Oil leaking at the cam cover - KZ1000

Don't use silicone on your engine..anywhere. Use the Ultra gray if you use anything other than Three Bond 1104/1194. That gasket should work fine installed dry. The cam end plugs will need the sealer. Sounds like you have some issues with the mating surface on the head.

Yeah it's funny valve cover that came with the bike had a little leaking and I figured it might be because the sealing surface was smoothed out with chrome (cover is chrome plated). So I pulled a cover off a motor in the backyard that had no signs of oil leaks. Well the motor hasn't run in 30 years so maybe it did leak way back when. Now with that 30-year old cover there's plenty of leaking! Plus if I put the cover on the motor dry with no gasket or sealer I can see that it's not perfectly flat.

I'm thinking about taking the cover to a shop for resurfacing. This bike runs real nice but the oil leaks are a pain and take a lot of time to fix.

My new gaskets arrived in the mail yesterday.

I took off the cover and went to a machine shop to have it resurfaced. The guy at the shop said the cover was straight and didn't think machining it would help. He was wondering if the head was warped. But the motor runs fine, so it doesn't seem likely that the top of the head is warped and the combustion chamber side of the head isn't warped.

So I went home and cleaned up the head thoroughly and cleaned the sealing surface with acetone. Then I put Permatex around the cam caps ONLY and then used double cam cover gaskets. Still there's some leaking happening. There's a little seepage at the left side of the exhaust cam and in the area of the two left cam caps, even though I had recently removed them, cleaned with acetone and let them sit in place overnight with Permatex.

I will retorque the bolts and see if that makes any difference.

DoubleDub wrote: Where is the leak? Is it possible that it's coming from the tach cable area? That's a common leak.

+1

A leaking tach drive will cover the front of your engine.

It's not the tach drive. The tach drive and the right front side of the motor are dry. The left side of the motor from the cam chain tunnel to the cam cap seeps oil.

BTW Wireman, the guy at the machine shop said to install the gaskets (2 gaskets stacked) dry first before using any kind of sealant. So I followed his instructions except that I put sealant above the cam caps because that area seems to be a given for leaking.

Anyways, since there is still some seepage I bought a can of the copper spray a gasket.

It looks like the leak is between the cover and the gasket. So I'll spray the top side of the gasket. I don't think there are any leaks between the two gaskets.

I think after all that you have tried, it may well be that the mating surface on the head is worth another look as suggested by the mechanic. It doesn't matter if the engine is running well, that has nothing to do with whether the top mating surface is perfectly flat. Take a good straight-edge and check every surface you can along that top edge. Good luck.

I would also double check all your head bolt torque settings by loosening and then re-tightening them in the order suggested in the manual.

Bluezbike

my 2-cents is that the head is warped. I hope to be proved wrong, but from the cheap seats....sounds like the problem.

good luck

bluezbike wrote: I think after all that you have tried, it may well be that the mating surface on the head is worth another look as suggested by the mechanic. It doesn't matter if the engine is running well, that has nothing to do with whether the top mating surface is perfectly flat. Take a good straight-edge and check every surface you can along that top edge. Good luck.

I would also double check all your head bolt torque settings by loosening and then re-tightening them in the order suggested in the manual.

Bluezbike

I took the tank off and looked at the cover again the other day. With two gaskets there seems to be more loosening up on the torque. I retorqued the bolts and haven't had a chance to ride it since. I always torque in a star pattern from the center outwards.

With all the hot weather in the U.S. mainland, surprisingly it's been pretty cool here in Honolulu, with temperatures in the high 70's and low 80's with almost daily rain.

I avoid riding in the rain and haven't checked for leaks again since I retorqued the cam cover.

I was figuring if the top of the head is warped, it would be from heat and then the head gasket might leak. That's why I was saying the engine runs great etc. But I guess there are other ways the top of the head could get warped. I wonder - if it is warped, can it be machined flat again? Seems like not.

I'll report back soon.

if its a small area....could you have the area built up with a weld and the file or mill it back down to a proper height? if you didnt want to mess with head could we consider doing the cover instead?

you were right to check the chrome, mine did that and I had to sand the carp out of it

Hi Kapahulu,

I notice you checked the torque on your cam cover but did you also check the torque settings on your head bolts, it may be that one or two were overtightened and warped (maybe temporarily) the head. I should have guessed you were from Hawaii from the name (I am Greek) and I have heard that sometimes excessive humidity warps the heads over time. Also check the head top surfaces with a good straightedge for true, it might show you if there is a dip or divot that as 4theKZ suggested might be filled with a weld or even weld-on and then finished flat. Machining the top of the head seems like it would be a bad idea what with the cam caps in the way but it may work, there are a few top machinists on this site who might know, I do not.

Good luck Kapa,

Bluezbike

KZ Riders thanks for all the support.

Kapahulu is a neighborhood in Honolulu. I am a realtor and use different neighborhood names on the various forums I am a member of. I'm mainly into KZ's but also have an RZ350. And I also had a CB550F, a GS550, a Zephyr 550 and a GPZ 550 in recent years. My real name is Mike.