TOPIC:

I will definitely check the valve guides then. But with the price of having the guides installed I may just but another head. I've seen then on eBay going for less than $100. Would there be any issues swapping out a head? I'm assuming lapping in the new valves would be it?

Patton, I did do a compression test and it was 165 psi both cylinders. I don't have the equipment to perform a leak down test but when I pull the head, if the guides and seals look to be okay, I'll start looking into the rings.

bpchura wrote: I will definitely check the valve guides then. But with the price of having the guides installed I may just but another head. I've seen then on eBay going for less than $100. Would there be any issues swapping out a head? I'm assuming lapping in the new valves would be it?.

No way to know. The problem with buying used parts for 30 year old bikes is the parts are also 30 years old.

FYI: if anybody needs new OEM Kawi valve guides for a KZ-750 twin, I have a brand new full set I bought for my rebuild but did not need. They were very pricey, will sell at discount.

bpchura wrote: I will definitely check the valve guides then. But with the price of having the guides installed I may just but another head.

Shouldn't cost that much if the head is off the bike.

Alright so I'm looking at the potential options and assuming its the valve guides that need to be replaced. How much would be it including the new guides to have them pressed into the head? I have no idea what it would be and comparing it to risking buying a new head and hoping that will work.

And bountyhunter, I will take those valve guides if I choose to go that route. I will PM you if I need too. Thanks for that offer.

bpchura wrote: And bountyhunter, I will take those valve guides if I choose to go that route. I will PM you if I need too. Thanks for that offer.

OK. The machinist can check the guides to see if they show wear. I was surprised that mine showed no wear, but the machinist said it's not unusual. If they are set up right, the guides have no "side thrust" on them so they don't wear. The valves jut go up and down. But if something is set up crooked, the twist force wears them out.

Anyway, if the head is off they should be easy for any machine shop to check the guides for wear.

bountyhunter, your help is awesome and greatly appreciated. What I am going to do it take off the head, and bring it into a machine shop to have them check the guides for wear. If they show signs on needing replaced, I will contact you about getting those from you. If not, I will replace the oil seals and just call it an installation error. I get the slide thrust wear. Sounds like my ME classes I'm in right now .

I just have one last question for you. If I where to take the head into a shop totally disassembled (valves out) would it be something the check in five minutes for free or something where I leave it and get charged to have it checked out? Funds are limited so I'm just getting ready to budget this whole project together.

It's a simple test, just take the valve springs off, grab hold of the sides of the valve face, get the valve as close to the seat as you can, while still holding it, and wriggle it back and forth.

The manual actually specifies the amount of wriggle

82 CSR is the first 750 twin to get Kawasaki's version of air injection into the exhaust to help with emissions. Tou should probably take a close look at the fresh air post in the head to make sure the oil isn't coming from there.

I know that air injection system all too well. Last time I had it all apart, I actually flipped the valves around so theyre now useless. I heard it helped with exhaust popping with no detrimental effect. Il check it out but I don't know why any oil would be leaking out of it.

Il check that test out too. Il do that before I bring it into a machine shop and if I get some wiggle, il bring it in the have them check it out. I just priced valve stem replacement and it works out to be about $13 a valve so $52 for the entire set. Not too bad I guess...

Something that has just come to my attention. Reading around on other posts, it seems like some people are saying that after installing new valve guides, the valve seat needs to be recut. Is this really the case?? I may be way more screwed than I thought because the price of having that done is in the hundreds. If it where the case that my guides where worn, is it not just a simple matter of replacing them?

To replace the valve guides the head is heated in an oven to around 400 degrees, then the old guides are tapped out and new ones tapped in. After the head cools down the valve guides have to be reamed to size (7mm IIRC), then the valve seats have to be recut to match the position of the new guides.

You could probably buy the Neway cutters and hand driver for around $300, so I don't understand why someone should tell you it costs hundreds.

Worry about crossing that bridge when you get there, figure out how all that oil is getting in the cylinder and exhaust first.

Thanks steell. I was under the impression that replacing the guides was something left solely to a machine shop. And paying them the $15 for each guide might be a good idea because $300 is way too much cash to throw at something like this. That being said, if the guides where being done professionally, would they still have to be ground? That's whats looking to be the most expensive part of this operation, around $200 per cylinder.

That is true though. Its not for sure a problem with the guides and that needs to be checked. I just think that because the seals lasted about 300 miles, the only thing that could really be bunk would have to be the guides. Pistons seem fine and theres really not anywhere else I could image would be releasing that amount of oil.

As much as I love these bikes, they really test me in my patience and finance.