[univerSe]

hello guys,

at saturday i did some work in my garage, where my crf450r02 stands. of course i started my bike one time so hear and feal it once more.
when i finished my work in the garage, i putted it back to place, where my bike uses to sleep, and i forgot to close the petcock. unfortunatly i also didn´t put the bike in a exact horizontal position, it stood a little bit weird.
at monday i wanted to check something and i saw that a lot of gas run of the air filter box. i cleaned everything and i discoverd, that the pitcock was still open. then i wanted to start my crf, kicked the kickstarter once (-> nothing), wanted to kick it twice --> it stuck, couldn´t kick it any more. then i checked the gear and so on and finally i got the idea to check the oil. so i wanted to open the oil screw and it splashes me in the face. it seems to me, that a lot of gas was in the oil-enclosure. i opened the screw beneath to let all the oil out. i didn´t dare to touch the kickstarter one more time... the bike stands still in the garage as discribed.
what should i do next? i am very worried about that very stupid thing that happened to me. the kickstarter really worries me ... it doesn´t move any more!
i think i´m gonna take the tank off to take the spark plug off and to check the cylinder from the top visually. then i thought, i put new oil in, put some oil in the hole for the spark plug and try to push the bike in a gear, with great hope the cylinder has no piston seizure.
i would really be happy if anyone could tell me some good news ...

p.s. i hope u understand my "bad" english.

[nedirtbikr]

p.s. i hope u understand my "bad" english.

Don't worry about THAT! Your "bad" English is a thousand times better than my "good" German!

Sometimes it's the simple things so please don't be offended if state a couple of obvious checks.

Are you absolutely sure the bike is in neutral when you try kicking it? If so, continue...

- Put in fresh oil (a little oil in the cyclinder is fine.)
- Remove your crank cover
- Put bike in neutral (rear wheel off the ground)
- Try turning the motor by hand. This will help determine if it's seized or not. If you can't turn the motor by hand....remove hankerchief from pocket and begin crying.

- If motor does turn...jump for joy!
- When you're tired out from that, try removing the kick starter or at least checking to make sure it's just not in a quirky "stuck" position. You may have broken something in the kickstart linkage.

Wishing you luck! I hope it works out for you. I am sure you will get some more recommendations. I am no mechanic...just giving you some options based on what I would start with.

[univerSe]

thanks for the first reply. i´m tryin my best with the english thing.

remove crank cover: i think u mean the right side, yes? should i be ably to turn it by hand without a tool? i will see the shaft of the waterpump, won´t i? out of that little hole comes some cooling liquid, and i already read some things about repairing that thing, but that´s another story..
at the moment, the kickstarter really can´t be kicked down. i´m hoping all the time, that it only stucks (or stucked, i didn´t touch it one more time, cause was afraid of everything!), because of that much oil-gas-fluid. maybe it´s really just a hope.

i know, i shouldn´t expect the worst things and i must think positivly, but i MUST ask this question: what´s the worst case?!

i´m going to bed now, still crying mentally

[nedirtbikr]

remove crank cover: i think u mean the right side, yes? should i be ably to turn it by hand without a tool? i will see the shaft of the waterpump, won´t i? out of that little hole comes some cooling liquid, and i already read some things about repairing that thing, but that´s another story..

but i MUST ask this question: what´s the worst case?

I have an '06 so I'm going by what I know on that year bike. I'm hoping the '03 is similar. Have you ever checked/adjusted your own valves? Check out the below link. It is the 'How to" on valve checks on the 450R.
http://crfsonly.com/howto/450r/valve-ch ... -check.php

Step number 9 will show a picture of what I'm talking about. You will need an allen wrench and a leverage bar of some kind to "turn" the motor. That "How to" is a real good place to start on your situation. Remove your gas tank and remove your spark plug. I wouldn't worry just yet about all the other steps associated with checking your valves until you've determined whether you have a seized piston or not. If you can turn the motor by hand, it's a very good bet your piston is fine. Move on to troubleshooting the kick starter and the linkages associated with it. Do, however, go back and check/adjust the valves (if needed.)

If you can't turn the motor by hand, things might be a bit bleak. You'll definitely want to really tear into the motor or take it to a dealer if you can't do it. You could be looking at some dark, expensive days.

