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Coolant leak from the head gasket - :-(

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MarJay
But it's British!



Joined: 15 Sep 2003
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PostPosted: 09:04 - 21 Apr 2009    Post subject: Coolant leak from the head gasket - :-( Reply with quote
Hello.

My YPVS is currently made of fail. I managed to run it last night with the fuel tank off so that I could try to see where the coolant leak is. I believe the coolant leak is from the head gasket in the centre of the head between the barrels.

It is possible that the leak is from the thermostat housing which is above the head, but I did try to dry it all off with a cloth and then tried to feel for dampness but I could only feel water under the edge of the head.

What is the best way to repair this? I've resigned myself to draining the coolant again and removing the head. What can I use to seal it? I've heard good things about Hylomar Blue, but would that work? Would it be OK to put a thin layer of Hylomar blue around the outer edge of the head gasket to help seal the water jackets?

Any help will be gratefully received! Smile
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.
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sickpup
Old Timer



Joined: 21 Apr 2004
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PostPosted: 11:38 - 21 Apr 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote
Does the YPvS have separate barrels and a single head?
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MarJay
But it's British!



Joined: 15 Sep 2003
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PostPosted: 12:54 - 21 Apr 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote
sickpup wrote:
Does the YPvS have separate barrels and a single head?


Yes it does.
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.
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sickpup
Old Timer



Joined: 21 Apr 2004
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PostPosted: 14:40 - 21 Apr 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote
Check the tops of barrels are level before you do anything else.
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Vincent This post is not being displayed because the poster is banned. Unhide this post / all posts.

MarJay
But it's British!



Joined: 15 Sep 2003
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PostPosted: 15:01 - 21 Apr 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote
No I used a copper head gasket and sealed it with Copper coat. I'm fairly sure the barrels are level, although I have had the head skimmed. I don't really want to faff about lapping stuff to stuff, if I wanted to do that I'd have gone the whole hog and ditched the head gasket altogether. The head was level before I had it skimmed, I had it skimmed to play with the squish gap (which is now pretty much bang on my target of 0.9mm.

No, I went with the copper gasket to dispense with that kind of messing around. All I need is the right sealant and it'll be OK, especially as I've got good equal compression in both cylinders and there is no water getting into the barrels.

Its just the water jacket that needs sealing. I've bought some Wellseal.... would that do the job?
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
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MarJay
But it's British!



Joined: 15 Sep 2003
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PostPosted: 15:43 - 21 Apr 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote
Vincent wrote:
Have you tried annealing the gasket? Was the head ever lapped in after the skim? And how much was the skim? (not in £s, in mm). last question not realated to leak.


The head wasn't lapped in after the skim. I did anneal the gasket but I'm not 100% sure I did it properly as I couldn't get the whole gasket to glow cherry red at the same time. Once I had made all of it glow cherry red (as per instructions with the gasket) but not at the same time, I quenched it in a bucket of clean water. Then I cleaned it and sprayed about five layers of copper coat and installed it on the bike.

I had the head skimmed by 0.6mm, and I had an 0.5mm copper gasket made when the standard head gasket is 0.8mm. This should reduce the squish from 1.9mm to 0.9mm, which is supposedly the magic amount to make the bike work better. As per here. That guy dispensed with the head gasket altogether, but I didn't trust his method so I had a thinner gasket made.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.
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M1ke
Ped Boi



Joined: 11 Jun 2002
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PostPosted: 16:45 - 21 Apr 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote
I think I would have tried some of that holts wonder weld that you add to your coolant. It pumps around the engine and seals minor leaks...

Now you have the head off I would try the instant gasket blue stuff that you can buy on the bit that you think is leaking!
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Gazdaman
I did a trackday!!!



Joined: 12 Aug 2004
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PostPosted: 17:09 - 21 Apr 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hylomar blue is pretty good stuff. I used it between crank cases on my old MZ.

Little bit of a bodge, I bet it's from using a non original head gasket though.

Gaz
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Robby
Dirty Old Man



Joined: 16 May 2002
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PostPosted: 17:40 - 21 Apr 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote
Just to tack onto the back of this.

I'll be rebuilding my YPVS next week, standard head and barrels with a standard gasket. Should I give it smear of hylomar as well, or just let the gasket do its thing?

Marje, I've had good experience with blue hylomar in the past - used it to seal the cam cover onto the head on my old CB250, seeing as it didn't use a gasket and the cam cover was a little warped. Cut down the oil spray.
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The Artist
Super Spammer



Joined: 06 Jan 2008
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PostPosted: 19:16 - 21 Apr 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hermatite. made by the same people that make hammerite. Get the blue one, semi hardening.

Make sure the gasket is clean and use sealant sparingly.
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sickpup
Old Timer



Joined: 21 Apr 2004
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PostPosted: 19:47 - 21 Apr 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote
BLUEX5 wrote:
Never known a YPVS head gasket seal long term unless it was a) new and b) genuine Yamaha. I wouldn't of thought a copper gasket would of needed any goo to seal it TBH, my reaction would be to check the flatness of the barells and head, as well as the length of the barrells as this can vary surprisingly.


Which is exactly what I meant but seems to have been misunderstood.
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MarJay
But it's British!



Joined: 15 Sep 2003
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PostPosted: 19:56 - 21 Apr 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote
sickpup wrote:
Which is exactly what I meant but seems to have been misunderstood.


It hasn't been misunderstood, but I put a steel rule across the barrels and they seemed to be OK.

I've tightened the head bolts a bit - the haynes manual says 25 lb ft, and I checked them and they had a little to go before they reached that figure. I then tightened them again to 30 lb ft and the dripping seems to have stopped. It remains to be seen if this has stopped the leak.

As I said, I don't want to start withdrawing all of the studs, finding a piece of glass and fucking about with emery paper. There shouldn't be any need when the bike was perfectly fine before I had the head skimmed. The whole point of a gasket is that it takes up this kind of imperfection. The head was perfectly smooth before I skimmed it, and the surface of the head was used as a datum to do the skimming, therefore the head was flat before and it is flat now. Taking 0.6mm off the surface should make no difference to it sealing to the barrels.

I was also advised not to alter the height of the barrel surface in any way as this can have bad consequences. Either way, I did put a steel rule across the barrels and they were fine. I'm sure if they were way out I'd be losing compression as well as water, which I'm not.

Robby, I was advised to use a bit of Hylomar if I was to butcher the OE gasket so there is certainly no reason why you can't use it on a normal OE gasket as a kind of belt and braces...
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.
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BanditsHigh
Worse than a woman



Joined: 21 Mar 2005
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PostPosted: 07:25 - 22 Apr 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote
Quote:
Once I had made all of it glow cherry red (as per instructions with the gasket) but not at the same time, I quenched it in a bucket of clean water.


Which means you've just hardened it!!

If you want to anneal then heat to cherry red and allow to cool down naturally.

All the best ... Barry
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MarJay
But it's British!



Joined: 15 Sep 2003
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PostPosted: 08:13 - 22 Apr 2009    Post subject: Reply with quote
BanditsHigh wrote:
Quote:
Once I had made all of it glow cherry red (as per instructions with the gasket) but not at the same time, I quenched it in a bucket of clean water.


Which means you've just hardened it!!

If you want to anneal then heat to cherry red and allow to cool down naturally.

All the best ... Barry


No, that is as per the instructions sent by the people who make the gasket. The gasket was like butter after I did it. I definitely annealed it. Apparently letting it cool naturally has a similar effect but because the annealed state doesn't last long it is better to quench it so you can install the gasket ASAP while it is still soft.
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.
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