Engine Just Blew??

531blackbanshee wrote:

do you have the two piece head gasket?i started leaking oil out of the front of the head by # 2 exhaust when i put my motor back together and it was getting passed the center o-ring,then blowing back through the cooling passages under the cam tunnels and going everywhere.if this has already been covered forgive me .

leon holmes

Thank goodness it's not that. I have a 1 pc head gasket and I can see where the valve cover gasket blew out and the oil just pours down the motor. I was very lucky this time that it happened as I was pulling up my driveway after a ride. The smoke started rolling off my exhaust and even though I'm bummed about another valve cover gasket blowing out, I'm certainly glad it's not a head or base gasket.

I just pulled my tank and got a good look at the blown valve cover gasket and I think I know what happened. The 4 bolts on the inside, right where the gasket blew out, were totally loose! Not even tight at all! I turned them with my bare fingers. The heating / cooling cycles must have loosened them up.

I think I'll be using blue loctite this time. I've never had to do that before but maybe it's because I'm now using stainless bolts?? They don't seem to hold the torque as well as the zinc plated steel bolts I used before.

run a botteming tap through the bolt holes to clean up threads,bolt material shouldnt make any differance.i prefer anti seize on steel bolts in aluminum but if they keepbacking out id try blue loc tite i guess

79MKII wrote:

I just pulled my tank and got a good look at the blown valve cover gasket and I think I know what happened. The 4 bolts on the inside, right where the gasket blew out, were totally loose! Not even tight at all! I turned them with my bare fingers. The heating / cooling cycles must have loosened them up.

I think I'll be using blue loctite this time. I've never had to do that before but maybe it's because I'm now using stainless bolts?? They don't seem to hold the torque as well as the zinc plated steel bolts I used before.

i ve had the same problem to a lesser degree....stock bolts and finally after the 4th time recinching...no leaks....

Damn dude, didn't you have a similar problem (blown gasket) just atfer your engine re-build... If I remember correctly (doubtful) it was one of those blue gaskets had stretched on you or something....

I had an OEM over priced gasket ($50) and that sonsabitch leaked on all 4 camp cap areas... Switched to $10 @ Z1 and no problems/leaks... Go figure! :S

Hope you get this worked out for that KZ is just :S down right sexy & nasty... Love it!

Old Man Rock wrote:

Damn dude, didn't you have a similar problem (blown gasket) just atfer your engine re-build... If I remember correctly (doubtful) it was one of those blue gaskets had stretched on you or something....

I had an OEM over priced gasket ($50) and that sonsabitch leaked on all 4 camp cap areas... Switched to $10 @ Z1 and no problems/leaks... Go figure! :S

Hope you get this worked out for that KZ is just :S down right sexy & nasty... Love it!

kinky bass turd! :huh: :laugh:

Patton wrote:

DIY cutting valve cover gasket seems to me like it would be very difficult.

Pretty easy if you have an old gasket as a template. Need good X-acto knives and a circle template for hole cutting. I got pretty good when I had to keep taking the top off mine when I rebuilt it.

Yes, same problem right after rebuild. Same brand of gasket this time, same problem, but now I know why - loose bolts! I bought a set of metric thread chasers recently so I guess I'll give them a try.

I bought a Vesrah gasket this time - they seem to be the thickest available right now. I found some pieces of my good old gasket that I had used over and over for nearly 20 years. It is much thicker than anything available now and was like rubber. It's like hard black plastic now, but used to be very pliable. I always assumed that all factory gaskets were like that, but I guess not. It finally broke on my last tear down and now I can only find the thinner gasket-material-type gaskets. I guess nearly any gasket would work if the bolts stay tight, but the vesrah gives my cams a little extra clearance too.

By the way, instead of starting a new thread, here's another question for you guys:

My valves have opened up a bit after 180 miles on the rebuild (all new parts in head). The question is should I pull the cams and adjust the valves now or go another few hundred miles and do a final adjustment then? I'm not sure how long it takes to get things to settle in so I'm not sure if it's done settling or not. Here's what I've got:

Exhaust - .007, .009, .010, .007
Intake - .007, .007, .007, .007

All were within the web cam spec of .002-.006 when fired up just over 180 miles ago.

Thanks!

well if youve got the 650 style shims id say its pretty safe to say youre not going to spit one out,id say to run her up to about 250-300 miles then do it as long as youre not racing it.after you get em adjusted id say check em again once you get another 500 miles on it then maybe again at 1000 miles depending on your cams and springs things should be settled in by then .the biggest thing is to keep up on your oil changes during break in

Your clearance should get tighter as the valves seat.
I find that they are very fusy things to get shimmed properly.
And what a MAJOR pain it is to change them. i'd check the clearance once more ,just to make sure u get the same numbers.then wait it out for a bit and see if they change.when they stop changeing its time to reshim. but theoreticaly your numbers are fat, so they should just improve.
Let me know what u need. maybe i can swap u some.i'm due to check mine as well.
Funny , i retorqued my head the other day, and just for fun i checked the cam cover bolts. i had a few loose too, not sloppy loose, but not tight. i think its just 1 of those things with new gaskets. they just keep compressing with the heat cool cycle for a while.

Thanks Mark, I'll keep that in mind. I realized this morning that the valves should tighten as things seat, not loosen up. I remember keeping the clearances on the big side because of that - just had a brain cramp. :laugh:

I think I'll put some more miles on and check again later, but hopefully not because of another leaky gasket!!

My base gasket was just starting to seep after a hard ride with constant high rpms. i retorqued it again, and so far so good. they dont seem to like the constant high rpm's. i dont have a fiber base gasket. just an alum.
The dry block my be the best answer for the block leaks..
Good luck.