Higher flow petcock?

GoldenMotor.com

Tony01

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Nov 28, 2012
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I have a stock kit style tank with the junky brass petcock. It started giving me flow problems so I gutted it, however it still seems restrictive. When I put a different gas tank with no petcock there is no problem at all. Is there a better petcock that will fit in the threads on these tanks?
 
Jul 5, 2015
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Santa Barbara, CA
I had a similar problem, and i ended up taking the petcock to the hardware store and i found a miniature ball valve with the same threads, but when i went to a different hardware store for another they didn't have it. So just find out the diameter and thread count by using the tool for that purpose at the hardware store, and order it online if you cannot find it. Or there is always using a spring clamp on the fuel line. That works well if you fold over a bit of the line and clamp it. Good luck!
 

Davezilla

New Member
Mar 15, 2014
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San Antonio Texas
Is it the petcock that's faulty or the little screen that screws onto the inside half of the petcock?
That little screen gets clogged up easily and will slow the flow down to a trickle. If you're using an in line fuel filter this screen isn't needed.
The other part of this issue is the tanks the self need to be cleaned out really well before putting fuel in them since the Chinese like to send us gifts of metal shavings, paint chips, shredded newspaper bits, dirt, sand, and who knows what all else inside these tanks. This stuff alone can clog that little plastic screen filter shortly after fuel is introduced, or it can clog a small in line filter, and if you go filter less you'll find this stuff in the carb's float bowl and possibly blocking off the needle and seat valve or the main jet.
The stock petcock will flow plenty good enough if there's no other junk in the tank, but if the tank wasn't cleaned out Good before putting gas in it, it's pretty much guaranteed that little plastic screen filter is stopped up preventing the flow.
With the tank cleaned and that plastic screen removed (we all use in line filters, right?) it'll flow plenty good enough.
 

2door

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
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Littleton, Colorado
We're assuming you have a tank that comes with the Chinese 2 stroke engine kits. The threads are 10mm X 1. It is a machine thread. But, a 1/8" pipe thread will fit although you might have to use some thread sealing product. 1/8" pipe thread valves are available from many sources. Grainger, Tractor Supply, and even some hardware stores.

Increasing the flow through the petcock isn't necessary. If the valve flows a steady stream that will be sufficient unless you have a highly modified engine and run WOT, wide open throttle, all the time. It is a myth that increasing fuel flow from the tank will increase performance.

Look at it this way. If you open the petcock and it flows a steady stream, measure how long it takes to drain your fuel tank. Now put everything back together and go ride your bike. Ride it until the tank is empty. Even if you run WOT the whole time, I guarantee that you'll run longer, much longer, that it took to drain the tank through the petcock.

The engine can only consume so much fuel. The float valve in the carburetor controls how much fuel the engine needs and delivers it. Increasing the flow through the petcock will not increase how much fuel the engine can use.

The kit petcocks can cause problems. They can get restricted which is usually because the in-tank filter gets clogged from trash in the tank. That's why we stress cleaning the tank before installing it. The valve can also malfunction where it will not completely stop the flow of fuel or restrict it. However, if when open it flows a steady stream and shuts the flow off when closed, there's nothing wrong with it.

Tom
 

crassius

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Sep 30, 2012
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it would take about 2 hours at full throttle to empty the standard 1/2gal tank - I doubt if fuel is flowing at all that it would be insufficient to run properly
 

Tony01

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Nov 28, 2012
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My motor is a 150 4-stroke and it eats up the gas pretty quick.. But yeah around an hour to hour of runtime or slightly more. The petcock is gutted, not even a spring inside- it's epoxied shut. In tank screen removed long ago. Inline filter. Tested it all with the stock engine tank (think side of water pump engine) and I don't get the high rpm fuel flow problem. To drain a small amount of fuel takes a good five to ten minutes even with the cap off.

I went to the hardware store after reading the replies but could not find a suitable valve. Instead I found an inline shutoff valve made of plastic that I will try; as for the petcock I'm going to drill it out to 5/32".
 

Slogger

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Sep 8, 2014
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nohio
I got one from SBP that didn't fit quite right, but with some gorilla grunting it tightened down anyway. High quality, it costs about 11 bucks.
My old one wouldn't shut off. I took it apart and saw the rubber part had deteriorated and was disintegrating. I guess the ethanol in the gas ate it.
 

Tony01

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Nov 28, 2012
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You guys were right. I made a mistake. The gutted petcock was leaking so I replaced it with another gutted one, which actually was not gutted but I thought it was, and the little plastic piece/rubber was causing the problem. They both are junk, so I took one and cut off the fuel line nipple, drilled it out to 5/16" and epoxied in a plastic shutoff valve from the hardware store. I could have cut it off at the threads and epoxied the valve to the inside of the threads, but then I would not be able to use a wrench to tighten it to the tank. Here it is- works perfectly!

Thanks for the replies... I may never have gone to the store and may have ordered another junk petcock from ebay had you guys not replied!
 

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