Replacing head gasket 80 gs850

[520eek]

Also, don't do something dumb like I did and forget to put the base gasket on.LOL[/QUOTE]

OMG...

[Grimly]

That's a good way to wind somebody up - pick up the old base gasket and ask innocently, "Where does this go?"

[520eek]

Hi again! Summer came and went! I now have bike apart in garage! I posted a question about the head gasket in this engine forum.

I have a strange looking head gasket to put back in. It looks like multi layered thin metal and that's it. No "squish bands around the cylinder holes and on the 4 outboard corner there is no "embossed" o-ring or anything...what is this?

[Steve]

It's known as an "MLS" gasket, that's Multi-Layered Steel. It's a good one, enjoy it.

.

[520eek]

It's known as an "MLS" gasket, that's Multi-Layered Steel. It's a good one, enjoy it.

.

So just slap that sucker in there and bolt it up? I am still curious as the outboard corners, on old gasket had what looks like an embossed o-ring in place. The new mls does not. Does oil flow up these studs to someplace? I am looking at cylinder and then head but don't see anything that would be representative of an oil gallery going up the stud holes.

Then there is the sort of oval o-rings one must replace ( I am ) that are located on rear outboard corners. What is that little hole that appears to be an oil feed/drain hole of some type?

[520eek]

IMG_0193.jpgpic of head gasket with "embossed o-rings

[520eek]

IMG_0184.jpg

The "oil galleries?" what is this?

[520eek]

And a start of what is going on with bike...

[520eek]

Okay, Saturday is assembly day at last! I have done some reading here and came up with a few observations and still one nagging question...

1. base cylinder o-rings...some say yes and others say no, I don't think they will do harm to put them in.

2. on the base gasket, apply some gasgacinch or hylamar...both sides?

3. on the pear shaped o-rings use very little (or none at all) sealant

4. with mls gasket there is no need for rectangle o-ring??

5. and with this mls gasket, it goes in dry...no sealants

6. nagging question about mls head gasket....once installed and torqued down, whats to keep oil from leaking out the oil feed stud holes on the initial start and run in after that?

Any thoughts or comments?

[Brendan W]

Some experienced builders never use the base o ring. What do I know , I used them.
The base gasket should not need sealer if it's oem and the surfaces are good. I used a non oem gasket and the surface had a gouge or three from a previous job so I sprayed the gasket with aluminium paint more as insurance than from any great experience of doing these. The previous base gasket was not leaking despite the gouges.
I would not put silicone anywhere near rising oil galleries such as the egg shaped rings at the back corners of the base. Way back I screwed up a top end overusing that stuff at the base joint and run a mile ever since.
I used a non oem headgasket and a tiny amount of threebond the secure the tunnel o ring.
Can't comment on MLS.

[Nessism]

Okay, Saturday is assembly day at last! I have done some reading here and came up with a few observations and still one nagging question...

1. base cylinder o-rings...some say yes and others say no, I don't think they will do harm to put them in. Can't hurt to use them, but I wouldn't wait a week for delivery if you don't have they already

2. on the base gasket, apply some gasgacinch or hylamar...both sides? No need if using an OEM base gasket. That said, it won't hurt either.

3. on the pear shaped o-rings use very little (or none at all) sealant No need or desired.

4. with mls gasket there is no need for rectangle o-ring?? No need. Guys on the Kawasaki KZ site swear by filling the cylinder groove with RTV, which is another of those "can't hurt" things.

5. and with this mls gasket, it goes in dry...no sealants Correct

6. nagging question about mls head gasket....once installed and torqued down, whats to keep oil from leaking out the oil feed stud holes on the initial start and run in after that? MLS gaskets have rubber between the steel layers which help seal. Supposedly, they seal so well the O-rings aren't needed, and real world experience supports this. You just need really clean and smooth gasket surfaces to use MLS properly. If your's aren't, consider getting the head and cylinder skimmed. Unfortunately, this sort of business is not cheap but you gotta do what you gotta do. Either that or stick with a fiber head gasket, which seems a little more fault tolerant.

Any thoughts or comments? Needless to say you should do the valve stem seals as well as the gaskets and consider rings. After running and putting a few heat cycles on the engine it's a good idea to check the valve adjust again and torque the head again. Always back off the head nuts by about 1/8 turn before making them up to tighten. Use a good quality torque wrench too.

See above...

[520eek]

Thanks! I did do valve seals and have new rings ( and circlips) ...on the rings, all I see on the rings is the letter "N" I would think that these go with letter up?

[520eek]

So I have the motor assembled, cams on valves adjusted..... now on to the easy stuff like putting valve cover on ...yup! That went good...and then for the exhaust pipes...now where are those brand new exhaust gaskets? I have searched high and low in the garage and any where else I think they might be...I just can't find them. I even double checked the invoice..yup I ordered them all right and I thought I remember seeing them when I opened the package. Maybe not....sigh, just have to order another set. Any one else get to do this fun exercise of brain drain other than me?

[520eek]

Finally...the day is here! Time to drop the battery in it and start it up...... Well maybe one more little hurdle! It seems that in the re fabrication process of the rear sub frame and solo seat...someone (me) forgot that I would be temporarily using bike battery for initial start and few hundred miles of test ride before sidecar was attached. Once sidecar is on, a car battery goes in the trunk area of sidecar thus eliminating need for bike battery.

So...while I was doing this and that, I now have a welded to the frame, a solo seat support brace that blocks me from putting in the temporary battery...

Back to drawing board....

[520eek]

So I put this critter all together ( with pods and sawed off pipes...) ( not really sawed off...but free flow decorative pipes ) well any way, it ran pretty good with choke all the way on! However, after a 2 mile run it was making more noise from the top end than I remembered. It was a little bit "rattley." I don't recall that noise there before.... It seemed to be coming off the exhaust cam area...evenly on both sides. It was idling fine and responding to throttle input with no load quite nicely. So on a whim I pulled valve cover and really checked things out. Only one valve, ( exhaust #4 was out by one shim..) ( I will adjust it later ). I checked chain tensioner as well. I marked the knurled knob with a small dab of paint for a point of reference. I rechecked it and all seemed well. I double checked my valves, cam caps, chain idler sprocket carrier thingy, even the sprockets on cams. every thing I checked was tight.

So I looked at the factory manual for the tensioner, and did the rotation of motor backwards while holding knurled knob a bit off of tension, then rotate it normally and let tensioner do its thing. I even rotated the motor a few more turns...at one point I observed the paint mark on knurled knob was no longer at the 12 o'clock position ... it was now at 3 o'clock.

My question is...how much noise would this make if tensioner was just a tad bit loose? I guess I will find out soon enough when I put this back together and fire it up. Has anyone else experienced this?