Cam Cover gasket leak

[GS750GUY]

Dear GS family,
Anybody out there got any tips, procedures, or products to ensure a leak proof seal for the cam cover on my 78 GS750EC?
My bike has 11,000 original miles on it. Last April I did a valve check and replaced several shims, & reinstalled the cam cover with a new gasket. I have been riding since April and the bike had not leaked a drop of oil.
Saturday I went for a joy ride in the country and suddenly felt something hot spray against my left leg below the knee. I bent down and wiped my leg with my left hand and came up with oil on my hand and noticed oil all over the toe of my new Cabela's Outfitter boots. I parked the bike and found that from that side of the engine was dripping oil on the ground at about one drop each 5 seconds. On further inspection it appears oil was leaking from under my cam cover gasket.
I checked for loose cover bolts, snugged a few down just a little and on my ride back home the leak got even worse.
I'm wondering what would suddenly cause a leak like that when it had not been leaking a drop since I did the work.
Rather than pulling the tank and cover and starting over again from scratch someon suggested I just back off all of the cover screws and retighten them and see if that cures the leak.
Also, I can't find anywhere that says how tight these cover bolts should be and what the tightening sequence should be.
If I have to replace the gasket is there some kind of high temp sealant available that would help me avoid doing this again?
Thanks for your suggestions!!
GS750GUY

[Nessism]

Service manual has the torque spec. It's 6.5 ft-lbs for my 850, your bike should be similar. Basscliff has a 750 manual so do a search if you need the download.

Regarding the leaking, a gross leak like you describe is rare if the gasket and gasket surfaces are clean. Not sure what to suggest other than trying again. If you decide to use a sealer, only use a very thin layer - not enough to ooze out or a piece may break loose and plug up an oil passage.

Installed a Real Gasket on my 850 and it's pretty nice for that application - your 750 should be similar. They require a very low torque - 15 in-lbs or something to this effect, but seal very well. Only issue with the Real Gasket is with bikes that have the tach gear in the valve cover - which I think the 750 does not. Worth a try.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[TheCafeKid]

Service manual has the torque spec. It's 6.5 ft-lbs for my 850, your bike should be similar. Basscliff has a 750 manual so do a search if you need the download.

Regarding the leaking, a gross leak like you describe is rare if the gasket and gasket surfaces are clean. Not sure what to suggest other than trying again. If you decide to use a sealer, only use a very thin layer - not enough to ooze out or a piece may break loose and plug up an oil passage.

Installed a Real Gasket on my 850 and it's pretty nice for that application - your 750 should be similar. They require a very low torque - 15 in-lbs or something to this effect, but seal very well. Only issue with the Real Gasket is with bikes that have the tach gear in the valve cover - which I think the 750 does not. Worth a try.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

The 8 valve 750s do not have the tach gear in the valve cover. The TSCC motors, however, do.

[bwringer]

The RealGasket for the early 8 valve 750 is exactly the same as the 79-81 GS850.

http://realgaskets.com/files/motorcycle.htm

RG-GS850-G1 <== valve cover gasket
RG-SBC-2 <== breather cover gasket

Just be aware that these RealGaskets take VERY LITTLE torque -- 15 inch-pounds is just 1.25 foot-pounds. No, the bolts won't come out. Really. The cool thing is that you can wash and re-use them forever.

As to your sudden oil leak, all signs point to a loose "half moon" camshaft end plug. Remove the cam end covers and take a look.

[SqDancerLynn1]

For that quick of a leak I would suspect that the end half moon plug popped out !!!

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. GS750GUY,

I would also suggest checking for blockage at the top of your airbox where the breather connects. Sometimes this snorkel gets rusted up and blocked causing the crankcase to pressurize and squirt out oil where it would not normally.




Of course, if you have pods, then...never mind.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[posplayr]

Another possibility

Ok here is a new one on me. I found my oil leak that developed with gusto on the way back from Yosemite.



The front portion of the gasket on a 24 bolt GS1100ED head squeezed into the cam galley ??? ???.

Perplexed, I resorted to using a straight file to make sure that the cover surface at least was flat.

Before I put a new head on I'll have the cover and head milled to make sure they are flat.

The place where I had fixed the gasket actually held.

THis was a brand new Cometic gasket, copeper coated on the cover side and greased on teh head side. It released nicly from the head. Most (>70%) of the gasket was bonded to the valve cover and had to be cut/scraped off.



