Oil leak at Valve cover bolt?

[Chris07]

Just purchased a 01 Kat and I was cleaning it the other day and notice a little bit of oil around the head of the valve cover bolt. I have no leaks where the valve cover mates to the head. What could be causing oil look at the top of the bolt?

Thanks,

[HS2020]

The gasket that is on that bolt. If it was over toqued then it could have broken the gasket that is on the bolt its self. I know, I had to repalce my valve cover gasket along with all the ones on the bolts. So that is more than likely the problem. Only way to repalce it is pull the cover and when you do that you have to relace the valve cover gasket as well.

[Chris07]

So the seal itself is on the bolt? So that means I have to buy a new bolt to get the seal? This sound right?

[HS2020]

Nope the seals are seperate. You can just get another seal but you will have to get all new ones for all the other bolts too. You will have to take the valve cover off if in fact the leak is coming from that bolt. You can try and tighten it up a little more just to make sure it hs not backed out. Just remeber you are tightening on aluminum and you can strip it out or break the part it goes into. go to www.ronayers.com and pull up the microfische of your bike and you will see what I am talking about.

http://www.ronayers.com/fiche/300_0298/cylinder_head_cover/cylinder_head_cover.cfm?man=su&groupid=4880&parent=4850

[Chris07]

I circled the area where my leak is coming from. I don’t see a seal for that…??

[Chris07]

I see it, its #7 but its a washer and not a seal

[Aramis]

Had a similar problem on mine (95' 750) when it came back from a valve adjustment, after a ride or two, noticed a little oil on the right side of the engine. At first, I thought the valve cover was leaking from the seal, but further inspection revealed it came from higher. When I lifted the tank, I found a very little puddle of oil in the pit just north of spark plug #4, because of the slant the engine is in, it would accumulate there and not down the plug hole, but of course, leaning the bike caused some to fall off.

It turned out that one of the smaller bolts (not the big corner ones like you mentionned) was not tighten all the way. It's a bolt at the same lever as the spark plug boots, smaller and not an allen head, regular socket driven. Had no torque wrench so I just torqued it like the others, it seemed fine after...

M

[md86]

Yeah , there are little rubber washers or gaskets (whatever you want to call them ) under those botls in the cylinder head . There are kits that have all those little dealies in them . They do spring a leak sometime . Mine have been VERY slowly leaking for a long time now , but never so much that there's a mess everywhere .

[mather_builders]

I just bought a 1990 gsx750f and it rode home without a glitch. Very first time I took it away from home it had oil drips under it. I have not taken the tank off yet, but I believe that I have the exact same issue. From what I can see, it is coming from the same area and is running down the fins eventually falling at the back of the motor. I'm gonna tear into it this weekend to see what I can see. I'll be sure to let you know what I find. Good luck. P.S. The Ronayers.com site is great that was posted here was perfect for me to explain my problem to another online. I am new to this site but have already learned alot. Good luck..

[The CyberPoet]

Just FYI: I generally carry these gaskets and can have them on your doorstep by the third day.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

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