need you OEM petcock anymore anyway since it probably won't seal again. Makes me no difference if you rebuild it yourself but do yourself a favor and use ALL five OEM parts AND get all corrosion out of there AND lube it going back together! I will keep some on hand for members that want to take advantage of this service but there hasn't been much interest here so I'm going to sell some on E-Bay too.

 

[markus56]

After cleaning and rebuilding several of these petcocks already, I want to share some observations I've encountered along the way. The biggest flaw I've seen so far with these are the small plastic tube that inserts into the plastic filter on SOME of the early petcocks. The later ones that were superceded came with brass tubes instead so somewhere along the way, the factory corrected the plastic tubes with brass ones. With a plastic one in place, they get oblong with time and that makes it easier for the filter to separate from the body and get the "figure 8 disease". With a brass one in place, the filter is "held open" much better than a plastic tube can do. To correct this flaw, I've bought brass tubing and am upgrading the earlier petcocks with it that I'm rebuilding. The Connie petcocks have the brass tubes too but the bodies are different so they wouldn't be correct for a ZL.
Another critical observation is that the ones I've received and disassembled have all had hard and deteriated parts inside of them.....none of them are gonna' work properly like that! The diaphram rubbers have all been hard and once they loose their elasticity, they're just not gonna' work as designed. There's alot of bad corrosion in some of them which I suspect is the result of Ethanol in the gas some of us have to buy. I soak them in CLR and they come out good as new. It's important to get all of that outta' there since it don't take but a speck to plug a pilot jet! If doing the rebuilds' yourself, take the time to address all of these things and pay attention to detail.....it matters in the end!

 

[Bishop]

OEM Petcock Rebuild

I got a rebuilt one back from Mark this week and I HIGHLY recommond his service & advice. Thanks Mark

Brian

 

[markus56]

I've been rebuilding a few petcocks lately and thought I'd post some pics of the assembly line. Some before and after pics if you look:

 

[markus56]

It's been brought to my attention that there's been at least one instance of one of my re-builds that has re-developed the "figure 8 disease" common with these filters. Nobody can guarantee these plastic filters won't disfigure again at some point so my suggestion going forward is to back it up with an efficient, hiflow inline filter between the petcock and the carbs. These filters/petcocks should be pulled and examined at least once a year regardless.......washing the tank out with fresh gas while you're at it! If someone can source the filters from Taiyogiken (the Japanese company that made the petcock for Kawasaki), I'll be happy to buy and include them on my re-builds. I've been un-successful at my attempts to contact this company!

 

[prfixer]

That would depend on the condition of the filters you have. I've got more bodies than I do filters and am in need of some good ones.

There are 2 filters that are showing signs of the 8 disease. Is there a way to put a brass sleeve or something in there so they can't collapse like that? The filters don't have the best seal into the petcock to start with, I'll bet there is a gas resistant adhesive that we could use to install the filters so gas couldn't get past the filters.

 

[markus56]

Yeah Dave, I do use Seal-All to glue the filters back in to the bodies and I replace the plastic tubes with brass ones when I rebuild them but that doesn't guarantee they won't re-develope a slight crack/separation between the filter and body at some point. I have no first-hand experience of it happening to one that I've installed on one of mine but I did have one come back from a member that had a very slight crack in it. That's why I've recommended pulling them once a year to look closely at them to check for the figure 8 disease....even on re-built ones. I've got some in my bikes that were done three years ago with NO separation so far which is why I believe the member had an isolated case but I want everyone to be aware of my findings just the same. I've straightened some filters before that had BAD figure 8's and they did fine so I know it's not a chronic problem......we just need to watch them in the future is all.
I appreciate the info on the filters "1 year" and I'll be contacting the company to see if I can buy the filters seperately. If so, a virgin filter would be alot better to use than one that is 25 years old I'm sure! We shall see if my efforts will be fruitful.........stay tuned!

 

[jmassengill]

Markus56,
I wish to brag about your work. I had tried to rebuild my petcock with NON-Kawasaki parts. I knew it leaked a little bit but it hadn't given me any trouble. I tried to ride with my son in November and I had to put the petcock in PRI to get my 600 to run. I found a vacuum leak that seemed to help a bit but I still had to put it in the PRI position to run beyond an idle. I figured since I was doing a down to the frame powder coat refresh, I would have the petcock rebuilt at that time. I haven't used the petcock yet but it looks like new. I'll keep you posted once I get it running again.

Thank you for your time, effort and help.

 

[markus56]

Thanks for the review Johnny and I'm glad you're happy with it..........You're Very Welcome!! Satisfaction Guaranteed!!

 

[markus56]

Now that the Spring maintenance season is upon us once again, I wanted to remind everyone that 'ya need to check the petcocks while you're doing carbs, rinsing tanks out, etc. Just finished about a dozen valves a couple of weeks ago so I've got 'em ready to ship (as soon as yours' gets to me) on an exchange basis. Here are some pics of the ones I have on hand......the NOS ones are NOT for sale! For the many of you that have never seen a true ZL1000 petcock, there are some mixed in with the ZL9 ones. They leave on an exchange basis......Enjoy!

 

[87kawzl]

Thanks Markus. Just got the package a few short days after paypal payment.
Appreciate the service. Looks good I can't wait to install and go for a ride.
50's - 70's for the past couple of weeks then snow today....I'll be on it by the weekend.
Thanks again.

 

[cromag77]

Mark, got the petcock yesterday looks great a very nice pice, should be a lot better than the one i sent you. I also got the speedo just as dicribed nice. thanks

 

[Jimbir]

Mark, If the petcock is working correctly, you shouldn't be able to blow air into the outlet pipe and hear it escaping some place else. Correct?

Thanks. Jim B.

 

[markus56]

Yes, you will hear it escape if you blow hard enough to overcome the diaphrams' spring. All these petcocks of this vintage need rebuilding at this point if they haven't been before now. Chances are, yours' hasn't!

 

[salamander]

Read through the thread from the start, but may still have missed this: are you doing '86 ZL600 petcocks, too, or just the 900's and 1000's?

Thanks.

 

[markus56]

Read through the thread from the start, but may still have missed this: are you doing '86 ZL600 petcocks, too, or just the 900's and 1000's?

Thanks.

Yes, I have done ZL600 petcocks and will do yours but it has to have a good filter on it and I do those individually, I have none in stock. PM me and I'l guide you through the process. I did one for Johnny Massengill and I believe he was happy with his.

 

[dirtdiverkf]

I decided to include the tap spring in the parts lot that I will replace with OEM parts in this service so the list reads as follows;


1 - lever o-ring
1 - valve gasket
1 - oval o-ring
1 - diaphram
1 - spring

Ok, im looking at cheapcycle parts for the list above, here is what i have added to my cart, let me know if this is right or not

51039-003 Ring, Tap Flanged
92055-1085 Ring-O, Tap Lever
92081-1240 Spring, Tap Diaphragm
670B1504 Oring, 4mm
11009-1188 Gasket, Tap Valve

Is this what i need to rebuild the petcock on a 86 zl 600? Thanks

ps, markus its really tough on me to read any of the post you have made on the site, for some reason my eyes always wonder left

 

[zlMark]

You might need the plastic washers that go under the mounting bolts. 92022-183 2pcs

You need the diaphragm assy 43028-1021. That part is not reusable because the rubber is so thin.

Let me know what you end up with cost before you order. A pingel manual fuel valve might be the best route.