The "Turd" is down and out(head gaskets & other stuff)

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AApple

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Location
Duncanville, Texas
My Bike Models
1981 GL1100 Innerstate("The Turd")SOLD!!, 1996 GL1500 Innerstate
..at least for the winter. The last couple of days of riding saw the coolant temps climbing higher than "normal". See a thin oil film in the reservoir now, but still no coolant in the oil, so....it's time. No sense putting it off any longer. OUT SHE COMES! :builder:

I have my "Bucket List" already made out, so I'll have an idea of what I need to do, time & $$$ permitting. Since I'm now not even getting home in the evenings until 8pm, I don't have any spare time to fool with it during the week, so this will all be done on the weekends....Mama permitting. :beg:
I'mma hoping to at least get the coolant leak/steam issue taken care of, as well as all of the friggin oil leaks. And, of course, tires....it's time for both, again.(don't say it.... :rant: )

Weather turned cold here this mernin, 38f....too cold for me to ride anyway. Time to start buyin PARTS! :yahoo:
 
The deed is done. Out in the geeraj this mernin, lissenin to "Alice's Restaurant", and tearin the Turd down. Got the right side head off, and stopped for today. For one, it's dark in the geeraj....and it's rainin, so I can't leave the door open. 2nd, Mama says "Come and git it!". So, I'm done for the day. I'm pretty sure I have found the issue with the coolant leak/steaming from the right side, but let's see how many of youse guys agree. :ahem:
I am still preparing to remove the engine from the frame, so I can do a reseal on it. I'm tired of the dang thing lookin like a friggin ol farm sneezle. I see the left side cam seal is leaking for sure, but it looks like the crank seal is good and dry. Also prolly leaking erl from the front/trans cover, since I had it off twice when I did the water pump. I will NOT be using gaskets this time....sillycone and/or Aviation sealant will be my friend this time around. :yes:
Hope everyone is enjoying the day of Thanks... :BigGrin:

 
Be certain the head and block surfaces are dead flat. I'm sure you know that but a reminder won't hurt.
 
A heads-up...you might have a shifter rod clearance issue if you don't use a gasket on the front cover - check it first with a dry install. On my '83 build, I did a "practice" engine assembly without gaskets or seals, and the shifter locked up when I snugged up the cover. A little creative machining on the inside of the cover would remedy the situation, if you want to go that route. I'm not sure about the oil pump-to-water pump shaft clearance...
 
Got the left side head off yesterday, and got the engine almost ready to come out. Just need to whack the stator wires off, get the snapping ring off the driving shaft, and remove the last couple of mount bolts, and this beetch is out.
I'm going to install helicoils in the engine case for the head bolts this time. I think there was one bolt that just dint feel right when I put the heads on last time(3 years ago), so I'mma gunna fix that issue this time around. Left side gasket looked good, no issues with the sealing on it. Just gotta locate & purchase some OE head gaskets, and some cam seals. Left side cam seal is leaking. Once I got the cam out of the head, I can see daylight between the seal and the cam surface.... :doh: That was the biggest leak on the front.
Still need to order the tires(Bike Bandit has them on sale right now :yahoo: ), too. I'm taking my time on it this time around, since it's wintertime, and I can't ride anyway.

Still looking for comments/opinions on the right side head/gasket....anyone? I found the problem, just curious if anyone else sees the same thing I see.




The carbon on the pistons and the combustion chambers looks worse than it really is....most of it wipes right off with a rag...
 
Looks to me like both end bolts at the bottom were not tight. Being head bolts into an aluminum block. I strongly suggest you install timeserts instead of helicoils.
 
Tires, head gaskets, cam seals, and trans cover gaskets ordered.
The problem I found was the head gasket on the right side had delaminated right in between the two cylinders. The piece of loose gasket can be seen at the lower left of the rear cylinder water jacket in this pic....
The stainless fire ring is stained where the coolant has been seeping into the cylinders. The front cylinder wall has indications of coolant sitting in it, but it doesn't show in the pics. I surmised that once the hot engine was shut down for a few minutes, coolant would seep into the cylinders, and when it was fired back up shorty after, it would blow the coolant out past the exhaust valve, into the pipe, and that's where the steaming was coming from.

