valve cover woes

I just got my 83 xj750 back from having the valves adjusted and the carbs sync at the dealership. I got to ride it most of the way home and it started blowing oil like mad out of one side of the valve cover gasket. I tried checking to see if a bolt was loose and one of them is stripped. I called the dealership to complain and they said it wasn't their problem, and that the mechanic said that the valve cover gasket was trashed when it came in. Well after a lot of complaining about not getting notified before I took the 60 mile trip home, and loosing all confidence in their service department I have decided to do the repairs myself. Can anyone tell me if there is a heliocoil tht I can change for the stripped valve cover bolt. Also can anyone recommend a place to get the valve cover gasket and grommet set pretty reasonable? Any other helpful hints would be greatly appreciated.

 

I would first fire off a letter of complaint to the service manager and the Better Business Bureau. You rode in without it leaking right? Their answer is really weak. Then I would tell them you will take them to small claims. That ought to get some attention. In your letter mention the hundreds of riding buddies you have and how you can mention their poor performance to all of us and how nice it would be if you could give a favorable review instead of a bad one. As for your heli-coil kits, they are available but they are pricey ($35 starting for the small kits and they go up from there quickly). You may be better served having a machine shop pop one in for you, provided you only need one. If you need more, the kit would be a good choice. Your gasket set should be easily had at Parts And More in our links section. Remember, you will have to pull the valve cover to perform the heli-coil so be prepared to prevent any shavings from falling into the head. Make sure you torque all your bolts (coated with anti-seize) to specs. That should eliminate your stripping issues. Good luck.

 

I just changed my valve cover gasket last week. Last autumn oil was dripping out from the front left side so a new one was due. I would recommend using Blue RTV Silicone from permatex so the new gasket has a nice secure fit to the valve cover. Apply to the valve cover using small continuous drops every 1/8 inch or so. Oh yeah the torque setting is 7.2 feet pounds. You can pick the Blue RTV silicone up at NAPPA for around $3.50

 

In a worst case scenario you and drill and tap is larger. Have a shop make you a "thread" from something like 1020 HRS. Loctite and thread it in. THen simply re-drill and tap it.

Heli-coil is your best bet though. Usually they are engineered to take care of a stripped screw. THey are available in all sizes and I think you can get them at local parts stores?

 

I believe its a 6x1 mm screw. Call some machine shops in your area to have it done. If they can't or wont do it, you can do it yourself but make sure of two things. First is to take care and make sure you keep all of the shavings out of the oil galleries and passages, make sure you stuff a rag down where the cam chain will go to keep the chips from flying down there. Second is to make absolutely sure that when you tap the thread for your helicoil that its square or perpindicular to the head.
Helicoiling something isnt hard at all. What you will find in the kit is the correct size drill which you will need, a new tap, the helicoils and the insertion tool. Just drill out the old hole, tap the new hole making sure you are tapping deeper than the helicoil is long. Insert a helicoil in and turning it until the thread is just below the surface of the head. Then you have to break off the tang off of the bottom of the helicoil, if you dont do that you will bottom out the screw possibly do more damage.
Sounds like it's a lot of work but once you have done it, it can become very helpfull later down the road saving you tons of money from having someone else do it.
Sean

 

And don't forget the locktite on the insert!

 

I appreciate all the quick replies guys. I have had some experience with heli-coils as a Ford mechanic, so I won't have any probs with that I don't think. I was just hoping I could get away with doing it. The dealership was going to charge me 2.5 hours labor to do it as they have to take the huge fairing off, but I know from experience it only takes one man about 30 minutes to take it off and put it back on. They were kind enough to offer to pay for one of those hours themselves as they already had it all apart once before and didn't fix it then. I will be doing the new valve cover gasket as soon as it comes in. I will let you guys know how it all went.