Top End Oil Leak?

[markzxr400l3]

Hey all,

I finally have my triggers broom project bike running right except...

I have a top end oil leak. I have 3 valve covers, I have two rubber cover gaskets and two sets of tunnels and associated gaskets, I have copeous amounts of blue hylomar, I have a massive oil leak regardless of which of the heads I use which looks to me to come from the spark plug tunnels. I have inspected all of the gaskets, all are good. including the ones at the top and bottom of the valve cover (top and middle of spark plug holes) I very carefully blue gasketed the bugger to EVERY surface and it still leaks. Have I missed something? Seems to me that its a stupid design to put a gasket face (bottom of removable cones for spark plug chamber) right next to a cam lobe which will be flinging oil at it 14000 times a minute, but hey, what do I know!!

This is it. Once this is sealed I'm selling up and buying a CBR, maybe I'll get to ride it rather than sit it in the garage and show it my wallet. Can anyone let me know if this is another 'known' issue or if there is a special sealant I need?

Thoroughly fecked off at this moment. It'll pass.

[cargo]

There is no need for any sealant on the spark plug tunnel seals.....................when Mr Kawasaki built the engine he didn't use any so why would you ?


However Mr Kawasaki did use new seals and "o" rings given that at best your seals are 10 years old now why don't you just fit new ones and try that. I fact the solvent in the sealer you are putting on to rubber seals and "o" rings may well be damaging them.

The design is fine I've never seen an oil leak form any of the rubber seal/"o" rings in the top cover on my bikes oil may well be flinging around in there but there is no oil pressure at those seals.

CBR 400s are in a word.............. pants..............very few of them ever raced with any success and the one I do know of was built with thousands of pounds worth of HRC parts

[cargo]

You do have the seals at the top of the plug tunnels the right way round don't you ???

[jake]

was'nt that Mcguinness's bike? and it went straight back to HRC never to be seen again after the TT, or so i heard...

[markzxr400l3]

I have to assume that I do Cargo.

The top of the plug tunnel is a 'U' shape so the ring fits snug in it wth the 'M' profile to the underside of the rocker cover.

Mr Kawasaki can go kiss my lilly white ass!!! LOL He makes a bike with fasteners made out of low grade edam, puts a finish on everything that can be blown off in a high wind, makes wiring looms out of silly string.

Mr Honda, now he built my VFR750 out of high grade granite, he drove the cams with wheels goddammit, none of those slinky-esk cam chain tensioners for him (hear that rattle?? No?? thats cause its bloody well cant Ha Ha Ha). He painted it with a paint that cannot be scratched without nuclear fusion and his bearings are actually very small japanese people holding hands and running around inside your crankcases wheels etc. His wiring looms?? ohh his looms!! made of the sort of cable that is made in vacuum sealed rooms and each strand is individually woven from the hair of the electricity beast of the east. You could use a single strand to hold up the forth road bridge (on a windy day).

Tell you what though, dont go round corners like that f uc k ing ZXR!!

Good point tho mate, I'll go get me some new rubber.

[cargo]

Ah but mark you forget that I'm an old geezzer and can remember the very first VFR 750s and V four 500s too and they had camshafts made from chocolate. Mr Honda's reputation
was on the line and he had to get it right for the later versions or his whole business would have gone down.

Your nearly right Jake McGuinness did ride the CBR I speak of as did a Manx guy called Richard Quayle and they both won on it. While it was full of HRC bits HRC didn't own it. It was actually owned by a New Zealand guy call Shand..............I was once promised this bike for the Manx GP but it failed to turn up and Mr Shand was never to be heard of again

[markzxr400l3]

I brought the wrath of the eastern gods upon myself. VFR cut out over the weekend, all intruments dead, changed battery, cleaned earth terminals (frame and engine) and it did it again this morning. Goes again without disturbing anything, only link seems to be it waits until you swear at it. That'll teach me to big up hondas wont it!!

He who laughs last...

[Davw]

I brought the wrath of the eastern gods upon myself. VFR cut out over the weekend, all intruments dead, changed battery, cleaned earth terminals (frame and engine) and it did it again this morning. Goes again without disturbing anything, only link seems to be it waits until you swear at it. That'll teach me to big up hondas wont it!!

He who laughs last...

That is sure fire symptom of a VFR regulator failure - try testing the battery charge on idle and then at around 4000rpm

[markzxr400l3]

this sounds about right, rectifier frying battery, it always goes at high revs too when the alternator would be giving the thing something to do so I'll give it a go.

Cheers

Mark