Possible headgasket failure.

[VFRkieran]

Right so as most of you know i gave the heads on my 30 a refresh this winter using a Versah gasket set which apparently would be better than most of the aftermarket sets currently available but it looks like ive made a very costly mistake beleveing this as it seems like both of my headgaskets have failed and possibly the valve stem seals too!


Anyway onto why i think this is the case, so the bike has been back on the road for a week or so now and ive done around 200 odd problem free km on it untill today...

Got the bike started like normal this afternoon and warmed it up same as i allways do, i then noticed some oil dripping from the bottom of the frame by the sidestand and a little bit at the front too, originally i thought it could be the cam cover gaskets leaking but on closer inspection i saw that the oil was actually leaking from the top of the headers, and a bit from the exhaust joins!

I couldnt think up an explanation for this as there was no smoke coming from the exhaust and the bike was running fine, so i took the bike around the block to get it warmed up properly to see if the problem persists and when i got back i checked the overflow bottle and saw a lot of bubbles being pushed out of the pipe and the water was very cloudy.

So does this sound like it could be the headgaskets that have failed or the stem seals too? If anyone can help or has any different suggestions then it would be apreciated, also anyone got a nice low mileage engine kicking around?

Cheers,
Kieran.

[CMSMJ1]

What does the oil look like? Any creamy, pale shit in it?

[VFRkieran]

Nah not really thats what i dont understand, you think it would be if any coolant had got in there but it still doesnt explain bubbles in the overspill or the oil actually leaking from the exhaust joins, am going to get the fairing off and have a good look to see exacty where its coming from but from looking through the gaps its allmost like the head gasket has melted were you can see it at the join!

[CMSMJ1]

That is a bit of a nightmare mate. Be good if it is "only" the blowby into the cooling jacket rather than water going the other way.

Re reading the first post - oil leaking out from where? The exhaust headers and the joins? Getting oil out of there is not something I have heard of before - I would have thought that there is not enough oil in the top of the engine to make it through the valve stem seals/pas the valves or up past the rings and out the ports.

Definitely oil and not oily water/condensation/coolant washing the muck out the ports?

I suppose you'll never know unless you get a good look into it - compression test for the win and to prevent too much more speculation.

[VFRkieran]

Yea it sure is im moving house on the 12th and need to sort a van to move the bike now, yea i think whatever if is im not going to bother spending 200odd quid on a load of genuine gaskets to re do it, wish id have gone with the original plan of using OEM parts but i guess its just a big expensive lesson ive learnt.

It did seem unusual to me that there would be so much oil coming out, normally just turns to blue smoke doesnt it so the fact that there is so much coming out and its not burning off is very strange, definatly doesnt look like its got any water mixed with the oil if anything it just seems a little thin.

When i get to my new place ill probably strip the heads down and have a look to see what the problem is, im just proper let down after all the hours i put in to get it done only to be let down by a bloody gasket!

So do you think the bike would run okish at low speed and at idle is the gasket had gone? Started up easily enough so its got compression but id have thought something else wouldnt be right.

[CMSMJ1]

I'm almost not entirely convinced it has failed properly...oil that is not being burned is coming from somewhere else surely?

Both gaskets failing is also something that seems a touch strange....

[Drunkn Munky]

I thought Versah were the company that made OEM gaskets for honda anyway? tis worrying though as i have a full gasket set here still sitting on the shelf

[VFRkieran]

Yea thats what i thought too mate, they do look very similar to OEM ones but there are differences in them, never really bothered me to begin with as they looked very good but obviously seems like the quality isnt up to standard.

Was hoping you saw this thread Tony as i knew you bought the other set and wondered if you had the same problem, but obviously not yet if you havent used them.

[Drunkn Munky]

No not used them yet, i was going to rebuild the Tony Scott motor with them

Maybe a bad batch? did you get yours from rick? maybe worth asking him if anyone else had any success or not with them.

[VFRkieran]

Fuck me that could have been a bad mistake!

Possibly but id have thought there would be some visual issues with them if the batch was dodgy. Yea got them from Rick, he only bought 2 sets from japan and im not sure if he got anymore in, when i last spoke to him he told me he was going to get a few more sets if he had much interest from them. So maybe mine is the only set thats been used so far.