Gots plenty more cleaning/werk to do yet, but I'll have it all done before riding season comes back around.....theoretically.... :blush:

Not too concerned with using helicoils in the aluminumninum block.....I use them quite often in high stress applications in aluminuminum....haven't had a failure yet.....yet... :whistling:
 
[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=163713#p163713:113l8d0u said:
dan filipi » Tue Dec 01, 2015 2:23 pm[/url]":113l8d0u]
I'd be curious if the head flatness is within spec.

Seems warped heads are kind of a common theme. Checking them for flatness needs to be a critical step in a head gasket job.
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=163714#p163714:yo04foq5 said:
bronko37 » 3 minutes ago[/url]":yo04foq5]
[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=163713#p163713:yo04foq5 said:
dan filipi » Tue Dec 01, 2015 2:23 pm[/url]":yo04foq5]
I'd be curious if the head flatness is within spec.

Seems warped heads are kind of a common theme. Checking them for flatness needs to be a critical step in a head gasket job.
It sure does.
When I rebuilt engines and did valve jobs on car engines it was always standard practice to flatten the head. I don't see why this engine would be any different.
 
The higher mass of the block lessens possible warpage but it is possible and should be checked for flatness.
 
Engine is OUT.
kleek fo mo peeks
I moved the bike around back, up on the deck, and put the cover on it. This gives me much more room in the garage to work on the engine. I stuck the engine up on a short table I have, so it is up high enough to work on without bending over. My real workbench is just too dam cluttered to do much on it, anyway.
I been taking some of the parts I already had off to the shop during the week, and puttin them in the washer. Heads, case guards, floorboards, valve covers, etc.
I still need to pull the valves out of the heads, do some cleaning, and lap the valves, as well as file the surfaces to make them flat.
I also went ahead and removed the carb rack....I think I need to go thru them before putting it all back together. We shall see how that lil story goes. Got a couple of small items painted, too.
Still waiting on my dang gaskets to get here, tho. :rant: Ordered them the same day I ordered the tires, on Monday...tires got here Wednesday. Got an email yesterday confirming the gaskets/seals have been shipped....estimated delivery date? 12-10-15!! :sensored:

Have ya'll started a pool on how long this will take, or IF it will ever run again? :smilie_happy: :BigGrin:
 
Oh yeah we got a pool going! We also have a contest for writing the best eulogy for the turd. May it rest in pieces..... :smilie_happy:

Really though I have every confidence that it will run again.......... providing the mail system eventually delivers said parts. Shipping has become a beech and a real crapshoot. :yes:
 
Ya....sure ya weel.... :whistling:
:hihihi:

Updates for today. Got the block, and heads "surfaced", and looking nice. Took a long while, but I'm happy with the results.





I discovered something new, too. The neutral switch WILL come out without splitting the case. I thought it dint, but it do. Mine is leaking, so I'll be fixing that.

:yes:

When I got the front/trans cover off, I saw this wear. The shift mechanism is rubbing against the block. It's not bad, but it won't fix itself. Not sure what to do aboot it, tho.

:shock:

Lottsa fine rust in the dang ignition housing, too. Appears to be from the ball bearings that the advance plate rides on. Hafta disassemble that thing again(not a fun job), and schmear some lube on it.


That's all I did for today. I'll be taking the stuff I took off today to the shop to put in the washer tomorrow. I have a question for the more experienced fellers now. Should I clean all of the bolt-on stuff, then bolt it all on, and THEN clean the rest of the engine, or clean it with as few bolt on parts as possible? I don't want to get any more crap inside the engine than I have to, but there are some areas of it that I can't really clean with the covers/heads bolted on. Decision decisions.... :headscratch:


Anyone wanna tackle these nasty things? :ahem: :hihihi:

All of the fine sand/gravel stuff is what comes up off of the roads around here. The whole top of the engine is layered with the stuff. I blow it off every week or so, but onced it gets stuck to the oil leaks, it's there for good. That's the main reason I wanna get all these dang leaks fixed.... :builder:
 
Heads and block look great! Not sure what if anything to do with that wear spot. I'd spray as much crap off those carbs with engine cleaner as I could and call it a day.As long as they are working good.
 
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