Wet sumping?

[prmurat]

With some leaks under the T500 and some of the Kawies, I was wondering if the oil injections lines to cylinders etc can leak oil the same way a 4 strokes with separated oil tank does aka wet sumping? On almost the same subject is there a petcock for a T500 only manual wth no depression/automatic cut off?
Philippe

[H2RICK]

Yes, Philippe, I've experienced this with my 550....even in as good a condition as it is.
Stored over the winter (at LEAST 5 months), wet sumping has occurred if I've stored the bike with a FULL tank of injector oil. Filling the tank before storage is a natural thing to preclude moisture/humidity from the void airspace if the tank is only partially full, although this is less of a problem on a bike with a plastic tank as opposed to a metal tank.
The hydrostatic pressure head caused by the full tank is enough to force the oil through/around the normal tolerances in the pump and then into the lines/crank chambers.
Solution ?? Store the bike with the injector oil level somewhere near to the sight "window" and put some plastic film on the filler neck and THEN screw on the cap. This will keep any humidity out of the air space above the oil and the lower oil level seems to lessen the hydrostatic pressure enough to prevent wet sumping.
Leave yourself a BIG note taped to the ignition switch to remind you to fill the injector tank in the spring BEFORE the first startup. I've done this procedure for the last 5 years and it seems to have cured MY wet sumping problem.
If YOU, however, are experiencing wet sumping on a quicker basis e.g. in a month or less of standing, then your pump is maybe worn worse than it should be.
A bodge that MIGHT work would be to block the tank vent so that only a small amount of oil could drain into the sump before a vacuum is formed in the tank to hold the remainder of the oil from escaping. I have NOT tried this myself so you would want to do your own due diligence on this.
IF/IF you try this method, DO NOT FORGET to attach a note to the ignition switch or the handlebars to remind yourself to remove the tank vent "bodge/seal" BEFORE the next startup !!!!

Sorry but I can't help you with the petcock thing. I'm no T500 guru, that's for sure.