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One more mystery oil leak

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eric Peterson
  • Start date Start date
E

Eric Peterson

Guest
Like many GS riders (apparently) I've got a slow oil leak from the upper regions of my '82 750TZ: left side (from astride the bike) oozing down to the bottom of engine; some oil on tensioner, but higher than that too. Adding a dash of oil once/twice a week with daily riding. From other posts I'm guessing head gasket. Since this is a good time of year for me to beat my head against the garage wall and tear the engine apart (never done this before!), and as long as I'm in there, what else would y'all suggest replacing--my Clymer is short on details at this point in my TZ's "maintenance cycle"?
 
If your bike is running well, make sure its the head gasket that is the problem before you replace it. If you pull the head, you'll almost certainly have to pull the block as well and replace that old gasket. There are a few other gaskets and O-rings to replace.

The most difficult part of the job in my experience is cleaning the old gasket material off the head and block and getting a clean surface to put the new gaskets on with. If you do take on the job, plan on taking a good chunk of time for that.

And then of course once you get the block off you'll probably figure that you might as well replace the rings and hone it, measuring your cam chain to make sure its within spec......then maybe freshen up the valves.............:)........once you get in there its hard to get out.

Its big fun if you like working on your bike. But make sure its the head gasket that's the problem first.

Fun though. In the middle of the job myself.
 
Go slow!!

Go slow!!

I'd strongly suggest you very carefully figure out where your leak is originating. It may be nothing more than the valve cover gasket (or, more likely, the half-moons)...which is an easy fix and, while you're there, you can adjust your valves. Sometimes, things are truly bad, but don't assume the worse, until you've figured out the source.8-[
 
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clean up the motor. then dust gasket areas with baby powder. ride around block check for wet spot. if there is no wet sport rid a few times till you find one.
 
gremlin said:
clean up the motor. then dust gasket areas with baby powder. ride around block check for wet spot. if there is no wet sport rid a few times till you find one.
Click to expand...
There's a joke in there somewhere!
 
Groan......

If you do decide to tear into the motor, get yerself a factory service manual and read that section over first. It'll save you a lot of headaches and will tell you specifically if you'll need special tools, etc. Better diagrams, too.

It sounds like a valve cover gasket to me. It could even be as simple as a hole in your vent tube, but if you're venting that much oil you're in for a rebuild anyway. Never done the baby powder thing, don't usually have that stuff lying around, but it should work.

Sounds about like the time my buddy plugged a hole in the radiator of his Bronco with a tampon......he had a fun time explaining why he had a tampon in the first place......and no, he doesn't own a shotgun. (you gun fanatics will understand that last statement.)
 
I appreciate all the input...I'd read about the baby powder thing in other oil leak posts. Sounds like fun, but how do you get the diaper on? I just can't see where those little tabs go! With HS and college age kids around the house now, I'll have some 'splainin' to do when I head out to the garage with my new bottle of powder!
 
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