Head gasket?

[Smythson]

Afternoon all,

The Sunday afternoon scrub down revealed...

...650, 6k, 59 plate. Any thoughts?

S

 

[boxer]

silicon sealant

 

[Sooty09]

Live with it, almost zero oil is escaping. I did 12000 miles between valve checks with a similar misting and the level on the dip stick never fell, nor did it ever leave any oil drips under the bike while parked.

 

[Smythson]

Live with it, almost zero oil is escaping. I did 12000 miles between valve checks with a similar misting and the level on the dip stick never fell, nor did it ever leave any oil drips under the bike while parked.

I've got another 8 months of warranty left and it's due into the dealer in the next week or so for 6k service. In itself it is not a problem, however my concern lies with it worsening or being an indicator of further issues that may eventually occur outside warranty...

S

 

[steve hughes]

I agree with sooty not a major issue. Make use of your warranty and get it done if nothing other than piece of mind. My f650 started misting at 12 k service so they resealed it then small cost for gasket set as i was out of warranty

 

[mark71]

You will find that this is quite common on the F800 as when the rocker cover is replaced it is best to replace the gasket or ensure that it is cleaned down immaculately. believe it or not its not that big a job and will only take an hour or so to sort out if you know what are doing.

Had to do mine recently so I did it when I serviced the bike and checked the valves at the same time.

Didnt look where you are but if you need it doing for you then give me a shout as Im sure we can sort out some beer tokens for some services rendered.

Regards

Mark

 

[argee]

Tecnically thats the rocker cover gasket, not the head gasket and mines been doing it for ages. new gasket is 45 quid pus vat as i recall, and it will probably do it again.
Dont worry about it.

 

[Greggers]

The one I bought was only £25.00, but I didn't use it ...

The gasket shouldn't leak and if it's in warranty take it back and bitch until they fix it - then take it back and ask them to do it properly with sealant...

If your bike's out of warranty and you want to do it yourself it's not so hard -

top cover off, air filter cover off, battery disconnected and removed, airbox removed ... there are a few sensors/pipes underneath to unclip too.

Disconnect the throttle cable, the clutch cable and pull them to the outside of the frame... disconnect the plugs and pull them out of the head (if you haven't got a removal tool you can use a small screwdriver to lever them up enough to get your fingers on them)

Pull the plastic harness plugs out of the inner frame rails and pull the wiring loom as hard as you can to the left - hold it back with a zip tie or a piece of wire.

undo the four (which is one reason why it leaks) cam box cover bolts and release the cover. It's a tight fit between the frame rails so be careful.


Clean up the upper face of the head - it shouldn't be too gunky, then clean up the gasket face too. I don't think you need to remove the gasket from the top cover as there's a deep flange that holds it in place and it's not likely to leak from that face. Apply the new sealant reasonably generously on the gasket - all along its length not just in the corners of the half moons...
The BMW assembly manual only calls for a small amount of sealant to be applied to the inside corners of the semi-circular bits of the gasket - another reason for it leaking...

Here's the tricky bit - manouever the cover back into place between the frame rails over the head trying not to smear the newly applied sealant ... then drop it into place. I put a little sealant on the inside face of the bolt real rubbers too - call it belt and braces if you like - torque them up ..

Reassemble the rest of the gubbins and hope you're one of the lucky ones whose ECU doesn't have a hissy fit when the battery's disconnected...

G

 

[v8legend]

top cover off, air filter cover off, battery disconnected and removed.

Reassemble the rest of the gubbins and hope you're one of the lucky ones whose ECU doesn't have a hissy fit when the battery's disconnected...
..

Or, connect some leads to the battery so that the ECU maintains its memory.

 

[Greggers]

Lolz that was of course the plan, but my earth clip pinged off the footrest...

 

[Smythson]

Thank you all for your replies - a bit less worried now. I was quite surprised - it's only two spanners worth in the Haynes! I think i'll take it back to BMW and hopefully some of the labour normally required for 6k valve checks can be covered by the warranty work

You will find that this is quite common on the F800 as when the rocker cover is replaced it is best to replace the gasket or ensure that it is cleaned down immaculately. believe it or not its not that big a job and will only take an hour or so to sort out if you know what are doing.

