I'm going to be taking apart my bike and engine pretty soon to have the cylinders honed and replace rings. I'll be removing the cylinder block as well as the head and valve cover.
Is it mandatory to replace any of the gaskets I'm going to be in contact with?
Currently there are no leaks, so right now they're good.
I'll be messing with the valve cover gasket, the head gasket (between cylinder block and head), and the cylinder gasket (between cylinder block and crankcase). If they are in good shape, do I still HAVE to replace them?
Also, when I'm tearing apart the engine to do this, will I be messing with the cam chain tensioner gasket?
I read that the cam chain tensioner gasket is one time use only... Will I need to replace it?
Thanks
All but the valve cover rubber will need to be replaced. Once the pressure is released from the compression gasket (head gasket) it will leak. Same thing with the base gasket (cylinder gasket). You may be able to get away with not replacing the cam chain tensioner gasket, but only if it comes off in one piece; same thing with the valve cover breather gasket.
A complete engine rebuild kit can be bought for $99 at Santa Clara Cycle Accessories (730-0600; El Camino near Wolfe), and will have all the gaskets you need (the rest you can save for later). And, may be less than buying them all individually (I've kinda already investigated this with Doug and Greg there).
Quote from: scratch on November 27, 2006, 05:50:46 PM
A complete engine rebuild kit can be bought for $99 at Santa Clara Cycle Accessories (730-0600; El Camino near Wolfe), and will have all the gaskets you need (the rest you can save for later). And, may be less than buying them all individually (I've kinda already investigated this with Doug and Greg there).
What comes with the kit? Is it just the gasket set?
I had to replace an exhaust valve last year and bought the same gaskets you need from Ron Ayers. Head gasket plus the 4 o-rings and the cylinder base gasket. Was about $45 including shipping. I reused the old cam chain tensioner gasket and the old valve cover gasket.
Check parts fiche for parts for your bike:
http://www.ronayers.com/fiche/getdesc.cfm?man=su
I got my gaskets from Ron Ayers too. If you do the same, order them early - sometimes they take a while to send stuff. When I placed my order I actually forgot to order the cylinder head gasket, and I had to reuse it. I first cleaned off all the gray sealant with acetone, then put two or three layers of copper coat on each side. It's worked without leaks for ~3200 miles so far, but the copper coat thing is messy to apply, so I'd recommend saving the hassle and just buying them all new.
partsnmore.com has the gasket kits for $63 w/ free shipping.
https://www.partsnmore.com/motorcycle-gasket_sets.php?make=suzuki&category=gasket_set
I have used several of these kits.
When I rebuilt I actually re-used the head gasket. I used permatex gasket remover to clean off all the old paint from the mating surfaces and the metal gasket. When the gasket was spotlessly clean down to the bare metal I used spray on gasket sealant, also by Permatex. It hasn't leaked a drop.
I went ahead and just replaced the base gasket with a new one, since it's < $5 and has to be maneuvered around the pistons and into place (difficult to do with a sticky spray-on coating).
So I got the complete gasket kit, but some of the gaskets look like they're cardboard cutouts... is that normal? Are some of the gaskets cardboard?
It just seems weird to me.
some gaskets are compressed fibes of some sort that looks like cardboard.
I'm sure it's more technical then that though.