I think I have tracked down my oil leak, I believe it is coming from what my repair manual calls the Camchain tensioner.. ya ok so my timing chain tensioner.  Anyway near as I can figure I bet it's the gasket behind the tensioner hardware itself, or maybe the tensioner itself is bad and thats why I am hearing valve tick and other valve related noises. 

1) Anyone else have this problem?

2) How much for the gasket and tensioner from Suzuki?

bump

You wont have to replace the tensioner, just the gasket.  Never having actually replaced mine, I guess the price to be less than $5.

The valve ticking noises are probably because a valve adjustment is needed (every 4000 miles).
http://www.gstwin.com/adjust_valves.htm

Cool, where can I get the shims?

Suzuki dealerships.  They are larger in daimeter than any of the other manufacturers.  You could also get them online from various m/c websites (search; I don't know of any personally).  I see you've already found the valve adjustment kit thread, that has shims, too, but may or may not have the ones you need.

Dave, I just recently had to purchase some new shims (the EC kit didn't have the size(s) I needed) and had a good experience with Z1 Enterprises: 29.5mm dia. shims.  They cost about half as much as I found elsewhere.  Only took about a week to get them, too.

Ok cool, so I should just order once of ea of those size shims, 29.5mm x 2.30mm-3.00mm and when I do my valve job I just swap out the shims till I get to the right tolerance?  Also was reading the How-to and it said something about a special tool?  What kind of tool and where can I get one?

Oh ya, I was looking at a parts breakdown for the engine and remembered that I have noticed some oil accumulation on the front bottom of the head,  IE the head gasket.  when I went to the bike shop in town (only one here) they looked up a whole gasket kit for me and the total was something like 160 dollars, is that right.. is there a place I can order it on the internet?

do a search for kerrys valve adjustment video that will answer alot of you Q's  .. second . no dont just but them shims . you need to take the valve cover off check the clearnce on each valve and see if you need one thiker or thinner . if any adjust ment is needed you need to pull the shim out and see what size it is .. not all of these bikes came with the same size shim . the tool you should be able to buy at your local stealership . or  you can get on line . its a pretty simple tool .  checking your valves is easy . take your time and make sure you watch the video if you have never done this before . this video is very helpfull and helped me in alot of ways......... oh and your valve clearnce should be any where from .03-.08

Quote from: secondgen7 on April 27, 2006, 12:44:04 PM
Dave, I just recently had to purchase some new shims (the EC kit didn't have the size(s) I needed) and had a good experience with Z1 Enterprises: 29.5mm dia. shims.  They cost about half as much as I found elsewhere.  Only took about a week to get them, too.

Awesome link!  Thanks!

Good place for a complete gasket kit?

Do you really need a complete gasket kit?  Just replace the faulty ones and leave the rest alone.  Head gasket is about $25, I'm not sure what the CC tensioner gasket costs.  www.ronayers.com should have both available.

-M

Here's a whole gasket set on eBay for $25:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-GASKET-SET-COMPLETE-SUZUKI-GS500-ALL-YEARS-GS_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ10064QQitemZ4634709557QQrdZ1

There's someone bidding on that one, but that guy sells gasket sets all the time, so take a look in his store or contact him so you don't have to get in a bidding war with a potential gstwinner

As far as the leak coming from near the tensioner mine was actually leaking through the body. You can wipe it down and check to see if the oil is coming from the gasket or through the plug hole.

or you can go to the local parts store and see if they have oil dye ( this is only use full if you have a UV lights ... think thats also a black light not sure ) but you can put some dye in it drive it around and then use the uvlight to find out where its coming from

Quote from: Mandres on April 27, 2006, 03:16:00 PM
Do you really need a complete gasket kit? 

Yes,  the bike is 11 yrs old.. wasn't taken care of until two owners ago (I know the two previous owners and what was done since then), the only thing it has wrong at the moment is valves are alittle off and some gaskets are leaking.  I figure it would be best to tear it down and put new gaskets in while getting a look at what damage there is or what may become a problem.  Preventive maintaince.