Author Topic: Valve gasket oil leak question.  (Read 6355 times)

Offline Pokey

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Valve gasket oil leak question.
« on: April 08, 2013, 08:35:40 PM »
To those that have had the leak, where was it located, is there a pattern, did you only smell it or see smoke after it had been sitting? I ask because I rode today for the first time in about 3 weeks, and I had a slight oil smell and some smoke which appeared to be rising up from the right side of engine. It didnt last very long, and wasn't all that strong, smelled nothing when I was riding or when I was parked in the garage with bike running upon my return. Could've been something on the header, I will know better after the next start up/ride. I did search first by the way.  ;)
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Offline Shoe

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Re: Valve gasket oil leak question.
« Reply #1 on: April 08, 2013, 09:04:44 PM »
............ did you only smell it or see smoke after it had been sitting? ......  ;)

My leak was similar but it was leaking in the front onto the exhaust pipe. It would only last a short time. Then it would appear again after sitting for a couple of days. I was afraid of a catastrophic failure. I didn't notice any increase in oil consumption.
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Offline Pokey

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Re: Valve gasket oil leak question.
« Reply #2 on: April 08, 2013, 09:17:04 PM »
My leak was similar but it was leaking in the front onto the exhaust pipe. It would only last a short time. Then it would appear again after sitting for a couple of days. I was afraid of a catastrophic failure. I didn't notice any increase in oil consumption.


Was the smoke rising up from left or right?
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Offline Riverszzr

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Re: Valve gasket oil leak question.
« Reply #3 on: April 09, 2013, 12:35:06 AM »
 I have replaced that valve cover gasket. It leaked all along the exhuast edge, here is a picture of what it looked like after the radiator etc was out of the way.

Offline pistole

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Re: Valve gasket oil leak question.
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2013, 03:02:56 AM »


- mine was leaking from that corner. Fixed under warranty. Alot of work.

.

Offline Shoe

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Re: Valve gasket oil leak question.
« Reply #5 on: April 09, 2013, 08:31:39 AM »
The smoke was rising from the front. It looked similar to the photos posted by Pistole.
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Offline Pokey

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Re: Valve gasket oil leak question.
« Reply #6 on: April 09, 2013, 09:18:58 AM »
Thanks for the pics guys, not convinced "yet" that I have a leak. Pulling all that tupperware is gonna suck, but I would rather take the time to do it than pay the dealer.
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Offline B.D.F.

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Re: Valve gasket oil leak question.
« Reply #7 on: April 09, 2013, 09:48:55 AM »
Left side, toward the front of the valve cover. There is noticeably less pressure on the seal in that area- something is off a little bit in the manufacturing process and the valve cover is not held down equally all around the seal area.

I put a small bead of RTV sealant under the seal and then placed the valve cover on top of the head but did not tighten it. After waiting perhaps 2 hours, I tightened the valve cover down; the RTV effectively made the seal a bit thicker and that stopped the leak until the next time I pulled the valve cover (when I foolishly did not repeat the process and the oil weep is back).

The service manual recommends a bit of RTV around the cam hole plugs but I went all the way around. If you do do something like this be careful not to get too excessive or you might crack the valve cover. I was shooting for something like 1/16" increase in seal height but I believe anything like 1/8" or thicker could be worse than the original problem.

Brian


To those that have had the leak, where was it located, is there a pattern, did you only smell it or see smoke after it had been sitting? I ask because I rode today for the first time in about 3 weeks, and I had a slight oil smell and some smoke which appeared to be rising up from the right side of engine. It didnt last very long, and wasn't all that strong, smelled nothing when I was riding or when I was parked in the garage with bike running upon my return. Could've been something on the header, I will know better after the next start up/ride. I did search first by the way.  ;)
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Offline MAN OF BLUES

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Re: Valve gasket oil leak question.
« Reply #8 on: April 09, 2013, 11:34:58 AM »
I did pretty much what Brian did, i.e. removed the gasket, cleaned it and the groove, applied a consistant but concientious amount of goop in the groove to glue the seal in place, and installed it loosely, waited an hour and tightened it. I have not found the gasket to be the source in my 'puf-o-smoke' after sitting, it is definatly a drop or two that sits on the pipes directly below the cam position sensor. That is the seal I feel needs fixing. Not a big deal if you ride all the time, it only occurs after sitting a couple weeks, and if you start the bike and ride immediatly, you hardly notice it... it only surfaces after sitting :(

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Offline Pokey

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Re: Valve gasket oil leak question.
« Reply #9 on: April 09, 2013, 07:13:24 PM »
Interesting......I could swear the smoke was coming up from the right side. It was not for very long nor was it very bad, the bike had sat on side stand for 3 weeks "which is rare".
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Offline stevewfl

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Re: Valve gasket oil leak question.
« Reply #10 on: April 09, 2013, 07:35:02 PM »
^^^^^^^^^^^DAMN thats the reason I sold that lemon ZX14, it went in the shop so many times for the warranty man to fix this leak I got tired of it. They tried all kinds of crap to stop it to no avail.  And it'd always blow smoke up at the most inopportune times, such as when a gal was on the back or I was far away in the mountains and such. Just BS

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Offline rush2112

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Re: Valve gasket oil leak question.
« Reply #11 on: April 10, 2013, 11:43:25 AM »
Interesting......I could swear the smoke was coming up from the right side. It was not for very long nor was it very bad, the bike had sat on side stand for 3 weeks "which is rare".

Mine was predominately from the right side as best I could tell. Mine was a head gasket issue and it took them 2 tries to get it fixed.
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Offline Pokey

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Re: Valve gasket oil leak question.
« Reply #12 on: April 10, 2013, 12:11:28 PM »
Mine was predominately from the right side as best I could tell. Mine was a head gasket issue and it took them 2 tries to get it fixed.


I am thinking mine is the cam sensor leaking, or possibly right above that......the leak is not bad however.
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"All we have to do is decide what to do with the time given to us". Gandalf the Grey