That little hole that is dripping liquid is the least of your worries at this point. That is the weep hole and tells you that you need a new seal (cheap and easy to do yourself.) I do recommend repairing at your earliest chance however, again, you have bigger fish to fry right now.

[mustang]

sounds hydro locked to me ....have you pulled the plug to see if the cylinder is full of gas , if it is leave the plug out and you should be able to kick it over , and gas will come out of the plug hole like a super soaker (water gun) same thing happens when you turn your bike into a submarine , only it's water not gas
good luck and keep us posted

[Dust Devil]

sounds hydro locked to me ....have you pulled the plug to see if the cylinder is full of gas , if it is leave the plug out and you should be able to kick it over , and gas will come out of the plug hole like a super soaker (water gun) same thing happens when you turn your bike into a submarine , only it's water not gas
good luck and keep us posted

Thats what my first thought was, but how in the world it happened was beyond me.

[124]

I also agree on the hydrolock theory. But, leaving your petcock open should not hydrolock the engine.

Follow Mustang's recommendation to pull the plug and turn the engine over. Protect yourself while you are doing this. Even pulling the plug may cause a release in pressure. Be careful.

The first of the "things to check" is a bad main needle and seat. This will cause float bowl to keep overfilling as you described when the petcock is left open. The gas you saw leaking out came from the overflow tubes on the side of the carb. It also must have drained into the head causing your hydrolock scenario.

Let us know...

[univerSe]

good evening community-members.

i am writing with great feeling of happieness
this evening i removed the spark plug (no fountain of gas, everything looked dry, spark plug porbably a lil´ bit wet), put in some new oil and open the crank cover as recommended. with an allen wrench i tried to turn the motor, and it turned
at the weekend i will check the motor with a friend that has also a crf of 2k2 and has a lot more of experience!

thank u very much for your animating posts and helpings i´ll keep on reading in this forum, i promise!!

after the weekend i will let u know how it started and so on... good night!

[124]

This issue may keep happening if you don't fix that main needle and seat! Also called the "float valve set"...

[univerSe]

yes, thanx for that advise.. we´re gonna do that at saturday or monday. i already thought that this can´t be normal, that the hole thing is flooded by gas if someone forgets to close the petcock. i can hardly imagine that i was the first person who forgot to close it..
i´ll post my experiences next week.
one more time: thank u all!

[nedirtbikr]

Good to hear. Congrats!

[univerSe]

hi everybody,
finally my crf runs again at the weekend i changed all oils (repaired also the thing with the weep hole.
now i have some more question..
should i change the motor oil once again? i´m thinking of the gas-filled oil tank ... to "wash" everything out, i should change the oil one more time, don´t i?
the thing with the filled gas makes me a little bit worrie. there must be something wrong, i think.. what should i check, that this doesn´t happens to me any more? u told me to check "bad main needle and seat". that´s the needle at the bottom of the carburettor (sorry, don´t know the right expression, i looked in an online dictionary). how will i do that??

[124]

Changing your oil is never a bad thing...

The main needle and seat (also called the "float valve set") is #3 (needle) and #4 (seat) in the pic below.
When these go bad (and they do), the carb will "overflow" when the petcock is left open.

[univerSe]

good evening everybody,

yesterday i checked the main needle and seat, everything looked good. but what i did is bending the little piece of metal which "controls" if the main needle closes the valve. now the valve should close a little bit earlier.
i reassembled everything and after some kicking it started. but now i have to think about testing if the gas-thing happens again. i thought i will demount the back part of the bike so that i can see the backside of the carburetor, then i´m gonna open the petcook and will see/wait if something gas will appear in the caburetor. maybe u have some other idea of how i can test the float??

i some really good sites with big pictures of the carburetor but i don´t know, if i am allowed to post links in here?!

[mustang]

if you bent that little tab to close the needle sooner you will have screwed up your float hieght and you may find the beast starving for fuel under a good load with lots of throttle , I would personally go back and reset the float hieght to the correct spec . you probably only had a pc. of dirt get under the needle the one time and it flooded everything with gas . GO BACK AND RESET THE FLOAT HIEGHT TO CORRECT SPECS OR YOU"LL BE SORRY !