Posplayr

[GS750GUY]

The RealGasket for the early 8 valve 750 is exactly the same as the 79-81 GS850.

http://realgaskets.com/files/motorcycle.htm

RG-GS850-G1 <== valve cover gasket
RG-SBC-2 <== breather cover gasket

Just be aware that these RealGaskets take VERY LITTLE torque -- 15 inch-pounds is just 1.25 foot-pounds. No, the bolts won't come out. Really. The cool thing is that you can wash and re-use them forever.

As to your sudden oil leak, all signs point to a loose "half moon" camshaft end plug. Remove the cam end covers and take a look.

Thanks guys for the tips. I checked out the half moons and found that they were o.k.
I started it up and took it for a ride and while it was still hot and running I put a spot light on it and closely searched for leaks. I found that that half moons were just fine but discovered a leak in the middle of the cover between cylinders one and two. The only thing I can think of that may have happened is that I used a light coating of a non-hardening gasket dressing when I assembled and if I overlooked just a small bit of old gasket on the mating surface it may have taken this long for the dressing to finally burn off and allow a leak around the piece of old gasket.
Anyway, I bit the bullet and orderd a set of Real Gaskets. I should have done this in the first place.
I know it's no excuse for not having clean surfaces; but according to the Real Gasket site they are the best cure for uneven surfaces. The problem with working with aluminum gasket surfaces is that it's so darn difficult to get the surfaces absolutely clean without dinging up the metal surfaces and I don't imagine it takes much of a ding to cause a leak.
The silicone Real Gasket sounds like it is just the ticket for working with surfaces that may no longer be perfect.
For you out there that have worked with the Real Gaskets before did any of you find it necessary to use any kind of gasket sealer along with the Real Gaskets in order to stop a leak? And does the set come with instructions regarding torque?
Thanks!
GS750GUY

[Suzuki mad]

Had a brand new Suzuki rocker cover gasket leak while out on a ride. Could have swarn the thing was being drawn into the head as I watched.

If you don't get then on correct and have too much gasket inside the head the oil will draw the gasket in.

Suzuki mad

[bwringer]

RealGaskets come with instructions. Just DON'T confuse inch-pounds with foot-pounds. Please. 15 foot-pounds will crack your valve cover and break the bolts.

And the instructions are crystal clear on another point -- do NOT use any sort of sealer, oil, grease, magic potion, spit, unicorn tears, etc. on the gasket. Clean off the metal mating surfaces so there is no oil remaining and install the RealGasket dry, dry, dry.


I usually lay out two paper shop towels, arrange the R.G. thereon, then roll it all up. Then I can maneuver the RG jellyroll into the correct position atop the engine, unroll, and then tear the paper towels apart to allow the gasket to drop into the approximate correct position without contacting the oily bits too much.

[GS750GUY]

RealGaskets come with instructions. Just DON'T confuse inch-pounds with foot-pounds. Please. 15 foot-pounds will crack your valve cover and break the bolts.

And the instructions are crystal clear on another point -- do NOT use any sort of sealer, oil, grease, magic potion, spit, unicorn tears, etc. on the gasket. Clean off the metal mating surfaces so there is no oil remaining and install the RealGasket dry, dry, dry.


I usually lay out two paper shop towels, arrange the R.G. thereon, then roll it all up. Then I can maneuver the RG jellyroll into the correct position atop the engine, unroll, and then tear the paper towels apart to allow the gasket to drop into the approximate correct position without contacting the oily bits too much.

Thanks so much for everyones great advice and instructions and especially putting me onto REAL GASKETS. I ordered both the cam cover and breather gasket for my bike, they arrived a few days later, and I found them to be all you guys and their web site claimed them to be. Incredibly high quality silicone and they seem to be thicker than OEM paper or cork. I followed the instructions to the letter, torqued them to just 15 inch pounds, ran the engine up to operating temperature, and then retorqued them again to 15 inch pounds.......AND NO MORE LEAKS!!!!!!
Real Gaskets advertises a 100% guarantee if insructions are followed you will have no leaks. A side note......I also like the way the thicker red gasket looks on the engine. I highly recommend them!!
Thanks again GS brothers.......and sisters!! I back on the road again and no more drips under the bike!!
GS750GUY