Oil leak behind chrome cam cover!!!

[Mr. Sinister]

Did you get new half-moons, too?

Put a THIN film of sealer on the curved part of the half-moons, set them in place. Use WD-40, engine oil, a THIN film of grease, whatever you want, on the valve cover gasket before installing it, it will come out SO much easier next time.

Oh, by the way, the chrome covers are best removed and/or installed when the valve cover is off the bike.

.

I did, yes. That's what I meant by end caps. I might have gotten away with just putting the one back in place, but for $15 for all 4, why not just replace them. What would you recommend for sealer? Is black RTV ok?
Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it!!

[Mr. Sinister]

Steve, you beat me again

I appreciate it nonetheless!!

[Crankthat]

I used the black RTV.
Was suggested to me after I got it all put back together I read a post on my thread.
That the best way would be to install half moons with RTV only on round part of half moons and tighten down cover without gasket till rtv set up,then go back the next day and do gasket.
I had already put gasket on and cleaned up so I did not do, but it makes a lot of sense as will help gasket retain flat surface for next time.
One of those things I will try to remember.

[Mr. Sinister]

Did the job today. Pretty simple, aside from the petrified valve cover gasket. I must have spent 45 minutes scraping old gasket.
The new gasket must be a universal, because 2 bolt holes were off. I notched the gasket to make it work. It should be fine. It's a NOS Suzuki part, so I don't know what the deal is.
The inside of this motor is spotless. The cam chain is nice and tight, and the cam lobes looked brand new.
All the valves are still within spec as well, and pretty uniform across the board (right around .05 - .06). I can only guess this bike didn't see a lot of high rpm operation.

[pete]

Glad to hear everything is good!

As for your valve cover gasket, somewhere between the 81 and 82 model years Suzuki changed the bolt pattern from 12 to 15 bolts, so there's actually two different part numbers for the gasket depending on engine number.

[Steve]

... He told me the valves will get noisy when they're out of adjustment, and mine sounds really good.

Time to find a new "mechanic".

Anybody that knows these bikes will tell you that valve clearances only tighten up with use, meaning that the engine will get QUIETER.

"Sounding really good" is actually going to involve a bit of noise.

.

[Mr. Sinister]

Pete: They were all in the right spot, save for two in the front.

Steve: He's no mechanic, just my brother in law. I'm my own mechanic.

[Steve]

Well, I guess it's a good thing he's not your mechanic, with advise like that.

[Mr. Sinister]

The valves did check out, so you know. This thing really is in amazing shape for a 31 year old bike.

[pete]

Clarification on the valve cover gasket difference...

'82 model (part #11173-44112):



You can see at the front the extra bolt on the left side of the very front, and compared with the earlier cover, the two bolts at the front are spaced further apart.

'80 model (part #11173-44102-H17):



Not sure exactly when they changed but there's definitely a correct gasket for both types... not saying what you've done won't work as it obviously is, just giving you a heads up to make it easier next time

[Mr. Sinister]

I would bet mid-81 they changed it.
Yep, I definitely got the 82 part number. It does work, and doesn't leak, but I would have preferred to get the right part the first time. It was listed as the correct number for 81 with the company I ordered it from, so chances are they didn't know the difference. Thanks for the clarification!!

[pete]

Yeah good chance for sure! Those little details like that can be easy to miss... and it's the same with the clutch pushrod oil seal. They changed that as well somewhere around that time and the earlier one has a flange to stop it popping out whereas the later one has no flange but a bolt on retainer to hold it in instead... and a two piece clutch pushrod which makes getting it in/out that much easier.