How to winterize when a head gasket is done??

[Johnny K]

I have an 82 GS850 with 20K on it. I replaced the intake boots as well as the o-rings. I had a very small pinhole leak on the left side of the engine next to the spark plug. Well when I wanted to check all four nuts to see if there was oil there I must have tightned them too tight causing smoke when put all back together off the top of the engine and can't figure out where its coming from. Smells kinda like wires/rubber. Not gas or anything. Anyways how am I suppose to winterize when ive got a blown head and possible valve gasket??????

[robertbarr]

I had a very small pinhole leak on the left side of the engine next to the spark plug.

I'm confused... it's leaking oil through the head?? Cam cover gasket, maybe?

Well when I wanted to check all four nuts to see if there was oil there

Umm, which four nuts? Could you be a little more specific?

I must have tightned them too tight causing smoke when put all back together off the top of the engine and can't figure out where its coming from.

Smells kinda like wires/rubber. Not gas or anything.

It's leaking oil through the head, and it smells like burning rubber??

Anyways how am I suppose to winterize when ive got a blown head and possible valve gasket??????

I don't think winterization is a serious concern, relatively speaking. You can see why we're having problems deciphering this question!

Your overall winter procedure is a matter of personal preference, since people argue for months, if not decades, about Sta-bil vs. emptying the tank, etcetera, but it sounds like there's plenty of oil in your combustion chambers so that rust isn't a concern.

It sounds likely that you're going into the engine, so I guess let us know what you find. It's also possible that there's nothing at all wrong with the head, and your cam cover leaks. I don't know. I've read your message about ten times and I still can't make any further sense of it....

Good luck.

[Johnny K]

There are 2 crome nut caps next to the spark plugs that I thought were leaking inwards towards the engine. I took all four off because I didn't know where the oil pin hole bubble leak was coming from that was in the crevice towards the engine of the left chrome nut to the left side of the spark plug, as well as the second plug from left to right. In that area. Well when I re-tightened all 4 chrome nuts, and then put everything back together, it started up nice and then 5 min into it, there was like a over-heating smoke smell coming from the top of the engine underneath the gas tank. I took the gas tank off and tried to figure out where it was coming from. From the coils to the top of the frame was too hot to touch from 10 min. I can't figure out where the smoke is coming from. There is a leak that is going down my front engine and cannot figure where that is coming from, just like the second spark plug area and where that leak is coming from. The smoke and heat never happened before I replaced the intake boots and chrome nuts in the pic I have....

[Johnny K]

Pic of left side of bolt...

Pic of left side of bolt...

[Johnny K]

Pic of 2nd plug area...

Pic of 2nd plug area...

[chef1366]

Fill the tank up. Disconnect the fuel line and vacuum line off the petcock. Plug the vacuum line. Run the bike till it stalls to empty float bowls. Put stabilizer in the fuel tank and remove. Tear down engine and replace head gasket and base gaset. Rings and valve job if necessary.

[Johnny K]

Ok. I already have the tank off and basically engine stalled because I was wondering where the smoke was coming from and ran the engine till it stalled. Today I was kinda heading towards that decision as I'm a newb, but have many resources (you guys). As a heads up should I order the valve, head and base gasket? What else should I look for to ordering if maybe it needs it??? Thanks...

[robertbarr]

As a heads up should I order the valve, head and base gasket? What else should I look for to ordering if maybe it needs it??? Thanks...

Yes. It looks like there's an escape path between the combustion chamber and the stud hole. Odd -- I don't recall ever seeing that before.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to measure your valve clearances now, since you're pulling the cams anyhow, and you can order your shims too.

[SkeletonLake]

My suggestion is to put the tank back on and do a compression test. If you don't know how to get a knowledgeable friend and either buy or rent a guage before tearing apart the engine. You should have some decent tools, a Haynes or Clymer manual and honestly assess your mechanical skills before you start. A compression test will tell you whether or not to tear it down. The service range is 128-170 psi, you don't want to see much below 110. The good news is these engines are very reliable if the oil has been changed on even a somewhat regular basis.

[jpaul]

Check around on pricing, but in my experiance, once you start talking about base, head, and valve cover gaskets, it's more cost effective to buy a complete gasket kit. At least that was the case for me with the 16 valve engines. If that's the case for you, plan on replacing the valve stems while you have the engine apart. They will be included in a good quality gasket set.

[Big T]

So, the consensus is:

1. Compression test
2. Adjust valves
3. Compression test again
4. Post your results

That is a strange area to have a leak in. Did it start after you replaced the chrome nuts? Did you use a torque wrench? Are the copper washers in place?

[jpaul]

After reading through this again, I realized which nuts you're talking about. Those are for the head. If you loosen any of those, you should loosen all of the head nuts and bolts, then re-tighten them in the proper sequence, to the proper torque settings. Over tightening any of them, or having any of them significantly different than the rest could cause a leak at the head gasket.

[Johnny K]

Yeah, it is the weirdest thing to see smoke and fumes like if you were to look at the top of a grill and see the fumes. When I had the tank off and ran the engine, that is exactly what it looked like. However, there was oil in the front on the fins. Around the valve and head gasket, there was no leak as to what I could see. Yeah, the acorn chrome nuts where the only 4 nuts I unbolted and then when I realized that oil wouldn't come out of there, put them back on. The down side is that I do not have a torque wrench. My fault yeah, but even so should the engine smoke like that??? Tomorrow (Friday) I am going to simple green + power wash + simple green + power wash a couple of times to get it so there is no oil leak whatsoever and then put the tank on and start it up. Since I did put new intake boots and o-rings, and then started the engine before all this happened, it sort of made a little high pitch hum noise from the intake/carb area?? Not a bad noise, but different now that I have new boots and o-rings. Any suggestions?????

[Johnny K]

Very relieved....

Friday morning I was determined to see about the smoke problem and all. So I "simple green+power wash" around 4 times and then dried everything so that if oil leaked, i would know where it was coming from. Put the tank back on and fired it up. After usually smoke from pipe from simple green burned off, i let it idle for 10 min just watching to see if serious signs of smoke, nothing!! I was so excited that i took it for a ride. Before this I had put on new intake boots and o-rings and let me tell you that the bog I had before when i went to romp on the throttle or go past 5RPM, was gone and it pulled like a brand new bike all the way up to 7 and 8RPM with no hesitation at all!! I didn't do it all the time, but wanted to make sure and that was the problem. But I do need a valve and head gasket as it is a minor leak, but not a big deal considering I thought my bike was in serious trouble the other day. I am going to probably need a clutch too since it is slipping a tad. I would appreciate it if there are links to get some gasket sets as well as a clutch that people have bought from before and had good results???? Thanks again guys.

[bwringer]

Z1 has the best prices on gasket kits:

http://z1enterprises.com

IIRC, it's about $68 for the Vesrah kit -- very high quality. $99 anywhere else, like Dennis Kirk or CRC2. Don't waste your time and money on the crappy Athena or no-name kits you might find on eBay.

All your clutch needs is new OEM clutch springs -- maybe $15 total from BikeBandit. The springs seem to sag after 20 years under pressure.

http://bikebandit.com

You do NOT need heavy-duty clutch springs -- just new ones. And you don't need new clutch disks -- they last darn near forever.

You'll get a clutch cover gasket in the Vesrah set, or you can get one from BikeBandit when you order the springs.