80 kz650 head gasket

Hi all.
Noticed some oil leaking around my head gasket. Looked closer, and when the bike is running I can actually see a bit of bubblnig around the head gasket (on side, by cyl 4). Cyl 3 not running, spark plug fouled, but I had flooded it right before this was all noticed and had set the bike away for a couple days before dealing w/ it ). engine runs with choke on with only the 3 cyls. When checked at time of setting valve clearance 200 miles ago, cyl 1 pressure had dropped from about 145 psi to 120psi (though it's mildly possible that the gauge wasn't sealing properly), from the last time I had checked it about 3000 miles ago. other cylinders were still at about 145psi.

I suppose my question is, is it 100% a blown head gasket? Can I maybe just tighten the bolts and see if it changes anything? Certainly I need to check pressure, which i haven't done.

If you are seeing bubbling from the gasket it's done for. You can try to torque the head nuts, which is listed in the factory manual as a regular maintenance item, but I doubt it will help at this point.

Any time you pull the head to fix a gasket it's highly advised to also pull the cylinder and replace all gaskets, seals, O-rings in the top end at the same time. Also, use OEM Kawasaki gaskets if you value oil tightness. Kawasaki doesn't sell a "kit", you have to piece together what you need by ordering one part at a time.

Nessism wrote: Any time you pull the head to fix a gasket it's highly advised to also pull the cylinder and replace all gaskets, seals, O-rings in the top end at the same time. Also, use OEM Kawasaki gaskets if you value oil tightness. Kawasaki doesn't sell a "kit", you have to piece together what you need by ordering one part at a time.

Will hit the wallet a bit just in parts. that kawi head gasket is 120 alone on z1. I'll make a list of parts and check in to see if people think it's sufficient. I should be able to do all this without removing the engine, correct?

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationNo eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configuration

aenikolopov wrote:

Nessism wrote: Any time you pull the head to fix a gasket it's highly advised to also pull the cylinder and replace all gaskets, seals, O-rings in the top end at the same time. Also, use OEM Kawasaki gaskets if you value oil tightness. Kawasaki doesn't sell a "kit", you have to piece together what you need by ordering one part at a time.

Will hit the wallet a bit just in parts. that kawi head gasket is 120 alone on z1. I'll make a list of parts and check in to see if people think it's sufficient. I should be able to do all this without removing the engine, correct?

Correct on leaving the engine in the frame. Be sure to change the valve stem seals while you are at it.

Often times you can get OEM gaskets for cheap off ebay. Find the part numbers and then go searching.

Check out my 'good guys" thread. I've had good luck with them. I use a pone piece head gasket. NO MORE OIL ON MY FOOT. :pinch:
Steve

Nessism wrote: If you are seeing bubbling from the gasket it's done for. You can try to torque the head nuts, which is listed in the factory manual as a regular maintenance item, but I doubt it will help at this point.

Any time you pull the head to fix a gasket it's highly advised to also pull the cylinder and replace all gaskets, seals, O-rings in the top end at the same time. Also, use OEM Kawasaki gaskets if you value oil tightness. Kawasaki doesn't sell a "kit", you have to piece together what you need by ordering one part at a time.

Thanks. So, I've tracked down a reasonably priced kawi head gasket for $46, now on to the other things. Could someone direct me to a list of exactly what there is to change in the top end?
1) OEM kawi head gasket.
2) base gasket (planned on cutting this out myself, is that a bad idea?)
3) valve stem seals (8x)
4) .. what else? what o-rings are there? Any other seals? I have a month old valve head gasket, so not that. piston rings?

Bad idea to cut a base gasket. The material choice is critical and it's not an expensive gasket anyway.

For all the various parts you can go to Kawasaki.com and look up the parts diagrams for your bike in the Owners support section of their website. You will have to look at a number of different pages including those for the crankcase, cylinder, cylinder head, valve cover, valves, etc. Look through them all and make a list of the parts. Just going off the top of my head but you will need: base gasket, base gasket O-rings, O-rings around the cylinder studs, head gasket, O-rings for the head gasket, valve stem seals, cam plug rubber seals, valve cover gasket, cam chain tensioner seals and gaskets, tach drive O-ring and seals. Do them all and be done with it for the next 30 years.

There's a member here, you can P.M. him, DFIGPZ, he sells sets of Viton valve stem seals for 22.00 delivered
Pete

aenikolopov wrote: .............
2) base gasket - planned on cutting this out myself, is that a bad idea?.....

Bad idea. Keep in mind that the thickness of the base gasket is critical because it affects the height of the cylinders and head above the bottom case which in turn affects the compression ratio. Ed

pete greek1 wrote: There's a member here, you can P.M. him, DFIGPZ, he sells sets of Viton valve stem seals for 22.00 delivered
Pete

Thanks Pete, I'll send him a message.

650ed wrote:

aenikolopov wrote: .............
2) base gasket - planned on cutting this out myself, is that a bad idea?.....

Bad idea. Keep in mind that the thickness of the base gasket is critical because it affects the height of the cylinders and head above the bottom case which in turn affects the compression ratio. Ed

Nessism wrote: Bad idea to cut a base gasket. The material choice is critical and it's not an expensive gasket anyway.

Ah, right. I hadn't thought about thickness affecting effective height of cylinder. Of course. thanks.

Nessism wrote: Bad idea to cut a base gasket. The material choice is critical and it's not an expensive gasket anyway.

For all the various parts you can go to Kawasaki.com and look up the parts diagrams for your bike in the Owners support section of their website. You will have to look at a number of different pages including those for the crankcase, cylinder, cylinder head, valve cover, valves, etc. Look through them all and make a list of the parts. Just going off the top of my head but you will need: base gasket, base gasket O-rings, O-rings around the cylinder studs, head gasket, O-rings for the head gasket, valve stem seals, cam plug rubber seals, valve cover gasket, cam chain tensioner seals and gaskets, tach drive O-ring and seals. Do them all and be done with it for the next 30 years.

I'll look through that and put together a list. thanks.