1982 GS550L Cylinder Head Gasket

[Guest]

Im going to be pulling the head to replace a leaking head gasket. Is there anything I should know before I do it? I have a factory service manual.

Also since I am pulling the head should I go the extra steps and pull the jugs and replace the base gasket? How hard is it to get the pistons back in the cylinders? is there a tool I should have?

My head gasket is leaking between 2 and 3, I took the bike for a quick spin around the block after rebuilding carbs and I have a constant drip from the head gasket while running.

I ordered all the gaskets and orings to rebuild the engine, so ill have everything I need that way.

I am going to disassemble the top end today, atleast the head.

Im used to rebuilding single cylinder engines, not 4 cylinder. The bike has good compression 150psi across the board so I'm not going to complain, if I do pull the cylinder should I at least hone the jugs?

[eil]

I'm not an expert in this area, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

Also since I am pulling the head should I go the extra steps and pull the jugs and replace the base gasket? How hard is it to get the pistons back in the cylinders? is there a tool I should have?

Yes, replace the base gasket as well. It is likely that you'll knock the cylinders loose when taking off the head and if so, the base gasket will never seal properly again.

There are piston ring compressors. Some people use large pipe clamps. Others use their fingers and a lot of patience.

The bike has good compression 150psi across the board so I'm not going to complain, if I do pull the cylinder should I at least hone the jugs

There was a long thread on this recently. Some people say yes, some people say no. I think I'm in the no camp. If you have great compression and aren't replacing any rings, the parts are already worn together as well as they're ever going to be. Honing the cylinders resets that and means you need to break them in again, causing needless additional wearing of the cylinders and rings.

I've read that a top-end rebuild is a good time to replace the valve seals.

[cowboyup3371]

Im going to be pulling the head to replace a leaking head gasket. Is there anything I should know before I do it? I have a factory service manual.

Also since I am pulling the head should I go the extra steps and pull the jugs and replace the base gasket? How hard is it to get the pistons back in the cylinders? is there a tool I should have?

My head gasket is leaking between 2 and 3, I took the bike for a quick spin around the block after rebuilding carbs and I have a constant drip from the head gasket while running.

I ordered all the gaskets and orings to rebuild the engine, so ill have everything I need that way.

I am going to disassemble the top end today, atleast the head.

Im used to rebuilding single cylinder engines, not 4 cylinder. The bike has good compression 150psi across the board so I'm not going to complain, if I do pull the cylinder should I at least hone the jugs?

Yes you'll need to replace the base gasket. I sure hope you bought OEM gaskets as many folks experienced severe leaks with the Vesrah and the others. From my experience of replacing my top end gaskets, you really need to follow the service manual and measure everything. You'll want to lap your valves (I put a guide showing how on Basscliff's site - http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff). Putting pistons isn't hard but ensure you take it slow and easy (I tore my first base gasket because I rushed it). If you want to see what I did, I detailed my steps in my 550T rebuild thread (link in my sig).

[williampkerr]

How hard is it to get the pistons back in the cylinders? is there a tool I should have?

The bike has good compression 150psi across the board so I'm not going to complain, if I do pull the cylinder should I at least hone the jugs?

I recently overhauled the top end of my 850. This was a first time effort for me. I used two 3" hose clamps as ring compressors and it was fairly easy. I started a thread recently "To hone or not to hone". The consensus was to hone. A light honing with the same rings is what I just completed last weekend, along with a valve job and new gaskets and seals (don't forget the valve seals). The valve job took my valve clearance out of spec. I think I lapped them a little too much. Now I'm waiting on new shims

[curtie94]

I just pulled the cylinders and the jugs seem to still have some cross hatching, but there is some scuffing at the bottom of the cylinders, Ill give the cylinders a light hone and see how they look.

The scuffing doesn't seem bad.

I did get new valve seals too, Ill have to lap the valves in as well.

[curtie94]

Should I get the head checked to make sure it is not warped?

[curtie94]

Also does anyone have a diagram our knows where all if the o rings go?

Of course when I pulled out apart I didn't pay much attention.

[curtie94]

I got the cylinder back on, actually went better then I thought, didn't break a ring.

Now I'm looking for valve shims, does anyone know if Suzuki dealers keep the 29.5mm shims on hand? I checked the honda dealer on Saturday and they had the small shims but not big ones.

How do these valves come out of adjustment? I'm about 2 sizes to big on one valve and the rest are good. I used s washer and figured out what size I needed, I need a 2.60mm.

[cowboyup3371]

Check out the shim club found under GS Services or PM Ghostgs1.

[eil]

The valve clearances comes out of adjustment by the valves wearing into the seats.

Some suzuki dealers may have a selection of shims on hand that you can buy or trade for, many do not. To have them ordered, OEM shims are fairly expensive, upward of $15 if I recall.

There's the shim club as cowboyup pointed out.

Another option is aftermarket shims from Z1 Enterprises, they run around $6 a pop. Additionally, Z1 is good people.