Z1R Camshaft End cap bulge.

Hi guys, was looking to see if you guys had any insight on my situation, im quite puzzled.
Over the course of the restoration, we have fired the bike up on several different occasions to test things out, find more issues and tear it back down again to resolve them. . The most recent tear down involved taking off the engine cover to replace the gasket which was leaking quite a bit. Once we re-installed everything, and started the bike up, we encountered something that had not occurred before. The camshaft end caps bulged out nearly a cm once the bike was fully warmed up. They also leak out the bottom along where they meet the cylinder head. I have no reason to suspect that they've ever been replaced, so im not surprised by the leak, but its the bulging out that worries me, as it wasnt there before. It also seems as if oil is now coming out of nearly every gasket on the engine, and while the bike had its leaks during the earlier startups, they are now more numerous and more severe. I checked the crankcase breather which was working fine, thinking crankcase over pressure was the cause of the numerous leaks and bulging. Prior to my ownership the bike sat for nearly thirty years, so i get that most of the gaskets are probably long gone, but it just seemed odd and I wasnt sure if I was missing anything obvious. The sudden increase in number and severity of leaks, along with the bulging end caps has me concerned that I've done something wrong. Maybe I just didn't notice the bulge before but its pretty damn obvious so I doubt it. Please let me know what you think, any insight would be appreciated. The bike itself is stock besides a 4-1 exhaust and a oil cooler.
Thanks

Sounds like you should have a valve cover vent. I have a 77-kz1000A1 and it has a vent hole in the middle of the cover which is vented out the rear of the bike, via a fitting and tube. You may have the wrong valve (engine) cover.

What oil are you using ?

urankjj wrote: Sounds like you should have a valve cover vent. I have a 77-kz1000A1 and it has a vent hole in the middle of the cover which is vented out the rear of the bike, via a fitting and tube. You may have the wrong valve (engine) cover.

On a stock bike a working factory oil breather should be fine .
But here is a sample from my turbo b ike on how to vent a cam cover
Dave

It sounds to me like your oil return passages are blocked. Oil gets pumped up to the cams but doesn't seem to be returning to the sump.

urankjj wrote: Sounds like you should have a valve cover vent. I have a 77-kz1000A1 and it has a vent hole in the middle of the cover which is vented out the rear of the bike, via a fitting and tube. You may have the wrong valve (engine) cover.

I have a '77 KZ-1000A1 and I don't recall having a vent on the valve cover with a hose on it. I am going to have to take another look at mine.

Rick H.

You don't and it's not needed on a stock or mildly modified street bike.
Steve

hardrockminer wrote:
It sounds to me like your oil return passages are blocked. Oil gets pumped up to the cams but doesn't seem to be returning to the sump.

There are no real oil return passages or ports. The oil pumped up to the cams flow back through the cam chain slot into the oil pan.

Scirocco wrote:

hardrockminer wrote:
It sounds to me like your oil return passages are blocked. Oil gets pumped up to the cams but doesn't seem to be returning to the sump.

There are no real oil return passages or ports. The oil pumped up to the cams flow back through the cam chain slot into the oil pan.

Check a little more closely. Look in the valve ports and you will see how oil drains back to the cam chain slot. But on reflection....this would not cause a pressure buildup unless the cam chain slot itself was blocked.

Please point me (us) to the passage how the oil drains back to the cam chain slot through the valve ports.