Leaking is a symptom of deterioration, so you'll probably get both

$200 is way overpriced though. I paid about half that in $CAD for a new petcock assy on my '87. Did the 90's get gold plating or something?

 

Maybe it's the gold that's causing the petcock to leak (lol). That's a UK eBay price. Can you remember where you got your's?

 

Just going back to the carb cleaning for a moment. Once I've removed the diaphragm/slider and float valve (with its rubber (?) tip) should I spray carb cleaner in all the orifices? It's just I don't want to risk damaging something that doesn't like carb cleaner and is not always obvious what the various orifices are linked to.

 

Prices online were $90 USD, but we pay massive tariffs on anything coming from the states, so I wound up buying from the parts counter of my local Honda dealership. $116 CAD for a brand new OEM part. Maybe they're less common for your bike

For the carb cleaning, there's a lot of good resources on youtube showing the process, as well as what can and can't go in the solvent. Generally, anything made of soft rubber shouldn't get solvent. Some plastics can handle it just fine, but shouldn't soak

It was my first time doing motorcycle carbs so I just tried to follow the factory service manual as closely as possible:

1) Remove float bowl screws
2) Remove floats, needle valves, and strainers
3) Remove the jets and soak in carb cleaner along with all the other small metal parts
4) Remove the diaphragms and needles. Inspect
5) Remove pilot screws and spray the carb body internals with solvent and rag. Chase with compressed air. I did the strainers the same way
6) Let the parts soak overnight
7) Clear all the jets with wire. Blast with compressed air, just make sure they don't take off across the shop
8) Final visual inspection. Make sure to check the needles to make sure they're not bent or anything
9) Reassy

 

Tentacleslap, Thanks for your detailed explanation for cleaning . I'll come onto that in a sec. But first, I think the difference in price of petcock is probably the fact that mine is diaphragm operated and yours is not (?). I've taken the carbs off again and found I) one of the pilot jets blocked again and ii) some rather worrying scarring on one of the sliders and wear on the associated carb bore. Photos attached. I've given both a gentle but serious clean (no sanding). Now that carb is back together there doesn't seem to be any detrimental effect on the movement of the slider for the time being but I haven't got as far as running the bike again. Do you think the scaring / wear could be a short /medium term problem? One observation is I used scotchbrite and carb cleaner for cleaning the inside of the float chambers. After leaving it overnight before carrying on the following day I found the scotchbrite had deteriorated so if it's used it needs to be thoroughly washed off with carb cleaner before reassembly. Scared slider
Worn bore

 

A quick update for anyone interested (and to thank again those who helped). The "damage" photoed above seems to be having no effect for the time being as having thoroughly cleaned all the carb parts again the bike is back on the road and running better than ever. I really hope it lasts. Thanks again to all of you.

 

Great news! Hopefully that will sort out all of your problems and you will be issue free for a good long while.

 

Unfortunately, I'm back again.... Left the bike sat for 3-4 days, went back to it and I have the same recurring problem - cyldr 1 not running again, and after 2 additional days of sitting doing nothing cyldr 2 is not running either!! Last time but one I had the carbs off I ensured the pilot jets were clear. When I then removed the carbs the last time the pilot jets look partially clogged again (not completely blocked, but not completely clear). I've been reading on the forum about using "good quality fuel" and saw down the local filling station the E1095 (10% ethanol) I've been using is recommended for Hondas only after 1993 - mine is 1991. So - could this be the root of my problem - even after just a week of being sat around? I'd be really happy to learn that such a "foolish" mistake as using the wrong petrol could be the explanation to my trauma. I'm happy to take the carbs off again to clean them but would really like it to be the last time - 5 is enough! Could it also be something to do with the need to clean the pilot screw. Tentecleslap suggested I do that last time I had the carbs off but I wasn't sure where to find them, or whether that would then demand additional steps so chose to stick with re-cleaning the pilot jets etc......I've not cleaned the pilot screws on cyldrs 3 & 4 and they are running fine.

 

Ethanol is murder to small engines, especially if they sit. It starts to degrade within 2-3 weeks, and by the time you've pumped it, it's probably already been sitting for longer than that. It attracts/retains water, and that can cause rust inside your engine. It also dries out rubber, which is used extensively in fuel systems on older engines. Go somewhere else for your gas. I use it for my car, and that's all

Pilot screws should be cleaned. It's not hard, I promise. Count the turns to seat, write it down, unscrew. Inspect to see if the passageways are contaminated. With the continued problems, you should really do a complete job of cleaning, cause whatever we're doing doesn't seem to be working. Also try and get a look at the blockage next time. Check if it's magnetic (rust) or if it might be a degraded piece of rubber. That would be a clue

 

Folks, a quick update just to reinforce what most of you know already. It turns out that my intermittent carb problem appears to have been due to my inability to clean the pilot jets thoroughly. It turns out 2 or maybe 3 of the pilot jets had miniscule "flaps" of varnish in them which kept intermittently folding over the tiny orifice in the jets - only visible using a jeweller's loup. I have only aerosol carb cleaner (no chemical of ultrasonic bath) and no compressor just a good old blow through puckered lips! Turned out it was not enough to completely budge the problem so I decided to put the jets back onto the bike and run, soak run,soak ......with seafoam in my nice new 98 octane (no ethanol) petrol. For the time being it seems to have slowly dissolved the varnish problem as the bike's running on all 4 cyls up to normal operating temperature in the garage. I'll be trying it on the road later. If the problem re-occurs I'll be resigned to buying a new set of pilot jets to get over the problem completely. Moral to the tale is, don't kid yourself you've properly cleaned pilot jets unless you're 100% sure, and never, ever use fuel that has ethanol in it when the bike was never designed to run on it! All very basic stuff, but, well, it's called learning the hard way.