Uggghhhh... bad petcock

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by CZroe

To get it archived as a PDF attachment before his image host changes or we lose it some other way.

Originally Posted by Alex

PDF added to that post.

Thanks again! It seems we did lose his pics over time and the PDF was useful in verifying the issue. I had another petcock failure with zero miles on a “new” petcock produced in late 2011, which would’ve been the last production run for EX250J bikes. It sat 8 years but the entire tank emptied out God-knows when. I can confirm it was set to On, not Prime.

Originally Posted by maverick9611

their is tons of rebuild kits for this defective part.. this thread at beginning said it was couldn't be rebuilt. just trying to clarify.

I don’t think they were available at the time, but whether or not you can rebuild with one depends on your petcock’s mode of failure.

If yours leaks because of a defective Teflon-like ring molded to the inside, it’s not serviceable. If it leaks because of replaceable gasket, seal, or o-ring failure, it likely is serviceable.

It looked like an air bubble molded into mine which filled up with fuel and crumbled to bits when I touched it. I didn’t see the molded ring at all in my replacement petcock so I assumed it was a revision that fixes the issue. Unfortunately, my trust was misplaced: I installed it in 2014 and left the bike sitting with a full tank of Enthanol-free E0 and a whole can of Sea Foam. I finally checked yesterday (8 years!) and found the entire tank had emptied and rusted with zero miles on that late-production petcock. Bone dry. I’m eager to look inside again to see if there is a ring after all. Perhaps is is not molded but, rather, formed from fuel deposits or something… or maybe I just missed it the first time (looking in wrong side?). I honestly don’t remember looking but this thread says I did. Time to edit that into my rebuild thread.

Since this or some other failure is still happening even with petcocks produced for the 2012 year model, I don’t trust any of them from Kawasaki. Is there a 3rd party option?

[DannoXYZ]

Worn-out petcock diaphragm spring has lots to do with this. Have not had any issues with pre-gen or new-gen petcocks after rebuild with K & L rebuild kit. Also ducatiman installs modern ethanol-resistant seals that last longer and seals better from start.

Here's recent petcock thread: https://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=379579