Bad News....

[neoshifter]

I recently posted about how my bike had a little trouble starting,and had sluggish response at higher speeds,and that is wasn't quite running right(kinda felt like it was running out of gas).It felt like it wanted to stall when I got down to 1st gear....I thought it was just a fouled plug,but a friend of mine noticed that there is oil that is starting to seep through on the left side,right where you can see the head(It's on about 4 or 5 of the fins...).....you can see where the oil just started to hit the fairing too(very little though).Can it be the head gasket?!My motor only has about 7K on it,is this common around that mileage?!Is it even worth fixing,or should I start looking into getting a new motor?!I love my bike,but this seems like an expensive problem....Any advice is greatly appreciated,thanks.

[Slofuze]

IMHO...... I'd look into getting new gasket......or at least checking the torque on all the bolts before even considering a new motor. It might be a "cheap" fix.

[arsenic]

it is probably the head gasket, that's a cheap easy fix, no problem.

[katanawarrior]

it is probably the head gasket, that's a cheap easy fix, no problem.

I concur!

[squiggy]

It could be a failure of the rubber head cover gasket, washers for the valve stem plugs or, as was said, the head gasket. Depends on if the oil starts dribbling down where you can't see it, then when it low enough to get into the air stream the oil flows to where you can see it.

Where in this old picture of mine would you say the oil leak is at?

[Idrivetoys]

yeah when Joseph called me and was telling me about it i thought of Head gasket, unless the slight oil leak was old or just a valve cover seepage

[arsenic]

when he says "fins" I think he's talking about cylinder block fins. That means it's leaking from the bottom of the cylinder head. That pretty much leaves one thing.

[hardlydangerous]

valve cover leak and or oil seal leak won't cause a loss of performance and poor running.
I agree ... pull the head, check it for being true and free of any warps, buy a new gasket and properly torque it down.

Every mechanic is different but I recommend using permatex copper spray on both sides of the head gasket before installing it. It is especially important on steel head gaskets or gaskets with steel combustion ring liner. I have had super results and excellent reliability using the copper spray (not the **** in a tube) even in two piece combustion domes.



Fast-drying, metallic copper sealant helps dissipate heat, prevents gasket burnout and improves heat transfer. Fills minor surface irregularities. Seals instantly. Fills hot spots and surface imperfections. Temperature range -50°F to 500°F (-45°C to 260°C); resists all types of automotive fluids, especially gasoline. Level 3*

Suggested Applications: Cylinder head gaskets, carburetor gaskets, exhaust manifold gaskets and other high temperature applications


I have heard that cometic gaskets are slightly thinner then OE and will provide you with a slight boost in compression. I have not personally measured them against each other to prove this though

[suzukiray]

Actually, Suzuki tells you to use their gaskets DRY & I've never had a Suzuki head gasket leak when put together with nothing else on it. I've been doing engine builds for over 30 years & never had an issue with a Suzuki gasket on a replacement or rebuild. COPPER gaskets are another story. Ray.

[hardlydangerous]

I dont doubt you or your abilities one bit

but just check around and look how many stock Suzuki's and other mfgs have leaky head and base gaskets over time.
Do you know how many stock head gaskets I've replaced working at verious delaerships and my own shops over the years on low mileage bikes? Hundreds
I've never had one re- leak using the spray and in some cases on race day and in the pit repairs I have had to reuse gaskets several times.

Obviously if this guy has a bad headgasket already at 7k. dry gaskets from suzuki are not the BEST set up !

When we rebuild race engine we use stronger hardware, and much tighter tolerances and percicely machined components... You can't compare one of mine or your own race engines to a stock GS or GSXF/R engine.
On a stock engine that had a leaky gasket to start with there very well could be some slight imperfections in the mating surfaces, casting and machining flaws or issues with the hardware that caused the leak in the first place.
The copper spray will eliminate any issues from slight imperfections when properly used.
and as i'm sure you know Copper spary is not just for copper gaskets...

like i said every mechanic is different
each to his own and all that

[neoshifter]

I appreciate everyone's help so far.....sorry so late,but here is what it looks like.....

[arsenic]

that is a head gasket, beyond a shadow of a doubt.

[JimG4652]

Every mechanic is different but I recommend using permatex copper spray on both sides of the head gasket before installing it. It is especially important on steel head gaskets or gaskets with steel combustion ring liner. I have had super results and excellent reliability using the copper spray (not the **** in a tube) even in two piece combustion domes.

[The CyberPoet]

I'm a "ditto" on the dry-gaskets when it comes to the Kats... All the leaks I've seen have always been with some form of aftermarket gasket material on them (not doubting you hardlydangerous -- copper spray makes sense to me).

Obviously if this guy has a bad headgasket already at 7k.

The real question (to me) is how did he end up with a bad head gasket by 7k miles? And I suspect the answer will be overheated engine and potential compounding of the problem through use of cheaper oils.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

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[arsenic]

I'm with Hardlydangerous on the copper gasket spray. We did a lot of that stuff at Suzuki. We used copper spray. SO, the manufacture OEM parts the manufacturer service, and we did what the manufacture says not to do. I fully understand not using the spray and intalling it dry, we kinda did things so we did not have to do them again. Hardlydangerous is correct, every mechanic is different.