petcock leak

[nation]

Hi all, Its 30F. in my barn and I decided to treat the gas in my new 66 dream (about a 1/2 gal) with marine stabil and run it through the carb. then run the carb dry for the winter. I tried to start it for a while and realized I hadn't turned the petcock on. finally got her running and noticed the petcock was wet with fuel. is it possible I blew the seals in the petcock trying to start it with the petcock off?
Anyway I ran it for a while after adding the stabilizer and shut the petcock until the motor stopped. started it again and ran carb out of fuel.petcock is still seeping fuel a bit and I hadn't noticed the petcock wet like this before. any harm in leaving til spring? Nation

[OldTwinRuns]

It's the big hunky OEM petcock, right ? When I bought mine, the tank was dry. Same deal probably. You could put an "evap" rag under it and forget about it for the winter. Or....
I Bought the rebuild kit, took it apart. Cleaned up the parts. Figured out someone replaced one of the JIS screws with a standard metric. Luckily, it was a short screw and didn't mess up the threads in the tank.
Long story short, if you are going to fix it, take the tank off for ease of access. If you put all rubber parts back in, don't put ethanol gas in it. It swells the rubber, and makes it almost too tight to operate. I ended up doing it three times. Ended up using the cork seat (which doesn't really fit well w/out modifying). It's a can-o-worms. I almost bought the aftermarket adapter kit (not cheap !),but dug in cause the bike is all original.

[casamere]

All depends how much of a leak you have. Can you identify where it is coming from? The bowl,tap,or where it seals to the tank.
Without knowing the history of your petcock it's hard to say. Have you used a service kit already or is it original.
I wouldn't say running it dry has done any damage I have done that with taking the bike out for a run and forgetting to turn the fuel on.
If I was leaving it till spring I would drain the tank then you know you are safe as you still need to drain it when the time comes to remove it and service it.

[nation]

thanks guys

[casamere]

If you buy a petcock service kit get the one that has the 3 small sealing washers for the screws, it's surprising how much fuel can seep down the threads of they are a slack fit.

[nation]

ok, and the kit with cork gasket right? really slow seepage. I've had the bike like 2 weeks. it had just a little gas when I brought it home. petcock was dry when I got it. I swear it began leaking when I tried to start when it was really cold. should have just left alone til I got a warm day. really slow seepage.dripping off lever slow. I would imagine this drips down fuel line back into carb as well? Jim