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head gasket leak

  • Thread starter Thread starter shibby_cbs
  • Start date Start date
S

shibby_cbs

Guest
just replaced the head gasket and base gasket on the bike and the head gasket is now leaking in the front right corner...i torqued all bolts to speck when i installed it. im gonna go in and try and tighten the bolts to see if that helps but if its tightend to spec shouldnt it not leak...i was also very careful to follow the tightening pttern when tightening the bolts...what else could be the problem?

imag0017f.jpg
 
Did you retorque after the initial build and what brand of gaskets did you use? Also, when the head and cylinder were off did you verify the surfaces were flat and smooth?
 
Nessism said:
Did you retorque after the initial build and what brand of gaskets did you use? Also, when the head and cylinder were off did you verify the surfaces were flat and smooth?
Click to expand...

i only torqued once...i used motor gasket by athena...got the gasket kit at partsnmore.com as recommended by steve...as far as verifying that the surfaces were flat and smooth i took a razor to both surfaces to make sure all remaining gasket material was removed...it looked really good to me
 
i guess the question is what should i do next...im at a loss
 
Athena gaskets suck, particularly the base gasket - the gaskets crush down and clamp load in the studs drops off. I recommend that you retorque the head nuts. Nothing to loose at this point. If that doesn't work, you are going to have to replace the gaskets again, only this time have a machine shop verify the head and cylinder surfaces are flat to within the service manual spec (.008" I think), and get OE gaskets and seals.
 
Nessism said:
Athena gaskets suck, particularly the base gasket - the gaskets crush down and clamp load in the studs drops off. I recommend that you retorque the head nuts. Nothing to loose at this point. If that doesn't work, you are going to have to replace the gaskets again, only this time have a machine shop verify the head and cylinder surfaces are flat to within the service manual spec (.008" I think), and get OE gaskets and seals.
Click to expand...

ugh....alright thanks
 
STOCK Suzuki gaskets don't give problems!!! Vesrah, Athena, & even some Cometics are nothing but PROBLEMS!!!! Stick to Suzuki gaskets to be leak free! Ray.
 
rapidray said:
STOCK Suzuki gaskets don't give problems!!! Vesrah, Athena, & even some Cometics are nothing but PROBLEMS!!!! Stick to Suzuki gaskets to be leak free! Ray.
Click to expand...

wheres the best place to get these?
 
suzuki dealer ;)

to check if the head gasket surfaces are flat you just need a piece of thickish glass... then see if any light comes through. you may need a feeler guage to measue any gaps you see.

always use suzuki base gaskets come hell or high water. they are so much better quality than ANYTHING else available.
 
shibby_cbs said:
just replaced the head gasket and base gasket on the bike and the head gasket is now leaking in the front right corner...i torqued all bolts to speck when i installed it. im gonna go in and try and tighten the bolts to see if that helps but if its tightend to spec shouldnt it not leak...i was also very careful to follow the tightening pttern when tightening the bolts...what else could be the problem?

imag0017f.jpg
Click to expand...

Did your head gasket have washers for the four corner studs? If it did, did you install them? If they are still in bag, disassemble and replace, you may still be able to salvage head gasket. If this doesn't work, OEM Suzuki gasket may be best bet. I forgot the corner washers once, leaked like a sieve.
 
waterman said:
Did your head gasket have washers for the four corner studs? If it did, did you install them? If they are still in bag, disassemble and replace, you may still be able to salvage head gasket. If this doesn't work, OEM Suzuki gasket may be best bet. I forgot the corner washers once, leaked like a sieve.
Click to expand...

corner washers huh?....cant say i really know what the heck you are talkin about. but when i get home i will be sure to see what i got left in the bag...if anybody has pictures or anything to help me out that would be great...also had somethin on my mind that i have been thinking/worrying about...with my gasket kit came two o-rings in the shape of an egg. it looked to me as if they would go somewhere around the two what looked like oil ports/jets near cylander 1 and cylander 4 on the cases...but the clymer manual made no mention of them and i didnt see any on there when i first took the bike apart and didnt really even see where they could go...just wonderin if any of you guys know what they may be for
 
Those egg shaped O-rings are REQUIRED, and you are sure to have a leak if you didn't install them. They fit in a recess area on the crankcase, inside a cutout in the base gasket. The recess is around the outboard rear cylinder studs - where the oil travels up to the cylinder head. Regarding the corner seals, I doubt your head gasket uses those. Many of the newer head gaskets have those seals built in, instead of using separate pieces.
 
Nessism said:
Those egg shaped O-rings are REQUIRED, and you are sure to have a leak if you didn't install them. They fit in a recess area on the crankcase, inside a cutout in the base gasket. The recess is around the outboard rear cylinder studs - where the oil travels up to the cylinder head. Regarding the corner seals, I doubt your head gasket uses those. Many of the newer head gaskets have those seals built in, instead of using separate pieces.
Click to expand...

thats what i figured...weird that there wasnt any orings installed when i took apart the bike before and i know for a fact there isnt even any holes in the gasket for them...the gasket just lays over top of the ports...whats goin on here...was i supposed to cut them out myself...im confused/concernd

and as far as the corner seals go im pretty sure the gasket had em built in
 
Nessism said:
Those egg shaped O-rings are REQUIRED, and you are sure to have a leak if you didn't install them. They fit in a recess area on the crankcase, inside a cutout in the base gasket. The recess is around the outboard rear cylinder studs - where the oil travels up to the cylinder head. Regarding the corner seals, I doubt your head gasket uses those. Many of the newer head gaskets have those seals built in, instead of using separate pieces.
Click to expand...
My Vesrah head gasket didn't have them built in and the ones they provided were wrong. I scrounged around in my shop until I found some copper crush washers and o-rings that fit and they've been working so far. The oil leak on mine came from using the sorry cam cover gasket out of the Vesrah kit, I replaced that with one from Real Gaskets and my engine's been leak free ever since. It only took me close to three years to get the Real Gasket and get rid of the annoying oil leak, but I did that when I did the valve shims this last time.
 
well it seems that in the entire city of columbus there is not one suzuki dealer...i guess my next option is the web....sigh...i really wanted to have this thing done by friday for the hour trip back to my home town...its lookin less and less likely
 
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