Never done a valve cover gasket on my bike!

[Bigrev]

Ive got a 79 GS1000L that is going to need the valve cover replaced on, it doesnt look too bad to do, but Ive never done one, so does anyone have any tips or tricks in replacing it? Thanks, Rev

[Octain]

Use a OEM gasket or you'll be doing it again. Ask me wow I know this.

Most dont usually change the gasket till they do the valves. Doing the valves, ya know, "while you're there"?

[1_v8_merc]

Not really any trips, pretty straight forward.

Make sure you buy the Half-moons, and the breather gasket too!

The half-moons are underneath the chrome covers on the side of your engine, there are 4 of them.
They are just little half-circle shaped rubber pieces. Usually they leak over time, so replacing them is just common sense.

The breather gasket is part of the upper-portion of the valve cover.
They may look perfectly fine, judging from the sides of the gasket sticking out, but when you pop the cover off, the gasket will probably fall apart in your hands, lol.

You will also want to do valves while you got the cover off!

(don't know if your motor has a Shim system or not....)

[DanTheMan]

Are you getting ready to do your valve shims? I bought the RealGaskets valve cover gasket after having the paper/cardboard gasket from my Vesrah kit leak and no matter what I did I couldn't stop the leak. With the RealGasket (it costs more), you can remove the cover multiple times for valve shims and it stays useable. I'm real happy with mine. You might want to replace the 1/2 moon seals as well while you're in there.

[graybeard]

I made the same mistake as octain.
I bought an after market gasket for about 1/2 the price of a Suzuki gasket (Suzuki gasket was $28).
I was also determined not to use any gasket cement on the bike as I had spent literally hours removing the old cemented gasket. But it didn't leak.
After adjusting the valves and reinstalling the valve cover, everything looked good. Not true it has leaked every since. Not much, but still a leak.
Also bigrev when I removed the valve cover I broke three of the bolts closest to the center, even though I had soaked them with penetrating oil for two days.
They get very hot and when the valves had been adjusted previously no one had put an anti seize compound on then. I took several hours to remove them, lucky I didn't end up pulling the head.
Spend the extra bucks save the frustration.

[mike_of_bbg]

If you use an OEM gasket, try coating the top of the gasket with a VERY light coat of grease. That may allow you to re-use the gasket on your NEXT valve adjustment.

[850 Combat]

I bought and installed Vesra half moons on a couple bikes with good success (so far). For some reason, one of my 1000G's would not seal up with them, so I had to buy Suzuki moons. About 4 times the money.

Last January, I had the valve cover apart on my brother's 1000G and used Vesra half moons and another brand of aftermarket gasket. (I probably would have used OEM, if I could have had one in the same amount of time)

He has been commuting on it in Phoenix almost daily since then, and its tight so far. Personally, I like to use anti sieze between the head and the gasket, and RTV between the valve cover and the gasket, and RTV on the half moons.

The amount of time you spend cleaning the old gasket and sealant off will pay you dividends in sealing.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Have a look at my experience.

Valve Adjustments (8 Valve)

It's not hard. Tighten the valve cover bolts from the inside to the outside. Be careful when scraping off the old gasket, no gouges. If you put on a thin coat of grease or spray it with WD40, the gasket will come off much easier next time.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Walle]

Hi,

Have a look at my experience.

Valve Adjustments (8 Valve)

It's not hard. Tighten the valve cover bolts from the inside to the outside. Be careful when scraping off the old gasket, no gouges. If you put on a thin coat of grease or spray it with WD40, the gasket will come off much easier next time.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

spray both sides or just upper or lower?

[nufnuf]

Take your tank off pull plug leads off and stick them out of the way somewhere (leave the plugs in at this stage so nothing drops into the combustion chamber) Get the horns out of the way or take them right off crack all of the hex head bolts on the cover 1/4 of a turn or so including the four on the breather cover, remove the breather cover from the valve cover remove all of the hex head bolts out of the cover Note 2 different length bolts.
Depending on how it has been installed previously the cover should move without too much persuasion ( tap with the handle end of a soft handled screwdriver.) If it doesnt want to move and your sure you have all the bolts out dont insert a lever in the gap where the gasket lives. The alloy is extremely soft compared to your tools and will damage easily.
When the seal breaks the remains of the gasket will be either stuck to the valve cover, stuck to the top of the head or a combination
Assuming it was leaking and thats why you want to replace it, It's going to be damaged or incorrectly installed in one way or another (Unless there is existing damage on alloy gasket faces)
Scraping off the old gasket can be a tedious time consuming part of the job
You need to have both surfaces clean for your new gasket to seal effectively.
To refit a paper cardboard gasket I lightly smear the top of the head surface with grease or petrolium jelly or slippery stuff....oil and one side of the gasket and lay it down grease side down on the head
(not a lot of grease use just enough to lightly and evenly cover the gasket surface)

Ensure the gasket mating surface on the valve cover is clean and dry and free of grease and oil and dirt and clean
Carefully manouver the cover into position to place on the clean gasket surface and replace the hex head bolts in their correct holes
Do them all up finger tight untill they are all in place finger tight and then tighten them bit by bit working all of the hex head bolts so none are over tightened. (there is probably a method described in a manual for this procedure) come to think of it the whole job
Any way you will find that next week when you decide you really do want to check the valve clearences. Your gasket will remain stuck to the valve cover,
when to come to removing your valve cover again just be carefull not to damage the gasket and it should be good to reuse.
As for the half moons, if they are firmly in place and not leaking I tend to leave them alone but if they are loose i remove them clean them and restick them in place with some gasket cement
If you have an engine that is developing alot of crankcase pressure, it may be time for a partial engine rebuild