750 Swap - The Continuing Saga...

[zspencer]

Well, we put the 750 CC engine in the kat this weekend, and it is leaking oil like no tomorrow from the head gasket...

So here's the inventory of parts...

1) Pre 750 CC engine with good tranny that needs a head gasket replaced + More possibly
2) Pre 600 CC engine with bad tranny
3) Parts to rebuild 600 CC engines Tranny.
4) Pre 600 Kat with everything in excellent condition except for the engine

So now I need to figure out a course of action that will get the bike back in riding condition fast.

I'm trying to decide if it would be easier to rebuild the transmission on the 600CC engine or do the head gasket fix on the 750...
Thoughts? Ideas?

[shadowhunter04]

I would guess that the head gasket fix would be easier.... I've never done either, but from looking through the repair manual, the transmission rebuild looks like it'll be quite a bit more tedious... I could be wrong though

[steves]

Well, first off do you have a repair manual? There is a specific order for torquing the head bolts down.

I'd suggest that step 1 is to loosen, then re-torque all the head bolts to spec.

[zspencer]

I have a manual for the Kat 600, not the 750. Is the procedure different?

[arsenic]

For that, I believe it's the same. Yes, I would agree, a head gasket is A LOT easier.

[zspencer]

Ok, additional problem: We don't know if it's just the head gasket.

The guy allegedly replaced the OEM gasket with a "AFtermarket" one with more compression, what we are concerned about is what kind of other damage may have occured because we turned it over.

Is there more parts that could be damaged other than the head gasket?

[steves]

Ok, additional problem: We don't know if it's just the head gasket.

The guy allegedly replaced the OEM gasket with a "AFtermarket" one with more compression, what we are concerned about is what kind of other damage may have occured because we turned it over.

Is there more parts that could be damaged other than the head gasket?

The head maybe. Do you have access to the materials to do a leak down test?

[zspencer]

Not sure what a leak down test is, so probably not

[arsenic]

A leak down test is similar to a compression test, you put air pressure into each cylinder and see how much leaks and were it's leaking from. You need a leak down tester to do that, your mechanic friend might have one.

[KatanaBadass]

If you're already into the project this far, fix the 750cc motor.

[zspencer]

Yah my thoughts... Then I can fix the transmission on the 600 over the summer...

In the next few months I'm going to have a house with a garage,!!! I'll be able to buy a Motorcycle Jack, etc!

[zspencer]

OK, so here's the deal. We pulled it apart and the thing was completely not torqued. Like the allen wrench heads on the top of the engine were not even finger tight.

Where it was leaking from is 1) The Valve Cover Gasket, 2) The Head Gasket


At this point the Valve Cover Gasket looks great. I'm hoping that means the head gasket does too. We balked at taking off the Cylinder cover to inspect the head gasket because we didn't want to mess with the timing chain just yet.

It leaked very little from where the head gasket was, so I'm thinking that the leak there was caused by a lack of tension on the four bolts on the center of cylinder block...

if I torque everything back up, refill the oil, etc. what kind of risks will I be running if this is all I do?


I mean obviously I'll want to bring it up to pressure and monitor the engine to see if it's going to leak again...

Hmm, found this thread: http://katriders.com/vb/showthread.php?t=80272

has an oil cooler off a post 750.. Could I use that?

[zspencer]

OK! Tensioned everything! I am happy to announce the engine no longer leaks oil! This is a good thing (TM).

Now I just need the Oil Cooler and I should be good to go.