oil leak (i am a total rookie and need help!!!)

[Anonymous]

somebody help. my sweet sweet 86 gs400 is leaking oil from the cover beneath the tank. i tightened the bolts - busted two - and then sealed the exterior with JBweld. am i retarded? took it for a drive and runs great - except for the huge cloud of smoke that surrounds me once i come to a stop. what is the easiest way for me to fix this? much appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Possibly a head gasket?

I would check the cylinder head gasket and the cylinder head cover gasket.

Just this Friday, I had to change the cylinder header cover gasket on my 1980 GS1100. Before that, she was leaking oil badly. Now, she runs clean.

[Poot]

also, when tightening bolts on things, its important that you do not over-tighten them, as you dont want to put too much stress on any metal/other parts.

just my .02 cents

[Anonymous]

tight nuts

thanks for the tip about overtightening. wish i could have had that advice before i cracked a bolt. got it out though - will get a new one tomorrow.
thanks again
m

[Anonymous]

Check your service manual to see how tight those bolt should be.

For example, the SM for my GS1100 says they should be 5 - 8 ft lbs.

- Tony

[redliner1973]

I have found through experience that a valve cover leak - even a small portion of the gasket leaking, or the 'D' gaskets on the sides, will make the bike look like it is the Exxon Valdez. the cloud of smoke I assume is coming from the leaked oil hitting the exhaust. Check also, the tachometer drive output, also. Both are relatively easy fixes, but when leaking, will look like 10 quarts of oil leaking every minute!

[Anonymous]

exxon valdiz

it's still smoking a bit but definitely much less. not sure if it's just the oil that leaked out that just needs to burn off. i'd check the tachometre if i knew what that was. i know almost squat about bikes ( i can change oil) and was impressed enough that i fixed that leak without destroying the bike. runs good so far but i'll need to replace the seal b/c it's just a temporary sealant i used and i don't know how long that will last.

[gremlin]

use some dawn dish soap strate with a tooth brush clean out all the fins. a stiff paint brush will work to get the deaper oil off. hose off the motor realy well.

some times if the oil is realy burnt on and thick i use hand cleaner. be shure to use hand cleaner with out the sand in it.

then you will beable to find ware your oil leak is coming from.

[Anonymous]

I found that a quick application of Engine Bright did the trick. Make sure your engine is cold, spray on Engine Bright, let it sit for 10 minutes, then wash it down with a hose from top to bottom.

I'm still going to go back and hit it with a brush for some of the stubborn areas, but, with 10 - 15 years of grime plus an oil leak, Engine Bright got 95% of the kruft off. Enough that if I did have any leaks, I would know from where.

[Anonymous]

If the oil leak is from the cylinder head cover, it's not too difficult to replace.

The steps I took to replace the cylinder head cover gasket on my '80 GS1100E:

1) Remove seat
2) Remove fuel tank

Remove tank bolt at rear of tank.
Unhook the vacuum and supply lines from the petcock.
Unhook the two fuel gauge lines.

3) Remove the horns
4) Remove the bolts from the cylinder head cover
5) Remove the four screws from the cover (top outside edges)
6) Remove the side covers (two screws each)
7) Gently pry the cover up and off. I used a rubber mallet to unseat it when it was stuck.
8) Remove what you can of the old gasket.
9) Using a straight razor, gently scrape any remnants of the old gasket from the head cover and the head. Do not score the aluminum in any way. Go very slow and methodical.

I found that if I held the razor straight up and down with the razor edge flat against the aluminum and perpendicular to where the gasket would go, I could get the stubborn parts of the gasket off by scraping forward and backward (relative to the razor, not the bike). Again, be very careful ... any bad scoring could result in a leak.

This is by far the most time consuming task. It took three of us around 90 minutes to complete this part - probably because the previous owner peramtexed the whole gasket and we had to scrape the whole thing off.

10) When you get as much off as possible, use a rag that you have lightly moistened with gas and scrub both surfaces that you just scraped.

11) Put the new gasket in place.
12) Put the cover back on and make sure the gasket has the same "reveal" all the way around. (In other words, you should see about the same amount of gasket all the way around the head cover).
13) Reinstall bolts and tighten to published specification.
14) Reinstall screws and side covers
15) Reinstall horns, tank, and seat.

[Anonymous]

keep on leakin on

okay - found the tachometer hose and guess what - it was loose - which may explain the present oil leak although the smoke now appears to be coming from somewhere beneath the gearbox. i'll tighten the tachometer valve and give it a wash. thanks for all of your help. you've saved me lots of $$. take care,

[Anonymous]

new prob...

now there is oil leaking from what appears to be the place where the exhaust connects just beneat the gaskets. should i drive the bike over a cliff or is this as fixable as the previous problem? time is not an issue...though i know very little i am enjoying the work and your instructions have all been helpful.
take care,
m

[Dink]

you need to clean the area down and find out exactly where it is leaking from, it may be simple, like the seal at the gearshift shaft, may be slightly more difficult by being the sump gasket, but you must work out exactly where the leak is from first of all.
Dink