TOPIC:

1983 Kawasaki Spectre KZ550 - TK Carbs. I have had it up and running for a few days and have noticed a small amount (5-10 drops) of gas leaking from two holes in the bottom of the left side of the airbox in the morning. Also results in gas smell in the garage. I have looked at a few new and used airboxes for this bike on ebay and they have screws in the two holes in the airbox. My guess is that one or more of the floats in the carbs are not completely stopping the flow of gas from the 4 carbs and that one or more is overflowing gas slowly into the airbox overnight and leaking out the two holes on the left side as the bike in tilted left when using the kickstand. Has anyone else had this problem or could someone identify the exact part on the attached photo from the Kawasaki Service Manual of the carburetor parts to look at to stop the leak - thanks in advance for your reply

Hello NDSpectre

Inspect needle valve and needle seat surface for wear or punch marks.
The spring in the valve needle has to be moving free and not stuck in there.
Otherwise you will loose pressure on the tang of the float
Rust or other particles can block the needle valve in the seat and let the fuel flow over the float bowl high
Check float bowl high and correct the high with the tang on the float.
Some members here build a bench to do this accurate.
Have you check your petcock is working correct?



Michael

I would start with part #19 O-ring. If that is bad no matter if the float needle (#21) and seat #20 are good, it will leak and act like the float valve/seat is bad.

And as Scirocco has stated your petcock is not shutting off and is allowing fuel to pass when the engine if off.