another HG thread..

[Bayford89IOW]

Hi all, been awhile.

Now back on the mainland (woohoo!) away from that bloody island. Living in stevenage, Herts.

Anyway, back to topic. ive done some serious forum searching and unless im useless at finding this sort of thing, i cant find a paticularly informative thread/post for tips or even a guide to changing the head gasket. ive got the wrkshop manual from website and im a little daunted at all the things youve got to take off to change the HG! according to manual Cam Chain Tensioner has to come off? thats one thing im really reluctant to do, touch things i dont understand how to put back etc. Is this the only way or is there a much simpler route? Or am i just being a big pussy lol? L5 btw.

[cargo]

meaow

[thomp1983]

it's not that difficult once you get started. the cam chain will have to be moved, id replace it while your there along with the guides and tensioner unless it's recently been done, before removing it though measure your valve clearances so they can be adjusted as required whilst your there. just get yourself a nice clean bench to put the engine on to work on and another clean area to put all the parts you'll remove whilst doing the job. removing the engine from the frame is an easy job just be careful when undoing and removing parts so you don't damage anything. oh and invest in a decent torque wrench for reassembly other than that it's just following the manual, it makes more sense when you can see the parts in front of you

chris

[cargo]

I'd only replace the guides and tensioner if they were worn and or damaged

Same goes for chain


I'm curious to know why you are replacing the head gasket...................do you have some evidence that it is blown ? ?

[Bayford89IOW]

Can hear water boiling when stationary, rad needs topping up every so often, etc etc. I've read lots of threads with people that have had the same problem and everyone pointed at hg/thermostat. So I thought best thing would be to do both.

Thomp I'm relatively noobie to internal parts repair/replacement so i haven't got a clue on how to mess around with valves, and to be honest if I had to do all that just to change hg id probably send it to the mechs. You arnt making it sound appealing for somone that's new to it lol

[thomp1983]

there's a guide on here for doing the valve clearances with pictures. honestly it sounds like a lot of work but just follow the book one step at a time and you'll soon have the engine out of the bike onto your work bench and then stripped down to do the head gasket, it doesn't require any special knowledge just the ability to work carefully and methodically and think about the effects of what your about to do before you do it, there's plenty advice available on here and use a camera to photo stuff before you disassemble it so you know what order stuff needs to be in, you can't really damage anything aslong as your careful

chris

[cargo]

there's a guide on here for doing the valve clearances with pictures. honestly it sounds like a lot of work but just follow the book one step at a time and you'll soon have the engine out of the bike onto your work bench and then stripped down to do the head gasket, it doesn't require any special knowledge just the ability to work carefully and methodically and think about the effects of what your about to do before you do it, there's plenty advice available on here and use a camera to photo stuff before you disassemble it so you know what order stuff needs to be in, you can't really damage anything aslong as your careful

chris

[Bayford89IOW]

On another note, is there any paticular special tools i need for this job? or is it a normal tool box job? im happy to jump into it aslong as i dont end up having a bike in bits, no idea how to put it back and it being off the road for more than 7 days. Unfortunately im a narrow minded b**tard and wont do my driving test so its my only form of transport

[thomp1983]

if you order everything in advance and can resist the desire to paint everything whilst it's apart you can easily do it all in a long day or over a weekend. im pretty sure i didn't use any special tools for the job, unless you consider feeler gauges special

chris

[Bayford89IOW]

What in nine hells are feeler gauges?

[cargo]

What in nine hells are feeler gauges?

if you dont know what feeler guages are then theres no hope of you doing a head gasket job.

Feeler guages are thin strips of hardened steel of specfic thicknesses use to measure small gaps.............valve clearances for example............something you will need to do as part of a head gasket job.


There are NO special tools needed for replacing the head gasket but then that depends on the contents YOUR tool box a cheap socket set and a screwdriver is not enough

[Bayford89IOW]

Blunt, but to the point! Just how I like it. Thank you for being honest, the mech I've always used qouted £400+ for head gasket change! Ouchies. Thanks for ur help guys, and also thnx for putting up with my insessant stupidity lol.

[RedexRobB]

Most of that will be labour from engine removal, parts is bigger all. Have you thought about removing the motor for ur mechanic?

[thomp1983]

£400 id be learning how to do the job for that, if you can work out how to get it out the frame then you can do the headgasket. feeler gauges are cheap the don't take a lot of working out how to use and the guide on here for valve clearances makes everything nice and clear, you will need a vernier so you can measure your current shims again a run of the mill digital one isn't expensive and there useful bits of kit.

from what i can remember it goes something like,

run it up warm
fairings off (couple of bolts)
oil drain (one sump plug, a container to drain into)
coolent drain (i normally remove the main hose from rad and drain into a container then move the container round as i undo the hoses, and the drain bolt on engine)
tank off (couple of bolts)
airbox off (couple of bolts)
carbs off (remove cables/carb heater hoses/fuel lines loosen some jubilee clips and remove)
coolant hoses off (if you didn't remove them all whilst draining engine)
rad off and oil cooler off (couple of bolts after hoses are off, leave oil cooler attached to rad)
exhaust off (possibly the worst job if the nuts are rusted, a decent fitting socket or spanner is required. look at them the week before the job if they look rusted then start applying plus gas daily the week before you start)
disconnect relevant wiring (most is obvious or listed in manual)
find a way to support engine (i just used to scissor jacks (like the ones you get in cars) and a mdf board)
undo engine mounts (couple of nuts and bolts)
lower jacks bringing engine down and lift bike over and clear of the engine

once removed on bench with it clean rags stuffed in inlet and exhaust holes in head, rocker cover off, check valve clearances (use guide on here), do the maths to work out which shims need changing and what for, loosen cam caps EVENLY and remove, remove cams, loosen headbolts in correct order (it's in the book) remove the head, clean up the head/block with some wd40 and scotchbrite (careful to not get debris into the block i usually block as much of it up with kitchen towel as i can) swap gasket out for new one head back on. remove and measure shims 1 at a time look back to the maths earlier and see if you can bring them into spec by swapping your current shims around if not source some new ones (there's a collection on here or cradleys can supply them) then put everything back as it was taking careful note to properly torque everything down evenly and to the correct settings. and jobs done it's not that hard to learn how to do all those things and i wouldn't be lashing out £400 having someone else do it.

the manual makes it look difficult with all the pictures and various measurements and settings but they all make sense once your doing the job, the kwak il4 is a simple engine to work on and a good place to cut your teeth if your new, sure cargo will point out a few things ive missed as ive written this from memory but there's very little skilled about doing a headgasket on these if you can work in a methodical manner, working practices are the crucial part of the job.

chris

[cargo]

The first line of your "guide" is wrong.......................why warm it up ?

Line 3 also wrong........................why remove the oil ?

I gave up after that