Exhaust Leak

[Ethanw]

Hi, I'm fairly new to the motorcycle scene and working on them so I'm asking for a bit of guidance so to speak on my 1980 GS850. I bought it last year in the hopes for creating a cafe racer looking ride, but unfortunately its been too cold over the winter and i just haven't touched it until today. I fired it up and after sitting for a while I noticed an exhaust leak near where the engine and the exhaust meet. Like I said I'm new to all this so I was hoping that someone could give me a bit of guidance. Do I need to take the head off to get the exhaust off? Is it just a gasket I should replace? Thanks in advance!

 

[Who Dat?]

No need to remove the head, just the entire exhaust system.

Do yourself and your bike a favor. Start by spraying some penetrating oil on the fasteners. Wait a few hours, spray some more. Repeat for several days before putting a wrench to the hardware. (Keep in mind that WD-40 is NOT a penetrating oil, unless you get their new specific penetrating oil formula.) When you are spraying fasteners, don't forget the crossover box under the engine.

To remove the exhaust, start with pipes 2 and 3, loosen the clamps on the crossover and the head, remove those pipes. If your leak is at one of them, you are almost done, but if your leak is on 1 or 4, continue by loosening the crossover's rear clamps and remove the crossover. Loosen the head clamps for 1 and 4, then remove the rear mounting bolts and remove the pipes.

Before you put stuff back together, remove the old gaskets from the head. Look carefully, old gaskets look like part of the head. Then need to be prised out with a screwdriver. Install the new gaskets, hang the outer pipes loosely, then install the crossover, then the inner pipes. Tighten all the fasteners gently, starting at the head. When all parts are in alignment, torque them all to spec.

 

[Guest]

You can remove the exhaust without removing too much else. There is a gasket between each exhaust pipe and the head; that could be deformed, or possibly he bolts are not tightened all the way. Ideally you would torque them with a torque wrench to the factory prescribed value. If that doesn't fix it, take off the pipe(s) and have a look inside. I have read that using 2 gaskets instead of one can help if you are having difficulty getting a seal. **A word of warning, exhaust bolts are notorious for shearing off in the head, if you decide to remove them, plan on taking a few days to do it. Spray some wd-40 or pb blaster around the bolts, tap them gently with a hammer many times. This will help break the bond between the two pieces. Do that several times a day. Take a propane torch and heat up the head of each bolt, then allow it to cool, repeat several times. Combining those two techniques, and a good amount of time, they should come out easily**

Edit: WhoDat?, beat me to the punch!

 

[tkent02]

they should come out easily**

Unless they break off even more easily. If you do get them out, DO NOT put the old crappy bolts back in. Use new hardware, anti-sieze, and go easy on the torque.
A lot of us like to use studs and nuts rather than bolts.

 

[wymple]

You can feel an exhaust leak. Fire it up with the engine cold and immediately get a hand passing around all joints to feel the leak. If you can hear it, it should be obvious and easy. You'll have quite a few seconds of time before things get hot enough to burn your little pinkies. If no luck, let it go cold and try again.