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mark
Guest
Hope it works out for you. Then on to the carbs, eh?
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Hope it works out for you. Then on to the carbs, eh?
7
79-GS550-L
Guest
Yeah. All I wanted to do was the carbs! But I figured I should balance them, and before balancing I should do valve clearances... so that's how the mess started.
I got a reply from realgaskets... they said I should be using the rg-gs550-2 gasket, not the -1, as the -2 is thinner. But the -2 is listed for '82 engines and the -1 is listed for '78-'82. Maybe I've got 82 heads on my 79 engine? I dunno, still trying to figure this one out. Realgaskets sent me the -2 gasket, which I will try out.
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t3rmin
Guest
Many, many people have used RealGaskets with mechanical tach drives, myself included. This is a fluke or a product of the wrong part number (as you mentioned), but RealGaskets are not incompatible with mechanical tach gears...
Glad you're making progress!
Glad you're making progress!
The problem as I understand it is with engines that have the tach driven gear in the cover - thus, extra gasket thickness will reduce the gear contact area.
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t3rmin
Guest
Yeah, I know. Didn't have a problem with it on my 650 with the gear in the cover. Real positive engagement still, as far as I could tell. Don't most of the GSs have the gear in the cover? And how many of us are using RealGaskets? I can't think the two are incompatible, seeing as this is the first time I've ever heard this come up...
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79-GS550-L
Guest
How thick is the gasket for your 650? It appears to me that there is an error on the realgaskets site, so it lists the thicker one as being compatible with the driven-gear-in-the-cover bikes instead of the thinner one (at least just for the GS550). Now that I have my homemade thin one on, it's working great. Realgaskets shipped me their thin one today, so in a few days I will test it out and let you all know how it works. I really think it will work just fine.
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t3rmin
Guest
I think I was a little ambiguous earlier. I agree that it's totally possible a drastically over-thick gasket (in this case due to an error on their part) could cause trouble.
I just didn't want people to get the wrong idea from this thread that RealGaskets are not compatible with mechanical tach gears on the valve cover. RealGaskets are a great product and a great company to do business with, and provided you end up with the right one, you shouldn't have any trouble.
Incidentally, though, the one they sent me for my 650 was at least 3 times thicker than the stock paper gasket. Seems like with the angle and cut of those gears you'd have a bit of leeway... Plus the silicone compresses a bit.
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mikebadar.j
Guest
I have a 1982 GS850 GZ that had a severe oil leak between the valve cover and the head. I tried several fixes:
1. OEM gasket;
2. Loctite 518;
3. RTV black.
None of them worked. I installed a valve cover gasket from "realgaskets" and the leaks were sealed. The tachometer drive/driven gears are located in the head. The added clearance between the head and the valve cover after installing the gasket from "realgaskets" did not affect the operation of the tachometer. Maybe the problem of "mangled" tach. gears was the result of using "realgaskets" gasket on a 4 valve engine. Did anyone contact someone at Realgaskets about the problem? My experience with "realgaskets" is nothing but 100% satisfaction; although I have the 2 valve engine.
Mike
Louisville, CO
1. OEM gasket;
2. Loctite 518;
3. RTV black.
None of them worked. I installed a valve cover gasket from "realgaskets" and the leaks were sealed. The tachometer drive/driven gears are located in the head. The added clearance between the head and the valve cover after installing the gasket from "realgaskets" did not affect the operation of the tachometer. Maybe the problem of "mangled" tach. gears was the result of using "realgaskets" gasket on a 4 valve engine. Did anyone contact someone at Realgaskets about the problem? My experience with "realgaskets" is nothing but 100% satisfaction; although I have the 2 valve engine.
Mike
Louisville, CO
7
79-GS550-L
Guest
I did contact them, looks like there's some confusion about which gasket is the right one for this engine, but they've sent me a new (thinner) one, should be here in a day or two. I'll post more when I've had a chance to test it out.
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79-GS550-L
Guest
Ok I received the RG-GS550-2 today and installed it. It is .06" as opposed to the .08" or .09" one I got before (those numbers are from memory, I hope they're right). The new one is the same thickness as the one I cut before. I installed it and ran it around the block, the tach worked fine. I don't think I have any leaks but it is hard to tell as it was raining and the engine was already greasy.
So bottom line, realgaskets work fine on a gs550 but you might want to give realgaskets a call to make sure you get the appropriate one for your engine.
So bottom line, realgaskets work fine on a gs550 but you might want to give realgaskets a call to make sure you get the appropriate one for your engine.
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ShirleySerious
Guest
I'm having the same problem. I just got a new RealGasket for my '78 GS550 and now my tach is reading way lower than it should. I took out the gear and it looks OK; no chips, gouges or anything broken. Earlier today, though, it was making kind of a clicking noise. When I took it out tonight, the clicking was gone, but the tach still gave a bad reading.
I took off the cable and started up the bike. The notch seems to be spinning fine (although 'fine' is relative as I've never seen it operate with the cable off before). It's a brand new cable, so I can most likely rule that out as the culprit.
