Electric petcock replacement options.

[bigbikerrick]

Hello Folks, the wires going into the bottom of the electronic petcock on my 98 EV have damage to the insulation, right where they enter the bottom of the unit. I see that MG cycle is currently out of stock of the replacement with the round knob on the bottom. Are there any other good petcock options to fit my bike with the electric fuel pump mounted externally?  Also the fuel line that attaches to the petcock has seen better days, where can I find some appropriate hose to fit? Is it a special hose, or can it be replaced with normal fuel line?
I rode my new to me EV from Tucson down to my home "on the border" yesterday, 130 miles of interstate mixed with some nice curvy 2 lane roads. These old Tonti bikes are still impressive.... Even after coming off of a Griso, for the last couple years!
Thanks alot,
Rick.

[pehayes]

damage to the insulation, right where they enter the bottom of the unit.

Common.  From the factory those wires made a 180 degree bend and were zip tied to the body of the electromagnet.  Lots of stress to the outer curve.  Unless the wire filaments are broken, I would just bodge it and keep it in place.  Any good hardware store should have something like liquid electrical tape.  Thick black goop in a bottle for use in places where a roll of tape isn't practical.  I'd just liberally do several coats of that stuff on your wire junction and ride on.

As for the fuel hose:  There is no pressure here.  Simple gravity drain from the petcock to the pump.  Pressure develops after the pump so the downstream hoses are always more suspect.  If anything, there is suction not pressure in the petcock supply hose.  The clamped end of the hose can get quite gnarly and cracked from repeated removals.  I think the original also has a stainless braided covering.  Not sure why since it is not a pressure line.  Just for abrasion protection I guess.  Even the minuscule gravity feed pressure head goes away when the petcock closes.

As to the downstream hoses,  I had strange and identical failures on both of our EVs.  Apparently, the hoses used during engine assembly came from a different stock spool than the hoses used during frame assembly.  The material composition and quality was vastly different even though they seemed to be identical hoses.  The engine and frame were assembled in different parts of the factory or perhaps even in separate contract factories.  Anyway, the frame related hoses (pump and general distribution to and from the tank) were perfectly fine.  The engine related hoses (involving the splitter and fuel injectors) were full of cracks and eventually split wide open to spray fuel all over the engine.  Other users have reported a more general, widespread  hose failure.  So, look into the center of the engine area.  Spot a round aluminum "Y" splitter fitting.  It is just a simple splitter that takes pressurized fuel delivery and splits it to feed the two fuel injectors.  Those last three short pieces (one feeding the splitter and two from the splitter to the injectors) are typically the worst and most prone to cracking.  Yours may have already been changed at this age.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

https://www.stein-dinse.biz/product_info.php?products_id=20899

[bigbikerrick]

Thank you, Pat,and Charlie. I have never ordered from Stein Dinse, are they pretty easy to deal with?  I will be sure to check and probably replace all the high pressure fuel hoses under the tank. Thanks for the heads up on that, Pat.  Is that manual petcock the only alternative for this bike? I have read about some of them being leakers, from the inner O rings swelling. Is there an alternative with a conventional lever to turn it off, as opposed to the round knob?
Thanks
Rick.

[guzzisteve]

I just got one from MG cycle, they are Stein Dinse USA.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Thank you, Pat,and Charlie. I have never ordered from Stein Dinse, are they pretty easy to deal with?  I will be sure to check and probably replace all the high pressure fuel hoses under the tank. Thanks for the heads up on that, Pat.  Is that manual petcock the only alternative for this bike? I have read about some of them being leakers, from the inner O rings swelling. Is there an alternative with a conventional lever to turn it off, as opposed to the round knob?
Thanks
Rick.

Stein-Dinse is super easy to deal with. Pay with Paypal, ships quick. Last shipment from them arrived in three days!

Never had that manual petcock leak, but I've installed three of them. I don't know of any made-to-fit alternative. 

[lucky phil]

https://www.stein-dinse.biz/product_info.php?products_id=20899

Yes, great designs let down by a poor choice of seal material. The Nitrile seals swell and jam the tap so you need pliers to operate them after a fairly short time. In some circumstances this results in the tap body cracking as its less than 1mm wall thickness. Here's the answer to having a nicely working tap for ever, Viton/FKM seals. Means it's now rebuildable too.

https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?/topic/21761-manual-fuel-tap-issues/

Ciao

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Maybe Pingel could supply something. http://www.pingelonline.com/prodcat/fuel-valves.asp

[bigbikerrick]

Thanks Guys, I appreciate all the information.
Rick