Leaking Cam End Plugs - Gaskets

[Hoomgar]

I got my head to stop leaking on the block by re torquing it. Now the cam covers are leaking. For sure at the end plugs as they look to have gotten hard and misshapen. But could be gaskets too.

Question is this. I have never had to buy gasket sets myself as I always had my mechanic do it. But since I have been on this forum I am highly motivated and much more confident to start doing things myself. So where is the best place to buy gaskets at?

Cost is just as much a concern for me as quality. I need the best of both if possible?

[Anonymous]

Realgaskets.com makes a good silicone gasket and as long as you follow the directions you can re-use it which cuts the price in half if you ever remove it. All the new bikes come with rubba cam gaskets.

Steve

[SqDancerLynn1]

Also put a VERY small dab of silicon on the half moon plugs

[redliner1973]

I just replaced both my 'D' rings and VC gasket last Wednesday. My first time on this bike, a 'GK. I had to remove the top breather vent and clutch cable to get it around the big fairing, but was relatively easy. I installed 4 new 'D' plugs dry, and smeared oil on the gasket and installed. No Leaks at all, and total time was about 40 minutes. :twisted:

[KEITH KRAUSE]

The rubber half moons are infamous for leaking. Even new ones can leak in a little while. I put on a small dab of semi-hardening gasket sealant. Just don't put so much that excess can get squeezed into the motor.

[Anonymous]

hey mark;

The end rubber caps are notorious for leaking. They seem to dry up over time allowing little but annoying little gaps around the machined lip. Like the others said a little silicone goes a long way in helping that problem . Also you might check the kawi dealer they used to carry about a million of them because of that problem. They still might have them in stock and they used to be cheap. Also be careful be really careful when you torque down the heads torque down to the specs only as they heads are really thin and will flex and little cracks will apear around the outer bolt holes and start leaking oil It will seem like the rubber caps but will be the bottom of the head instead. They had problems with heat on the 550's and the cylinder block will warp causing the heads to twist also.(the 550's always ran hot) I used to run across quite a few warped heads and blocks when they raced them. But normal street riding didn't seem to cause much trouble as i saw only maybe a dozen or so from the streets.

[Hoomgar]

Thx guys. I am looking at a set I found on eBay right now. Goes off in three days. He wants 10 for them to start with a buy it now of 30. I will try to win them for 10 and if not I will order them. The ones in the bike I do not want to bother re seating because they look really bad.

You have me scared with that head cracking warping thing. I followed the torque specs but don't want to put a lot of money into something that is going to turn to crap on me anyway due to a known heat problem.

[Anonymous]

A tip a mechanic friend of mine told me is, a single wrap of teflon tape around the half-moon plugs usually will cure the problem.
4000 miles since I did my 1000 and the leak still hsn't returned.

[Anonymous]

Thx guys. I am looking at a set I found on eBay right now. Goes off in three days. He wants 10 for them to start with a buy it now of 30. I will try to win them for 10 and if not I will order them. The ones in the bike I do not want to bother re seating because they look really bad.

You have me scared with that head cracking warping thing. I followed the torque specs but don't want to put a lot of money into something that is going to turn to crap on me anyway due to a known heat problem.

Hey mark;
Not to worry about warpage if you followed spec on torque sequence exactly and stay on the low tolerence side. What happens is the cam case and the cylinder case heat up at different rates. This is because the cam case is thinner and heats up faster thus expanding quicker than cylinder case. On a new installation you usually run it for a couple cycles(heat cycles) and check the bolts. They were often (loose) and right away they would tighten to specs(with engine warm) Not good. This would pull the cam cover down to tight and next heat cycle this would either crack the cam cover or warp the cylinder block. On the street usually the engine wouldn't get hot enough( unless you rode in the desert) to cause a problem with the loose bolts. So we got to the point that we would locktite the bolts to keep them tight but were a pain in the you know what to get apart. So then we used never seize and that seemed to help. I'll stop my rambling now (sorry) But check for hairline cracks around the covers if none no worrys. But i would replace the caps if you can get them.

[Hap Call]

A tip a mechanic friend of mine told me is, a single wrap of teflon tape around the half-moon plugs usually will cure the problem.
4000 miles since I did my 1000 and the leak still hsn't returned.

That is what I've been doing for years, never had a leak at the half-moon plugs...now other places, that is another thing...

Hap