2010 ninja 250 gas in crank case & wont start after tipping over in garage

[Motoxr27]

Alright guys I’m new here and this forum has really helped me learn a lot since I’ve had this bike so I’m gonna give y’all a try to help me get to the bottom of my latest issue, I got a 2010 ninja 250 that had been sitting for about a year and it was in pieces well long story short I was able to get it to run after cleaning the carbs (off the bike) and finally took it for a quick test ride and it all seemed ok so I was about to change the oil & run some Seafoam through it when it tipped over in my garage and when I picked it up I noticed it had leaked a tremendous amount of gas onto the floor and I just thought it was from the fall and because I had my pet Cock in PRI position well now it won’t start, upon further inspection I noticed the air box was full of gas and so was my crankcase so I drained all the oil and it was full of gas I mean alot like more gas than oil, so I changed the filter and added new oil cleaned up the air box and fuel mess and removed the plugs so the engine wouldn’t hydro lock when I tried to start it…well it won’t start, brand new fully charged battery, clean gas, freshly cleaned carbs & tried with petcock in on & also pri position and it just turns over and over but won’t fire??? I’m desperate because I don’t know if it’s something stuck in the carbs after I just cleaned them? Or possibly something stopping it from firing? I am going to change the oil again because it had so much fuel in it, my question is did the engine fill with gas because I had it in PRI when I rode it & when it fell over? And if so why won’t it fire after I’ve fixed that? What would make the problem starting continue? I thought the floats were sticking and flooding because of all the fuel leaking but when I took the plugs out the were dry which you’d think if the carbs were flooded the plugs would be wet? Idk I’m scared to keep cranking it after all that fuel was in the engine because I don’t want to bend a rod and I’m dreading removing the carbs again but I’m not sure how else it would be happening if not carb related? I’m worried it’s possibly something ignition related from when it fell over but it was a very slight thing it just tipped over and I picked it up 10 seconds later and now it’s nuts how I can’t get it to start, help!!!

[Triple Jim]

Welcome to the board, Mike! It doesn't seem unusual that a motorcycle lying on its side with the petcock set to "prime" could fill the engine with fuel. You did the right thing to change the oil and crank it with the plugs out.

Now find out if the problem is fuel or spark by removing one or both plugs, and while still connected, lay it/them on something on the engine to ground it/them, crank, and see if you see sparks.

Report back and we'll go from there.

[DannoXYZ]

The leaking fuel goes out past float-valves and drips down intake-tract and through intake valves. It's a slow dribble, so won't even make it on spark-plugs. Which is higher than lowest-edge of intake-valves

[Motoxr27]

Hi triple Jim and thank you for the reply, here’s an update on the bike, first off this bike has a mind of its own and seems to do whatever tf it wants lol, that being said it’s been a battle but I’m relentless and you are correct I drained the tank and oil and opened the plugs and started from scratch and it’s no longer leaking fuel and no more fuel in the oil, however I have some other issues with it first of all the bike has always been a nightmare to start and I’ve had to abuse the starter for months now as I was diagnosing the entire thing not starting well now that the carbs are clean and I’ve gotten it to start I’ve had some problems with it starting consistently and I’ve had to use carb spray into the air box to get it to start and I had issues with it stalling immediately and revving idle up and down, so I narrowed it down to some type of vacuum leak and it’s a California model 250 so I capped off the clean air line into the carburetor “t” and it’s running much better and starting easier but still is inconsistent with the idle so I plan on doing a carb rebuild because I think the float needle isn’t seating correctly and I think I’m losing vacuum at the o-rings and gasket and intake clamps so the reason I have told all of this is I have a couple of concerns now at this point and I mentioned that I have abused the starter over this process from multiple times trying to crank it to having to jump the solenoid relay with a screwdriver and having to tap it with a hammer to get it to engage the flywheel so I figured it was just hung up from sitting and would get better after the engine ran for awhile and I ran some Seafoam through it but no no matter what I have to tap the starter to start the bike, even with a full charge new battery it don’t like to engage and it sounds like it’s struggling to connect to the flywheel, like a slow grrrr, grrrr, grrrr like the sound a starter makes with a low battery? However it’s not battery related and I’d rather not replace the starter because they are quite expensive but I may need to because of what happened once I got it running decent enough to ride a few miles finally, I came back and let it idle for about 45 minutes and let some Seafoam run through the carbs and engine & shut it off…the next day I started it and again had to tap the starter and as soon as it was running I heard what sounded like an internal engine grinding noise (not good) then it stopped, then I revved the engine a few times and it was gone, then I heard it again about a minute later and it stopped, so I was almost panicked enough to shut it off and rip the engine apart but I pushed my luck and let it run carefully revving it several more times and it didn’t do it again and then I rode the bike twice and both times tapped the starter as it went grrr grrr grrr before it starts, I heard a grind and it appears that it is gone so this is my question to you, what could break that got inside the engine then go away??? I think the abused starter is on its last legs and apparently broke a tooth off the pinion gear or the flywheel and got ground up and luckily dissipated itself possibly? What do you think? Would the starter still possibly work if it had a broken drive gear? And if it seems to have dissipated after the first few moments should I be concerned with it being something else internally? The bike ran decent and shifted smooth and there’s no visible metal shavings in my oil so I’m just wondering if you have any thoughts about that? I also have no headlights and can’t seem to locate any headlight relay to replace? Part number possibly? Also my rear blinkers come on but don’t blink so Idk if that’s related to the headlight’s not working I have replaced the fuses and checked for ground issues & broken wires but haven’t found anything yet I think I heard something about the headlight relay or more than one relays or there being another fuse somewhere for the headlight but I can’t locate it any ideas are appreciated thanks again for your help and your time I appreciate it very much.

[Motoxr27]

Thanks DannoXyz for your input and advice about this issue and any additional questions you may have related to my new issue