How to part the cylinder head from the cylinders - stuck gasket - 1980 gs550e

[tkent02]

Run it in the dark and look under there for sparks. When the spark plug wires get old this can happen. It's easy to fix depending on where on the wire it's bad.

[ukjules]

I just ran it up in the dark and no visible sparks looking underneath,
I will however seriously sort the wiring under the tank tomorrow and tighten the coil
to ht leads etc. (I did put on 2 new ht leads a while a few months ago.

It is almost like it is coming from inside the tank.

Ill run test tomorrow and start with the wiring , coils, ht leads
and remove the tank and run my long fuel and vacumm pipes to bike and see what the result is.

Before my engine build i tried to sort thjis but could not.
Not movin the ticking is still present.
Ear on the tank and its runs with the revs .. almost sort of speeds up to a maximum and stays there.
Could it be fuel in some way ? vacuum ? im flummoxed.

[tkent02]

OK, I have had the little cover over the fuel filler cap make a rattling noise if it's missing the little rubber bits. That's not your noise is it?

[ukjules]

I am sure it is not. It sounds electrical like a spark plug shorting.
I will forensically check all tomorrow though. Got to balance the carbs so will
do yet another 1/2 day on the bike.

Other than this ticking it is transformed. the ticking however was present in the other
totally different tuned engine.

I dont think its external vibration. ie filler cap.
read somewhere someone saying the petcock could make this noise ?

[jsandidge]

Could be a leak in the exhaust where it fits to the head. I also heard a ticking once when I had an external tank fitted and forgot to plug the vacuum on the carb for the petcock.

[ukjules]

Question:
I have just removed the tank checked the compression , just synced the carbs, set the timing again.
Running very smooth - best ever. It sounds like other bikes i envied at the traffic light - ticking over smoothly now.

ticking noise:

I took the tank off and listened around the engine, frame , things rattling -nothing.
Remeber we could discount the timing chain, valves, ...... as I had heard the noise on my other engine.

I then thoiught - shall i listen to the tank - remember the tank is off 1meter away from the bike
on a firm stand.
the ticking is coming from the tank !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HOW Help ?
One more thing - if i disconnected the vacuum pipe (i use a long 1m one when off the bike)
the ticking stops.

Help me - how on earth is this happening. The ticking is like lightly tapping on the tank with a screwdriver?

[Chris G]

Does it make this noise if the tank filler is open, could it be a issue with the breather in the filler cap making this noise.

[ukjules]

Ill start a new thread for this topic - think its important ! as it is an odd one

[Crank]

Sounds like the diaphragm inside the fuel tap that is pulsing when the bike is idling.

That's why it stops when you disconnect the vacuum hose.

If you increase the revs I bet it will go away as the diaphragm will constantly be open.

[Chris G]

Sounds like the diaphragm inside the fuel tap that is pulsing when the bike is idling.

That's why it stops when you disconnect the vacuum hose.

If you increase the revs I bet it will go away as the diaphragm will constantly be open.

that was going to be my next suggestion, if the breather in the filler was ok

[ukjules]

I have ordered a new kit to sort the petcock. Will advise on here if it works.
how can it not as my one is falling to bits ....
It is not the normal thing to consider mind when you think the tapping noise is identical to
engine noise. I could barely belive it when i put my ear to the tank a meter away from the bike
and the tapping was still coming from the tank.

This thread started with a sledgehammer attack on my bike (yes madness - i have paid for that) and has finished with the bike as per picture
in a wonderful cruise in the UK, somerset countryside. It took me about 2 weeks, 2 second hand heads and
a second hand barrel. Countless fixes only made possible with your help.
My bike is back.
It goes like a new bike now (bar the ticking in the tank).

I have other questions to ask related to this top end rebuild but as they are of interest
I will put them in a new thread so easily searched for.

My bike is eternally grateful to you guys - and this site.

P.S the cheap gasket set test:

As you remeber i bought the cheapest gasket set (athena) i could find. £40 for a full top end set.
I cleaned the surfaces to perfection (the single most important thing) and not a single leak.
My old engine leaked like a seive.
SO dont knock cheap gasket sets (athena are good) --- if you prepare the surfaces perfectly.
I wont need to spend triple on a oem set again for sure.

Method: paint thinner to soften and clean, razor blade at 80degs - very carefully, a £2 dremel brass brush but
put in a normal battery elec drill - clans the surfaces in a tenth of the time and no damage at all.

[Fjbj40]

You have to wait to comment on the Athena quality, they will probably let you down!

[tkent02]

SO dont knock cheap gasket sets (athena are good) --- if you prepare the surfaces perfectly.
I wont need to spend triple on a oem set again for sure.

Some leak in a week. Some leak in a month. Never heard of an Athena base gasket lasting a year, but there's a first time for everything, I suppose.

[ukjules]

Ill be honest i was surprised with the quality but of course that is only superficial
I have never seen my bike without a leak so im stunned at the look of my bike and overcome
that it is going again.

Ill re torque my head in a hundred miles or so so it will have the best possible chance.

So over the years if i don't mention gaskets assume it is ok - youll know when its gone as
the sledge hammer will come out again to part the cylinder head as I have forgotten there are 13 bolts to remove - i think.

p.s compression test stats:
please let this be ok .....

Dry 108 108 108 132
Cy1 Cy2 Cy3 Cy4
Wet 117 120 120 142

the bottom line is that will last the summer !!!
No smoking, power all the way up the revs, wonderful sounding, perfect idle, i can now acually overtake cars
easily due to the power.

[gs11ezrydr]

I have found that the gaskets seem to be stuck, not saying they were not, when it is really the dowel pins rusted and seized, Spray PB blaster or something similar in those pin areas, Just a thought, I use green 3M rollocks for gasket removal. If you have not see them most auto body places carry them in different colors green seems to work the best on aluminum and does not remove much material (I'm sure if you ask the right place they will know of the product) they are made of a kind of hard plastic yet flexible with a lot of bristles coming off the end of them. Shame you destroyed a head though. I have heard a ticking noise from fuel injected models when the fuel got low and the return line shot fuel up against the top of the tank, But you got a strange situation here it seems.