Clarification On A Couple Of Issues

I have done a search on my questions and received many, many replies, but I didn't see anything specific to my concern. In the Kawasaki KZ-1000A1 Service Manual it states on page 54 to "apply a little liquid gasket around the studs (4) indicated in the figure". This would be the four center studs on the rear of the engine block between the engine case and cylinder block. It also states, "wipe clean any excess liquid gasket that adheres to the mating surface". What are they trying to describe here? Do they just want some liquid gasket material to fill in the void around the stud or what I would call a counterbore for the stud? Can I assume they don't want anything above the stud counterbore, or case surface? And what type or brand of liquid gasket material are they referring to? Did or does Kawasaki make something for this application?

Wiseco supplied an MLS head gasket in the piston kit I bought from them. I was initially going to use a one piece fiber gasket and had no intention of using an MLS gasket. Would you recommend using the Wiseco supplied MLS gasket or stay the course with the one piece gasket I bought. If I use the Wiseco MLS head gasket does it require using the large O-ring around the cam chain tunnel and if so does it go under the MLS gasket? It would be nice if they put some instructions in the kit with reference to the using the gaskets, but there was nothing.

Thanks for any help on this....
Rick H.

Pic of the gasket?
Steve

they want sealer on studs so oil does not wick up through threads
do not get it on base gasket surface.
use MLS head Gasket.
DO NOT USE oring in center I use a bead of sealer in place of oring.

Ok Steve, here is pics of the MLS gasket.
Rick H.

In 40 years of building these engines I have never used any sealer around those studs and have never had an issue with oil leaks or weepage of any kind.
This is on both road and race engines.
All I recommend is to coat both sides of the base gasket with grease to aid settlement and ease of removal and this also resists wicking of the oil through the gasket material.
Also as already mentioned , do not use the cam tunnel 'O' ring with any one piece head gasket.
Fill the groove with RTV ( I use VTECH ) leave overnight to cure and then slice flush with the barrel top with a new box cutter blade.

Thanks Zed1015. This engine rebuild I am going through has been quite the experience for me. There seems to be almost as many chosen ways to assemble an engine as there are products to assemble them. I am always confused by the different types of sealers that people seem to use for engine assembly with this cylinder stud issue being the perfect example. Kawi Bond, Three Bond, Yama Bond and on and on and then you can break it down to different compositions of products, such as Three Bond 1184 or Three Bond 1216, or Hylomar this or Hylomar that. It seems to be an endless selection of products and for someone like me, who is trying to build a leak proof engine is stuck trying to figure out what is best to keep the Leak Monster at bay.

Then to confuse things even more is the advice to follow what the service manual says and related to the base gasket, other than the four cylinder studs, the book says nothing about coating, or greasing the base gasket, yet you suggest to put a coat of grease on it to assist in sealing. Have you ever heard of anyone using Gasgacinch on the base gasket? By the way, your advise makes perfect sense, but it throws out the advise to follow what the book says. Speaking of the "book", it only states use a little liquid gasket around the four cylinder studs, but it doesn't say what liquid gasket to use. If you look at what Kawasaki supplies some of their liquid gasket substances can cost as much as $70.00 (92104-0004) or as little as $9.00 for Kawabond 5. So which to use if one were to do so? The so-called "book" certainly doesn't help answer this, so one is left trying to decide which way to go. From my experience I can only assume if I were to put a liquid gasket substance around those four bolts junctions it would have to be resistant to heat, vibration and oil of course and keep it away from the gasket sealing surface.

So thanks again for the information and helping me trying to clear my confusion up. Experience is a great teacher and I have that on automotive matters, but not air cooled motorcycles so much. I will do as you suggest with the MLS head gasket and place sealer in the o-ring grove and slice flush with the top of the block. I will use no other sealer on the MLS gasket.
Rick H.

I recently chose to use a 2-pc Cometic head gasket for reasons and explanations previously stated.

Rick H. wrote: Have you ever heard of anyone using Gasgacinch on the base gasket?

Everyone one has their own way of doing things, rightly or wrongly and they will use whatever they feel is needed even if it isn't.
Some people swear by Gasgacinch and others by Blue Hylomar , Red/Green Hermetite or whatever else their dad or uncle used back in the day .
I have experience with all those and more and rarely use any sealants on gaskets except in specific areas that are known to be problematic on any particular machine.
Yamabond and Kawabond etc are specifically for the bare mating surfaces of crankcase halves and not gaskets and are pretty much the same stuff in a different tube.
In reality a new gasket on a correctly prepared and clean undamaged surface should need no sealer.
The use of grease enables the even settlement of the gasket when being torque down, it helps seal the pores in the gasket material to resist oil wicking and seepage and also aids in gasket removal at a later date and even allows re-use of most paper gaskets.
It's an old school trick you won't see mentioned in any "book"..

zed1015 wrote: .........................In reality a new gasket on a correctly prepared and clean undamaged surface should need no sealer.......

Exactly. The Kawasaki Service Manual shows areas that need sealer - and there are not very many. Other than those specific areas, Kawasaki did not use sealer when they built the bikes and the bikes did not leak (at least mine didn't) so it would seem that unless the mating surface has been damaged there would be no reason to use sealer except where the manual specifies it. Ed

Threebond makes all the Kawabond, Yamabond, etc. sealers. They make two main types: 1100 series "liquid gasket" and 1200 series RTV. The liquid gasket is the stuff most often referred to as Yamabond and the like and 1184 is the latest formula. This stuff is the defacto stuff to use between the crankcase halves during assembly. The 1200 series stuff like 1211 (white) and 1207B (black) is also popular. On my 750E the crankcase was sealed with silicone and pretty sure it was 1207B. That's what I used during assembly too (if Kawasaki used it then why can't I?)

Regarding sealing around the studs, I think this is important if you remove the studs during the build because the threads penetrate all the way into the sump (on at least some of the models anyway.) Smear sealant around the studs before they are reinstalled.

I don't use anything on the base gasket. If you use aftermarket gaskets putting something like grease on them may encourage the gasket pinching out of place. That WILL happen if you use Athena gaskets regardless of grease usage so consider this a warning to anyone reading (don't ask how I know.)

I will never use a two piece gasket again.
Steve

SWest wrote: I will never use a two piece gasket again.
Steve

Besides copper, what one-piece head gaskets are made specifically for an 1000 and 1100 J-cylinder block that uses o-rings at the corner oil passage cyl studs?

:whistle: