bombshelter13
Well-known member
Just yesterday, I noticed that my bike seems to have developed a slow oil leak from the gasket underneath the valve cover. The leak seems to be centred around the front right half-circle shaped portion of the gasket, but I can't really say certain yet: when I discovered it, there was some oil following the line of the gasket to the sides of the half-circle piece as well, but I'm not sure yet whether this was just runoff from the leak at the half-circle location or whether the leak is actually wider. To figure this out, I cleaned off the whole section the other day, and am keeping an eye on it to see where the oil's actually coming from.
Background on the bike: The bike is a 2007 GS500F which I purchased in March with 800 miles on it and no known mechanical issues at the time of purchase. Since then, I've put another 4500 miles on it (totalling about 5300 on the clock right now) and have come to the conclusion that something is probably either clogged or sticking in my carburetor, but not so badly as to cause more than a little roughness, so I've been trying to put off dealing with this for a while.
Maintenance I've performed includes:
- Oil change, twice: once at around 1200 miles to get out any junk from the break in period, and once at about 4500 miles (don't have my maintenance record sheet with me presently for the exact figure).
- Regular lubing of chain, performed an adjustment of tension at about 1500 km or so.
- Checked spark plugs, brake fluid, etc. a couple of times, all looked fine so no action taken.
- Made some small adjustments here and there to clutch cable and throttle cable tension.
- Occasionally fiddled around with the idle adjustment screw to get the idle speed 'just right'.
So, I want to fix this leak but have a few questions before I do. There're also some other maintenance tasks that it seems like I might as well do while I've got things disassembled, and I've got some questions there too.
Questions about fixing the oil leak:
1. Should I try to just add some sealant to the gasket, or should I replace the whole gasket outright?
2. If adding sealant is viable, I hear a lot of people say 'use RTV', but when I look up RTV on the Canadian Tire website, several products show up. Which kind of RTV should I be using?
3. Are there any other washers or O-rings that I'm going to have to remove in the process of lifting the valve cover to get at the gasket that I might want to have replacements handy for?
Questions about other things that I might also want to take care of while things are taken apart:
4. I'm probably about due for a valve check. I guess I should probably do this while I'm in there, since I'll have the valve cover off anyways? Gonna guess that the answer here is probably yes. What tools will I need to perform a valve check/adjustment? Assume that I've already got the cover off and am asking about the tools I'm going to need once I'm inside, I'm pretty confident that I have the tools required to remove the cover itself. Feeler gauges? Shims (what kind, how many)? Anything else?
5. It would probably also make sense to take a look at the carbs while I'm in there - as mentioned before, something seems like it's either stuck or clogged in there, and I also have a set of Buddha's jets that I'd like to install. Are there any gaskets, o-rings or washers I'm likely to destroy in the process of opening the carbs that I should have replacements handy for?
I'm also going to change the air filter since it's just about at it's expiry date according to the maintenance schedule, but that seems straightforwards. Might even change the spark plugs for iridium ones, just for kicks.
Questions about tools:
6. Will I need a torque wrench for any of the things I intend on doing?
I'd like to just make a weekend of it and fix the leak, check my valves, change the air filter, clean my carbs and install my jets all in one go, so I just want to make sure that I have all the tools and parts that I'm going to need.
Background on the bike: The bike is a 2007 GS500F which I purchased in March with 800 miles on it and no known mechanical issues at the time of purchase. Since then, I've put another 4500 miles on it (totalling about 5300 on the clock right now) and have come to the conclusion that something is probably either clogged or sticking in my carburetor, but not so badly as to cause more than a little roughness, so I've been trying to put off dealing with this for a while.
Maintenance I've performed includes:
- Oil change, twice: once at around 1200 miles to get out any junk from the break in period, and once at about 4500 miles (don't have my maintenance record sheet with me presently for the exact figure).
- Regular lubing of chain, performed an adjustment of tension at about 1500 km or so.
- Checked spark plugs, brake fluid, etc. a couple of times, all looked fine so no action taken.
- Made some small adjustments here and there to clutch cable and throttle cable tension.
- Occasionally fiddled around with the idle adjustment screw to get the idle speed 'just right'.
So, I want to fix this leak but have a few questions before I do. There're also some other maintenance tasks that it seems like I might as well do while I've got things disassembled, and I've got some questions there too.
Questions about fixing the oil leak:
1. Should I try to just add some sealant to the gasket, or should I replace the whole gasket outright?
2. If adding sealant is viable, I hear a lot of people say 'use RTV', but when I look up RTV on the Canadian Tire website, several products show up. Which kind of RTV should I be using?
3. Are there any other washers or O-rings that I'm going to have to remove in the process of lifting the valve cover to get at the gasket that I might want to have replacements handy for?
Questions about other things that I might also want to take care of while things are taken apart:
4. I'm probably about due for a valve check. I guess I should probably do this while I'm in there, since I'll have the valve cover off anyways? Gonna guess that the answer here is probably yes. What tools will I need to perform a valve check/adjustment? Assume that I've already got the cover off and am asking about the tools I'm going to need once I'm inside, I'm pretty confident that I have the tools required to remove the cover itself. Feeler gauges? Shims (what kind, how many)? Anything else?
5. It would probably also make sense to take a look at the carbs while I'm in there - as mentioned before, something seems like it's either stuck or clogged in there, and I also have a set of Buddha's jets that I'd like to install. Are there any gaskets, o-rings or washers I'm likely to destroy in the process of opening the carbs that I should have replacements handy for?
I'm also going to change the air filter since it's just about at it's expiry date according to the maintenance schedule, but that seems straightforwards. Might even change the spark plugs for iridium ones, just for kicks.
Questions about tools:
6. Will I need a torque wrench for any of the things I intend on doing?
I'd like to just make a weekend of it and fix the leak, check my valves, change the air filter, clean my carbs and install my jets all in one go, so I just want to make sure that I have all the tools and parts that I'm going to need.
