what happened to my head gasket

[n8dizzle2003]

I had a leak in the rocker cover so i pulled it off to fix the leak and deceided to take off the head since i just rebuilt everything. This what i found. Looks like exhaust what slipping past the gasket and shooting up stud. Any ideas on what caused this and Does anyone thing that i should reuse head gasket or should i just buy another one...???

[84honda 200X]

Man i know exactly what happened its happened to me once and it was like that when i got my 200X my problem was that the head had the wrong torque on it and it wasnt tight enough. The other reason would be that the head is warped witch in the case your gonna need a new head. What happened is because it wasnt sealed as good the exhaust gasses seeped out at high speeds and you lost compression and power and it ate away your gasket and the stud and when the stud got hot it would expand and let the air out. Your gonna have to replace the stud.I hope this all helps ive had it happen to me and its no fun. Also you seemed to have caught it before it developed more my head gasket was completely gone on one side it aite away the metal ring and the stud.

[KASEY]

looks like it wasn't torqued properly,,, HMMMM . if it leaked the first time why do you think it WON'T leak the second time? NEVER REUSE A HEAD GASKET ON A FOUR STROKE,,,,,

[kilabeez0]

what if you just tighten the crap out of the head bolts?

[bigredhead]

head gaskets are one time use i beleive.

the heat the the pressure nukes them up real good, and the only real way to know it will seal properly ( and since you have it apart anyways ) is to put in a new one.

[n8dizzle2003]

i torqued them to what the clymer manual said which was like 14 ft/lbs i think and i even checked them after i ran the machine for a few minutes. Can someone tell me if this was the right amount and any special tricks they did to keep this from happening.

[kilabeez0]

dumb question, but there is no gasket between the rocker cover and head right?

[TRI-Zbrian]

check for cylinder and head worpage..... you may need to get them slightly decked to "true" the surfaces.... do that and get new gaskets and torque themdoun the right amount and your problem should go away.

[440exwlspankyou]

There should be a gasket between the rocker cover and the head.

[jeswinehart]

what motor is that ???
on the hondas i i have re-done ( not that many - lol ) there is a green o-ring that go on 1 of the studs.


john

[ejc042]

On the 185, 200, 200X motors there is not a gfasket between the head and rocker covers. The book says to use a sealant between the two pieces. (i.e. RTV, etc)

[Dammit!]

You didn't torque them down all at once and in one direction did you?

You should tighten them down a bit at a time in a criss-cross fashion until they're to spec.

14 ft/lbs seems loose to me but I don't have a shop manual for that bike to confirm. My R manual states 17-21 ft/lbs for the head bolts and even that doesn't feel tight to me.

[n8dizzle2003]

yes i tightened each one gradually and i thought that 14 ft/lbs seems a litltle on the loose side but that is what the cllymer manual called for. Well i got new gaskets on order and i will check the mating surfaces of both parts for warpage. Thanks everyone