I took off the cable and started up the bike. The notch seems to be spinning fine (although 'fine' is relative as I've never seen it operate with the cable off before). It's a brand new cable, so I can most likely rule that out as the culprit.
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Planecrazy
Guest
Josh, I'm glad I saw this thread tonight. I suspect you have the thicker (and wrong) gasket because yours looked very thick to me. I didn't think too much about it because I didn't know that there was more than one choice for the bike. I would STRONGLY suggest that you NOT run the engine until you've contacted Realgaskets and verified that you have the thinner of the two gaskets ... I'm willing to bet that you have the thicker one, and you DON'T want to damage those gears if they haven't already been damaged! Make sure you tell them what's happening with the clicking and bad tach display - since they just heard the same story and sent a replacement to our fearless thread author, you shouldn't have any trouble getting them to do the same for you.
This would definitely seem to explain your "coincidental" tach problems. Let me know how it goes.
Regards,
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ShirleySerious
Guest
I emailed Harold at RealGaskets to see if he knows anything about it. I'm awaiting his response. In the meantime, I'm itching to get back on the bike, so I came up with a novel idea so I can can ride without damaging any gears.
I cut my old broken tach cable and took off the part that screws on to the head of the valve cover. Then I gave it a thorough cleaning and sealed the end of it up with Form-a-gasket so oil won't leak out. I removed the tach gear and put the newly fashioned part on. I'm still waiting for the stuff to dry, so I might be getting ahead of myself. Hopefully this will work until I can figure out what the problem is. The downside, of course, is that the tach won't be functional, but that's not much of a problem, since I don't need to adjust the idle or anything, and I've seen bikes without tachs before.
I cut my old broken tach cable and took off the part that screws on to the head of the valve cover. Then I gave it a thorough cleaning and sealed the end of it up with Form-a-gasket so oil won't leak out. I removed the tach gear and put the newly fashioned part on. I'm still waiting for the stuff to dry, so I might be getting ahead of myself. Hopefully this will work until I can figure out what the problem is. The downside, of course, is that the tach won't be functional, but that's not much of a problem, since I don't need to adjust the idle or anything, and I've seen bikes without tachs before.
7
79-GS550-L
Guest
You can also just remove the spiral gear and reattach the cable - the tach won't work but it will be oil-tight, and you don't need to seal up anything else.
You should take the valve cover off and inspect the splines on the exhaust camshaft (the raised edges that the spiral gear engages with). For me, and at least one other person, the splines were damaged but the spiral gear was still perfect. I think the spiral gear is made of a harder metal than the camshaft for some reason. If there is any damage to the camshaft, make sure you remove all slivers of metal, and sand down any sharp ridges with 200 grit sandpaper folded over a few times. It takes quite a while but it is necessary.
You should take the valve cover off and inspect the splines on the exhaust camshaft (the raised edges that the spiral gear engages with). For me, and at least one other person, the splines were damaged but the spiral gear was still perfect. I think the spiral gear is made of a harder metal than the camshaft for some reason. If there is any damage to the camshaft, make sure you remove all slivers of metal, and sand down any sharp ridges with 200 grit sandpaper folded over a few times. It takes quite a while but it is necessary.
83 GS1100E mangled Tach Gear
83 GS1100E mangled Tach Gear
The PO pleaded ignorance, but from the thickness of the gasket I suspect that he knew he did it after having changed pulled the valve cover. If the gasket is too thick then the tach gear will skip across and eventually tear up the exhaust cam.
I have Cometic 24 bolt valve covers for the 1100E and it even is labled 0.047" (and measures out as well).
I also have a Athena full gasket set for the 81 GS750E and it mikes out almost exactly the same.
Poor design, bt we have to deal with it. a full 1/8 inch is 0.125" 3 three time as much thickness??? Wow that could really be a problem.
While in search of cams, I have now commited to new Webcams, APE springs, New spare head, new tach gear, new tach gear housing, with new followers as well as an overhead cam valve spring compressor(If I add it all up it is close to $1K and the whole bike only cost $1300).......whew all because of a cheap cam cover gasket. Be forewarned.
Posplayr
83 GS1100E mangled Tach Gear
The PO pleaded ignorance, but from the thickness of the gasket I suspect that he knew he did it after having changed pulled the valve cover. If the gasket is too thick then the tach gear will skip across and eventually tear up the exhaust cam.
I have Cometic 24 bolt valve covers for the 1100E and it even is labled 0.047" (and measures out as well).
I also have a Athena full gasket set for the 81 GS750E and it mikes out almost exactly the same.
Poor design, bt we have to deal with it. a full 1/8 inch is 0.125" 3 three time as much thickness??? Wow that could really be a problem.
While in search of cams, I have now commited to new Webcams, APE springs, New spare head, new tach gear, new tach gear housing, with new followers as well as an overhead cam valve spring compressor(If I add it all up it is close to $1K and the whole bike only cost $1300).......whew all because of a cheap cam cover gasket. Be forewarned.
Posplayr
C
catbed
Guest
you say you tightened it down more and it started leaking oil. check your valve cover for cracks. i tightened mine down too much with a real gasket and it cracked the valve cover. got it fixed though.
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