Hi all I'm a newbie with a newbie dumb question. I put my trike ( 1985 tri_z 250 shaft)up last week 1/4 tank of gas...I came to move it and the tank was emptied into my air filter box. I cleaned that out, put alittle more gas in tank and it just kept spitting from the carb (air filter hole) I took off carb checked float- blew through gas line with float down( air flow working) blew through while raising float (no airflow) so the float shutoff "system" seems to be working. Then, at the bottom of my air filter box theres a line running into my motor it was leaking something ( what is that line what does it do?) I took the line off and black gas came out, alot of it. I dont know much about trikes as of yet , hoping for alittle direction from guys who actually know what their doing.

 

Sounds like you have a crank case full of fuel to me..... do a full oil change. Protect the innards. If you run it with Fuel in the Crank Case, you will definitely not have good results.

This is just my first impression given the original post - could have other issues instead or as well.

 

Thank you for taking the time to reply Terrellster. After I do an Oil change..what would I then be looking for if it happens again? At first thought I guess-ta-mated it was that the float process isnt working and it just letting the gas run out past "full" in the carb. Heres another stupid question why would the crank case fill up with gas? If my Brother-in-law and I had wheely contests all day one day would that fill a crank case with fuel? It sounds silly but i really have no idea why or how that could happen. How do I check to see if a float is compromised? I was able to tell the "process" of an elevated float shutting the gas flow off was indeed working...idk what to do.

 

I guess I'll add:
just throwing these ideas out there-
I have absolutely no experience with your bike- but, many needle valves are spring loaded like in the photo below- that "nipple" on the left end of the needle actually presses in- it is possible that that "nipple" is stuck in effecting your float level.

also- some carbs have a small rubber oring up in the hole where the needle sits (if your needle is all metal) so the metal needle sits snug against the aluminum carb to shut the fuel flow off- if you used compressed air and blew out the fuel line from the tank side, passing the air through the line and out the carb where the needle sits- you might've blown out that rubber oring preventing the needle from shutting of the fuel flow... this is a very common mistake that people do when cleaning out their carbs and all of a sudden the carb floods out.

Also- make sure the float level is correct using a feeler gauge- adjust by bending the float tab-

Also, make sure the float can move freely up & down- if that all looks good, it is possible the carb is cracked near the needle valve allowing fuel to come in (I've seen that before also)-

also- a blocked gas cap vent can cause carb flooding- when the outside air temp rises and creates pressure in the tank- the tank vent allows the pressure to equalize- if it can't vent properly, the tank pressure will force the fuel into the carb flooding it out.





the oring is very small- about 3-4 mm.






Some airboxes have lines under them to drain any fluids that get in there- Also some engines have hoses connecting the crankcase to the airbox which allows the crank to vent through the airbox and burning it through the engine-
if your carb flooded out, then gas could've gone down that line into your crankcase-
but crankcase breathers (the ones I've seen) usually are not located on the bottom of the air box, usually up a little higher like the one below... so





the black gas is probably just dirty gas-


I don't know if any of this will help- good luck!

 

Beergut gave good advice.

The Fuel in the crankcase is possible, depending on a couple of things. 1) location of the carb related to the cylinder. 2) Venting configuration.

If the carb is higher than the cylinder, and it floods due to whatever problem, the fuel will leak down into the cylinder and past the rings into the crank case.... It's thin and will allow excessive wear on the cylinder walls when cranking also. This possibility will be exacerbated with broken rings or worn out rings and cylinder wall damage from dirt and just plain ol' wear.

The venting configuration shown above by Beergut is a very good explanation on that subject.

I went back and read the original post and it says that the fuel is coming from the carb "DRAIN" line, somehow..... that's an entirely unlikely situation for filling the crank case with fuel.... it's supposed to drain to the atmosphere/ground if it leaks, and should be used to drain the fuel from the carburetor bowl for long term storage (of course, controlled and into a receiving vessel of some sort, not on the ground). The fuel petcock is supposed to be turned off for that operation also. Generally the fuel supply hose should be disconnected and then the petcock opened and drained into a container of some sort also. But I bet msot folks don't do that....

 

that's right! - I forgot to mention that as well- and I've seen that happen to a lot of zero turn "stand on" mowers where the tank is mounted high on the bars- land scapers leave the unit in the sun with a blocked cap vent- it forces the gas right through the regulator into the carb and right into the cylinder where it then settles / drains into the crank-