valve cover leak

[Doug royal86]

I replaced a valve cover gasket this winter. The more I ride it appears it leaks a little more and more. I noticed the bolts did bottom out. Could the grommets be worn enough not to let i seat tight enough.

[Guest Jamsie]

might be the gasket didnt seat properly. old trick for large o ring type gaskets is to smear it with petroleum jelly ( vasalene ) , this stops the gasket moving as you place the valve cover on the head

[Yammer Dan]

There was a trick for adding washers to the grommets here somewhere to snug them up a little. DO BE CAREFULL with the wrench on those shoulder bolts.

[VanRiver]

Be careful not to over tighten those valve cover bolts.....I broke one off during my last gasket change. These bolts have a "shoulder" and will only tighten so far....so if all your bolts have been tightened to the max (bolt shoulder stop) then it might be 2 things....your gasket is not seated properly or the bolts are not putting enough sealing pressure. If it truly is the latter then it could be the rubber grommets being old and compressed or a thin gasket that is out of spec from Mother Yamaha.

 

I can almost guarantee it is a gasket not seated properly. I had a really difficult time getting mine seated properly (it took me 3 tries) plus I had to buy a tube of special gasket seat compound to hold it in place otherwise I would need 5 sets of hands to hold properly......or need to flip the bike upside down while I was doing the work.

 

But like I said, I might not be the best person to give advise on this topic... because on try #3 when I finally got mine seated properly with the compound I turned into the Hulk and broke a bolt...... I'm kind of famous for making small jobs harder then they should be....hopefully you have a better reputation.

[Yammer Dan]

If you look at the grommets when you have them out if I remember right you pull the grommet off the bolt. Go to Hardware and buy fiber washers to fit. Then put washer on bolt then grommet. This makes the bolt push a little more on the cover. Make sense?? There is a pretty good selection of washers at Lowe's. I used one maybe 1/16th of a inch thick. Stopped the leak. Grommets are not easy to take off bolts!!!

[Doug royal86]

I drilled out a 1/4 " washer (thickness) and put on the bolt looks like it will work. Thanks for the information.now a new gasket for the stator

[Yammer Dan]

Ya having all kinds of fun....