'86 VFR700 Head Gasket Weeping

Backstory: Started using the bike since the weather has gotten nicer. Had Stabil in the fuel all winter and periodically started and ran the bike up to operating temperature to keep everything from getting gross. Noticed that the idle was a little rough, so I sent some B12 Chemtool Fuel Cleaner through the tank, and it idles much better now. However, I then noticed that the bike stumbled in the mid-range, post fuel system clean (did not prior to cleaning treatment). When the bike had this same stumble last summer, the fix was to pull the carbs and do a proper clean, followed by a sync. Problem was alleviated, and then had smooth power all through the RPMs.

Ok, so this morning started with a quick carb clean & sync before hitting the road for a couple hundred miles of visiting parents, etc. I pull the carbs and glance at the intake valves for each cylinder, and this is what I see for Cylinder #3 (rear right):



Noticed that my coolant reservoir was empty when I removed the tail piece, but didn't think much of it. Just assumed that the last time I flushed the coolant, I didn't get all the air out and it ended up sucking up what was in the reservoir to replace it. (The Cobalt Racing tail makes it a slight bit more of a pain to get to the reservoir for checking the level, no excuse for not checking the level before now, but the temp gauge has been responding as expected through normal riding...)

Pulled the radiator cap to see how low the coolant really is, and this is what I see:



I just changed the oil about 150 miles ago, and it came out fine... dirty, but not milky or cloudy. Also, the bike has never really used a drop of oil. Last oil change was right before I got it and I put about 2,500 miles on it before I changed the oil a week or so ago.

So here's my questions:

This is most definitely a head gasket leak, yes? I can't think of another way that the coolant was getting into the intake valves aside from a head gasket leak.

Is it possible that this is what was causing my stumbling in the mid-range?

I noticed tinkerinWstuff's post here: < http://vfrworld.com/forums/mechanic...s-can-cause-blown-head-gasket.html#post342664 > So is this really that rare for 2nd Gen bikes?

I happen to have a Vesrah top end gasket kit laying on the shelf... according to Dukiedook's post here: < http://vfrworld.com/forums/1st-2nd-...-deals-vfr700-750-gasket-sets.html#post326121 >, Vesrah gaskets are just ok? Anyone have any experience that would make me want to shy away from using these particular gaskets?

Should I do both the front and rear head gaskets at the same time, or only the one that is leaking?

Does anyone have any advice / things to look out for? I saw a post by Toe somewhere that mentioned reusing the head bolts was fine... I did want to double check that since the FSM didn't mention anything about them. This is certainly going to be easier than the VF500 head gasket debacle I went through 2 years ago, that's for sure!

Oh, bike has 15,500 miles on it... she's only a baby!

 

I would pressure test the cooling system and see where the leak shows up.

 

Might not fix it but worth trying: With engine cold, drain about half the coolant to bring the level below the gasket, then go around the head nuts one at a time and loosen each about 1/2 turn, then bring them back up to factory torque specs. This should be done in the REVERSE sequence of bolt tightening for engine assembly as detailed in the FSM.

Refill coolant, and ALWAYS recheck coolant level UNDER THE RAD CAP after the first 10 mile ride.

This deal has a chance of working and avoiding lots of cost and effort.

 

captb: I will do that; I was wondering how the coolant managed to get on top of the intake valve and not into the oil... :yuck:

squirrelman: I did not know that was an option! Being all metal gaskets, it seems very unlikely to 'blow the head gasket' in the conventional sense of the phrase, so if this works... glory be to the squirrelman! The only things that make sense to me are 1.) the oil system getting over pressurized, 2.) the cooling system getting over pressurized, 3.) head gasket leak, i.e. not enough compression between the head and block, or 4.) crack in the head someplace. Obviously it could be a combination of all of these, too.

When I get some time this week / weekend, I will pressure test the cooling system to see if I can identify where the leak is coming from first. Then, I will try squirrelman's advice and re-torque the head bolts, followed by another pressure test. Will post back with results!

PS It took me roughly 2,000 miles to suck up and go through all the coolant in the reservoir. I still should have checked the reservoir more frequently than I did though. I will add this to my weekly checks and see if I can't get a better gauge on stuff. Honestly, I'm ashamed that I let it get this bad before noticing it... I normally catch this type of stuff early, I swear!

 

There are a few things that might go wrong where the fluid level in the coolant recovery tank does not proppaly correspond to the quantity of coolant in the whole system; so the best, most reliable checks are always under the rad cap with the engine cold, never mind what you see in the bottle if you want to be on the safe side.