Author Topic: Valve cover removal (Read 9101 times)

Red01 · « **Reply #15 on:** March 27, 2006, 05:42:08 PM »

That's how Bill Blade does it too, I guess. He removes the coils, too (his is a 2G).

But with all the room there is on a B12, it'll come out the side easy if you just remove the breather cover in the middle.

(Ignore the finger in the pic - posted just to show how much room there is.)

Bob Holland · « **Reply #16 on:** March 27, 2006, 05:48:11 PM »

I have found that it is eaisier for me to keep the seals in place, and I do have pod filters

vadim · « **Reply #17 on:** March 28, 2006, 01:58:49 PM »

I got no love until I removed the fairing brackets, the box on top of the valve cover (don't know what it's for) and moved the carbs back. Afterwards I discovered that if I removed the spark plug gaskets, sliding the cover in and out became possible with the carbs back in place.

Lesson learned: to do the least amount of work when removing the cover one needs to remove the cowling brackets, the box that's bolted onto the top of the cover, the pair box and to move all of the wires out of the way. Then move the cover up and remove the spark plug gaskets. The cover should then slide out to the side with relative ease. Of course having spairs is a MUST if you are going to take this approach. Also, I tried both moving the rear wheel and using the signal generator to turn the engine - the latter was much easier. IMO, well worth the cost of the extra gasket.

Some of the steps to avoid commont pitfalls I saw in other posts:

1. I took care to remove the dowels in the valve cover before doing anything to make sure that they didn't fall anywhere they don't belong.
2. I cleaned the bolts with brake cleaner before torquing them back
3. I used a lot of paper towels (Bounty rules) to plug any holes where things could fall.
4. I marked all the wires with masking tape. I also used masking tape to cover small holes, hold bolts in place, etc. Plus I had a lot of plastic cups for parts.
5. I bought all the spare gaskets/washers. Ended up using all of them. Maybe I didn't have to, but I felt safer doing so. I'd rather spend extra 50 bucks on parts now than deal with (or worry about) potential problems later. But then again, my bike is 4 years old, so I figured it was worth the money to replace some old rubber.

zaphoid42 · « **Reply #18 on:** April 01, 2006, 10:27:54 PM »

Great stuff guys. I just wish I had found this forum before I did the valves.

I am left with one question. The manual says to "apply the recomended bond to the cylinder head cover grove and cam shaft end caps."

When I took stuff apart I found no sealent between the gasket and the cylinder head cover. There was just the right amount at the cam shaft end caps.

Whats does everyone do, selant all the way around the top of the gasket, or just sealent at the end caps?

jeepskate99 · « **Reply #19 on:** April 01, 2006, 10:39:08 PM »

A 1/4 inch bead at the caps should be fine. Make sure to extend 3/8 of an inch or so out each side.

Red01 · « **Reply #20 on:** April 03, 2006, 11:41:18 AM »

Quote from: "jeepskate99"

A 1/4 inch bead at the caps should be fine. Make sure to extend 3/8 of an inch or so out each side.

+1

I also put a dab on the grooves for the spark plug tower gaskets to help keep them in place when re-installing the cover. If you pinch one of these you will get a vicious oil leak! The towers do have drains, and they drain out the front of the head, so it'll look like you blew a head gasket.