Where to start for head gasket repair?

[Joshwuh]

My bike has been drinking a lot of oil lately and I just noticed it leaking around the engine after some rides. My friend said that my head gasket is leaking it. I am a novice and was wondering if someone could tell me what would have to be repaired or done to fix this. Further, if anyone could point me in the right direction to figure out how to do this I would appreciate it as well. Thanks.


btw my bike's a '77 XS400 17k miles on it. Changed the oil and filter once since I got it early this summer and used Castrol 10w40 oil. (I'm going to switch to diesel at the next change)

 

[HoughMade]

The only thing that has to be done, if that is the problem, is a head gasket replacement. That can be done with the engine in the frame, but it's tight. The best thing to do is get the factory manual and read through the part about removing the head.

 

[redratbike]

yep head has to come off no easy way round it ..if you have a haynes/clymer manual then just read it over and over then go for it

as long as you have the tools and some patience you should be ok...have a table to lay out all the bits you take off and bag and lable if needed

 

[jctanner]

Is it leaking oil or burning oil?
You might have to change the valve seals. I just did this and it solved my issue.
http://www.xs400.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5482

And I second Hough on the manual. Haynes walked me through most of it, and the forum filled in the blanks.

jt

 

[Joshwuh]

It's leaking it from the middle of the engine. Although, it could be burning it as well for all I know. I replaced the spark plugs yesterday and had a friend look at them. He didn't see anything unusual or indicative of that. Thanks for the help. I have a Haynes manual and will start reading.

 

[lhaolpa]

When you have the head off for gasket replacement,you'll have a chance to do some measurements.Pull the piston up one at a time and slip a feeler gauge carefully in beside the piston[you may need to buy a set that's not too wide],to fit in there between the piston and cylinder wall.Compare the clearance with the specs in the manual,which is 0.0012"-0.0019",and if it's close,and the cylinders are in good shape,just put the gasket on,and enjoy!!!!!!

 

[lhaolpa]

Instead of buying a manual,download the manuals in the tech section[I downloaded to a cd-rom,so it's not on my hard drive[my kids fill it up fast as I can empty it].Also,to check for leaky valves,put gas or W-D 40 in the "well" of the valve and wait 10-15 minutes,if it doesn't leak,OK.If it does,you'll need to lap the valves,easy job,just get a lapper at auto parts store and grinding compound,and lap them and check again. Also,as mentioned valve seals at the same time will always help......lha

 

[Joshwuh]

Great thanks for the advice Ihaolpa!