whats going to happen after this..

when I was cranking my engine trying to get a spark I forgot that I loosened my cylinder head bolts, as I hadnt torqued them yet, and was going to take care of that before I cranked it (having just finished an engine overhaul). Well, I start cranking for a while and next thing I know I have a big puddle of oil that leaked out of the right side of the engine btw the jug and the head. I torqued em down, but is my gasket shot? When I get this running is it most likely going to blow right through? Also, I probably got a bunch of oil in the cyclinder(s) as well. Problem when I try to start for the first time?

 

i will probably be disagreed with, but I think as long as you havn't run the engine it shoud be ok.

 

Lou:

In 44-years of wrenching; I ain't never heard that one before ... either!
That makes two, this week, 'cause the other guys Oil Level Window popped out.

You might as well just torque it down good and see what in the heck happens.
You might get away with the blunder.
Maybe nothing will happen and you get to write: "And they all lived happily ever-after."

Then, again ... the story might not be a Fairy Tale.
It could one of those sagas like "Bridge Over The River Kwai"
Just a tale about misery and suffering that ends-up with an big explosion.

Here's what we do know.
Oil leaks very rarely get better over time.
They seen to worsen until the gasket fails and you wind-up pulling the Head and installing a new gasket.
An oil leak usually starts when the gasket gets compromised by considerably less oil than you compromised yours with by forgetting to torque the Head.

In a real world situation it's just a short, one-act, play.
You'd be the mechanic working on the customers bike.
I'd be the Service Department Manager with the Dealerships reputation on the line.

Act One:
(The Service Manager learns about what just happened to Lou)

"You godda be shittin' me Lou. You godda be freakin' shittin' me. Punch out.
Go see parts and get that guy a new Head Gasket. Put the new Head Gasket on that bike and don't go home until you have torqued it down after cleaning up the mess. Get on it!"

(Lou grabs his time card and punches out. Walks off-stage through a door that has a sign and an arrow pointing to Parts)

(Curtain)

 

ha good stuff rick, thankyou

But no thanks for ruining the ending of Bridge Over The River Kwai.

 

A syringe with a length of vacuum hose to suck the oil out of the cylinders - no sense in hydraulicking the head back off.

 

But you do realize that in the true story of that bridge, it's still standing and in use today. Just a thought.

It would seem to me that if you hadn't torqued down the head (which is what caused the leak), then I don't see how the gasket could be bad. I'd carefully wipe everything down (including the gasket), torque the bolts down, and try it. I'm no wrench, but I only see two possibilities. 1) your bike will smoke like heck for a bit and 2) if the gasket is in fact bad, at least you now know for sure.

 

It's mid September. You live in New York. You'll be parking the bike soon.

It's TIME to RIDE !

Spin the motor with plugs out, then fire it up. Head gaskets should be installed clean and dry, but racers can build engines with a liquid resin that keeps gaskets from sticking, and that works. If not, you got all winter to fix it right.

 

Gasket reusability is directly proportional to how difficult it is to change and the availability of another replacement.

I know of a few cars running around with head gaskets that were reused. Sometimes, depending on the circumstances, you can do it. I think this is one such instance.

 

If the bike was never run, the gasket should be OK. Granted, motor oil is not such a great gasket sealer, but I would think properly torqueing the head would squeeze most of it out, and the rest will "bake off" rather quickly, it's not a "failed" gasket so I would think no more oil should get out. DEFINITELY pull the plugs and spin it over a few times to clear as much out of the cylinders as possible. Then put in new plugs and fire it up! It's gonna smoke like an SOB for a few (you should see the Nort when I light it up in the spring and that's only a few tablespoons) but should be ok. I'd shorten the "wait" time before retorqueing the head, but I would THINK you should be ok. If not, you gotta do it all over again anyway, so what do you have to lose?

 

I guess Im going to just leave it, no harm in it I guess, Id have to pull it anyway. Also I really nailed setting the timing marks after hours of trying to get it right without really knowing what I did that got it so perfect. Hate to go through that again with the small chance of not needing to. Thanks for the input

 

but I would think properly torqueing the head would squeeze most of it out, and the rest will "bake off" rather quickly


YES...IT WILL BOLT DOWN, AND IT WILL SEAL, THEN AS THE OIL BAKES AND GETS HARD INSIDE THE FIBERS ( ASSUMING ITS NOT A SILICON OR ASBESTOS GASKET) THE GASKET WILL CRUMBLE.... IF ITS SILICON
YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT... IF ITS ASBESTOS... I DONT KNOW...

 

actually dont know what it was, but it was metal with a gasketish covering (if the covering on the metal part is what your saying would be silicon or asbestos then I definitely dont know)

 

I have re-used a Head Gasket.
You just have to prepare the Gasket for reuse.
If there's a telltale shadow or a footprint that indicates the Gasket wasn't holding-up ... get a new one.

If it looks fine ... treat it.

A couple of coats of Permatex High-Temp Spray-A-Gasket Copper will set it up to be re-used.

Spray the Gasket.
Shoot the stuff into a Tuna can and use a small brush to brush it on the Mating Surfaces.
Once the product gets it's "Tackiness" goin' for it; lay the Gasket down and put the Head back on.
Torque it down in increments following the pattern.

I have a reused Head Gasket on the 900 and I'm not afraid to tach 10-grand with the reused Gasket.
It's all in the prep.

(I did it because I didn't want to wait 11-Days for a Head Gasket to get ordered, sent someplace, sent someplace else, then get sent to the Dealership that adds-on a still mark-up for being the place it gets sent to rather than straight to me. I wouldn't do it to somebody else's bike.)

 

I can confirm that I have re-used the head gasket on my 900 using Rick's method pretty much as described and have had absolutely no problem in 20,000kms of all purpose riding.

As Rick says, it's all in the prep.

And don't skimp on the copper spray a gasket - it's what makes it all work.

 

Permatex spray-a-gasket whether the original high-tack red stuff or the high-temp copper IS THE way to go, period. I use the high-tack on almost everything (one side anyway) and it always does the trick. Especially good for glueing the valve cover gasket to the cover. But that's if you have to pull and re-do it. Since it seems you're gonna leave it, torque it and see what happens, let us know, please.