Had to do mine recently so I did it when I serviced the bike and checked the valves at the same time.

Didnt look where you are but if you need it doing for you then give me a shout as Im sure we can sort out some beer tokens for some services rendered.

Regards

Mark

That's a very kind offer, thank you.

Technically thats the rocker cover gasket, not the head gasket and mines been doing it for ages. new gasket is 45 quid pus vat as i recall, and it will probably do it again.
Dont worry about it.

Apologies if the nomenclature* is not up to spec... In a roundabout way i'm kinda looking forward to the warranty running out so i can start learning all this stuff for myself!

*Great word ehh? Full credit to MikeMike's last

 

[Dean]

Afternoon all,

The Sunday afternoon scrub down revealed...



...650, 6k, 59 plate. Any thoughts?

S

You will find that this is quite common on the F800 as when the rocker cover is replaced it is best to replace the gasket or ensure that it is cleaned down immaculately. believe it or not its not that big a job and will only take an hour or so to sort out if you know what are doing.

Had to do mine recently so I did it when I serviced the bike and checked the valves at the same time.


Regards

Mark

As Mark states very common thing,

I carried same on mine mine for a while (some will carry it for ever ) until a service was due no problem no harm and then main dealer took care of it with the squirty sealant stuff, within my standard warranty, No charge that was a while ago 22,500 miles now all good no leaks purfect

 

[Greggers]

Well, it all depends on how bad the leak is - mine was leaving an oil mist all over the LHS of the bike, bloody messy and I'm sure contributed to the high oil consumption I've had this service cycle...

I've not seen any oil so far, but in fairness it's only 50 miles old. I have a longer trip planned at the end of this week so all will be revealed then I guess!

G

 

[curiousexplorer]

I read somewhere (didn't check it myself) that the drillings for the bolts are not deep enough. I think it was stated by a BMW mechanic. What happens is that you torque the bolts down, and you think all is OK and gasket sqeezed properly, but bolts are not deep enough, remedy is to put a washer under each bolt. Hope this helps

 

[Smythson]

I read somewhere (didn't check it myself) that the drillings for the bolts are not deep enough. I think it was stated by a BMW mechanic. What happens is that you torque the bolts down, and you think all is OK and gasket sqeezed properly, but bolts are not deep enough, remedy is to put a washer under each bolt. Hope this helps

Thank you. I've been reading up and think i saw that on adv. When the warranty is finished i'll first look at sealing it myself (apparently the BMW manual prescribes a partial seal method using poor sealant so any warranty work will be done in the same fashion as the leaky first attempt ) and failing this i'll go with the washer option

S

 

[mark71]

I had heard this about the depth is not enough so measured it when it was apart and there is enough depth however you need to check that there is no fluid build up or this will cause hydraulic lock and stop the bolts being fully seated. I would look carefully at using a washer as it's not what I would prefer to see if I was servicing the bike, if this was the case I would prefer to shorten the bolt slightly.

Anyway let's not do this to death let's just ride the boldly thing.

Mark

 

[Tengiz99]

At a recent service they did the valve clearance inspection. They put a new gasket on (and charged me for it) as leaving the original gasket is what causes the problem. Apparently.

 

[Greggers]

You can't just shorten the bolt. It's shouldered, and can only go so far into the bolt hole thus limiting the 'squeeze' it can apply to the gasket.

Using washers under the bolt heat will give an extra mm or so which might just be enough. However if you elect to follow this route, then you'll also need to use sealant between the washer and the rubber as well as under the bolt head too...

The mistake I made first time round was using a Loctite 'flange sealant' which was supposed to stay flexible, but actually went quite hard which caused the leak to start all over again. This time I've used a high-modulus silicone sealant (from a boiler flue kit of all places!) and allc seems well so far.

G

 

[Greggers]

Just got back from a very hard and spirited 2k miles around the Alps - no oil used and none leaking from the cam cover now either!

G

 

[Greggers]

At a recent service they did the valve clearance inspection. They put a new gasket on (and charged me for it) as leaving the original gasket is what causes the problem. Apparently.

Nay nay and thrice nay ...

It's amazing what dealers will say for the sake of saying something... The leak is caused by insufficient sealant applied at assembly, and can be cured by re-using the original gasket with an adequate amount of sealant applied on re-assembly.

G