Questions about rubbers...

I knew I'd get your attention with that one...

Two questions:

1. I am going through my valves and was going to replace my valve seals, but I can't figure out how to get them off. Do they just wrap around the valve guide? Do I just grab with pliers and pull?

2. My cylinders have large o-rings on the bottom of the block that wrap the sleeves that extend into the bottom end. My gasket set from Z1 did not come with replacements for these and they do not show up on the parts diagram. Are these a factory part that I should replace while I am have the engine apart? If the are still supple is there any harm in reusing them?

Thanks in advance.

:S

be carefull yanking them out so you dont scratch the guides up,put a little lithium grease around inside edge of new ones and pop em on.
if your new gasket set doesnt come with the big o rings for base of sleeves dont worry too much,just spray down both sides of new base gasket with copper coat and hope for the best

Old Man Rock wrote:

:S

awwwww come on man! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
why do i ever talk to you?

If your valve stem seals are old and brittle enough, they are ruined by the removal process (needle-nose pliers). Remember to check the bottom of the bucket-well for small pieces of the seal...they tend to disintegrate as you tug on them. I don't know what to tell you regarding the cylinder sleeve o-rings...PLUMMEN is correct...hope for the best but if they are still pliable, reuse them

Almost forgot....
Don't use the cheaper after market brand seals....

I screwed up and didn't listen carefully to Larry & Plum about this and guess what, sonsabitches didn;t seal ideally & leaked thus caused exhaust smoke and it progressively got worse... This was all in about 6 months time ~ 1000 miles.

I was having some additional head work accomplished and had Larry replace with OEM seals I picked up from Babbitts on line... $9 each... It has been reported that the APE seals have worked out as well, not sure about their prices....

All in all, use the quality seals and you won't regret the additional pricing....


OMR

Old Man Rock wrote:

All in all, use the quality seals and you won't regret the additional pricing....


OMR

I got my gasket set with the valve seals from Z1. I assume their stuff is quality...

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationI use Viton seals only They are pretty much forever. I would never go back to Neoprene OEM seals.

PLUMMEN wrote:

if your new gasket set doesnt come with the big o rings for base of sleeves dont worry too much,just spray down both sides of new base gasket with copper coat and hope for the best

Are the o-rings even supposed to be there? Do some gasket sets come with them and some not, or do I have non-original jugs on my engine?

The O rings only came on certain early model engines. Not all bikes had them. from what I understand, they had nothing to do with sealing or oil leaking. They were intended to prevent certain vibration harmonics in the lower exposed sleeves and prevent them from cracking off. I believe that Kawasaki figured out in later engines that this was not a problem and eliminated the O rings. If you notice, those O rings do not seat against the block or are not under any real compression.

Personal preferences differ on this topic.

I know what I see with my own eyes.

I cast my vote for OEM seals......they last 10's of thousands of miles and don't deform when you install them.

If you end up with some of those Suzuki metal jacket seals because of price, watch it when you install the valves. They don't fit all guides all that well it's possible to dislodge them from being seated on the guide when you install the valve....

Larry C

Thanks guys. The OEM type valve seals came with my gasket set, so I think I will use those. If they crap out, otakar you can say I told you so.