Why would my cam cover gasket blow???

[jimfj]

I was taking an evening ride last night when I felt something stinging my right leg. Looked down and sure enough, my 1100G decided to start ****ing 10-W40 all over my leg. The mile home was done at very low RPMs.

Looked it over and the gasket looks to have broken and a piece slid out ride by the round chrome cover. When running a steady trickle of oil is coming out. I did nothing different than I normally do on startup and everything is torqued down to spec. Gasket is less than a year old after recent valve adjustment.

Not a big deal but kind of surprised me. Maybe the bikes telling me its time for a valve check??

 

[bonanzadave]

Maybe the bikes telling me its time for a valve check??

Or your breather cover / filter / hose is clogged. Probably just a bad gasket. Where did you get it ?

 

[ronnie]

Same thing happened to me last week, I was going to ask about the rubber half moon end plugs. Mine is leaking at the crome cover as well.

 

[koolaid_kid]

Mine did this to me on last year's Fennimore run. Nothing like being surrounded by fellow Zuk enthusiasts and having your bike pee on your leg.
I had used a non-OEM gasket (Vesrah?) and it just disintegrated. I patched it up with Permatex to make it home, replaced it with an OEM gasket, and no problems since. I have since purchased more OEM gaskets to replace it if needed. But my Frogg Toggs that I was wearing at the time will always bear the scars.

 

[posplayr]

I have started using a fine flat file to go over the mating surfaces of my engine covers. You have to be careful with scraping gaskets off of the soft aluminum. I think the surfaces can get crowned (like a road) and the gaskets just squeeze out. I had this happen on a Cometic valve cover gasket (brand new) right at the front of the cam chain tunnel on my 24 bolt valve cover. There is a bolt hole right where the gasket broke. The gasket broke and squeezed into the motor so it was not engine or oil pressure that caused the problem. It was the pressure of the valve cover coming down on an uneven rounded surface.

Mine was pi$$ing oil for 500 mils while I was doing nearly triple diggits to get home from 3rd annual Weatern States GSR.

I've done
stator cover and mating,
pan gasket and mating,
valve cover but do not do the head . The cam towers are bolted to the same surface level as the gasket surface.
Also filed down the oil filter cover to get more pressure on the o-ring in the groove.

If you are careful and use a smooth file and keep it clean a little oil helps you ncan get what appears like a machined smooth surface. If it is dry and gums up it will actually gouge the surface.

Just remembered I also just did my anti-dive mounts that were leaking

 

[Turtleface]

I have started using a fine flat file to go over the mating surfaces of my engine covers. You have to be careful with scraping gaskets off of the soft aluminum. I think the surfaces can get crowned (like a road) and the gaskets just squeeze out. I had this happen on a Cometic valve cover gasket (brand new) right at the front of the cam chain tunnel on my 24 bolt valve cover. There is a bolt hole right where the gasket broke. The gasket broke and squeezed into the motor so it was not engine or oil pressure that caused the problem. It was the pressure of the valve cover coming down on an uneven rounded surface.

Mine was pi$$ing oil for 500 mils while I was doing nearly triple diggits to get home from 3rd annual Weatern States GSR.

I've done
stator cover and mating,
pan gasket and mating,
valve cover but do not do the head . The cam towers are bolted to the same surface level as the gasket surface.
Also filed down the oil filter cover to get more pressure on the o-ring in the groove.

If you are careful and use a smooth file and keep it clean a little oil helps you ncan get what appears like a machined smooth surface. If it is dry and gums up it will actually gouge the surface.

Just remembered I also just did my anti-dive mounts that were leaking

I'm not good enough with a file, so I use a straight razor blade, held perpendicular to the surface, and use VERY light pressure to slowly scrape the crown off. It's very important to not gouge the aluminum, with either method. I think Pos has it right, my valve cover gasket mating surfaces were pretty crowned the first time I did it, but my stator cover and clutch cover were pretty flat from the get go. I think I'm the first person to have pull either cover.

Oh, buy one of those huge blocks of shop rags, and shove the entire thing into the top end of your engine before you start scraping. Shop vac the rags off before you pull them out of the valvetrain area, and that should stop any shavings from getting into the motor. I'd probably watch the oil after such an endeavor anyways, and change it the instant it starts to turn dark, just in case.

For the record, I had seeping from my valve cover gasket since I had bought the bike, even with a gasket change during my very first valve adjustment. On the second gasket, I did the scrapping, seepage gone!