Any Gotcha's When changing a rear Valve cover gasket ?

Well I have the bike inside and prepped for winter (Pulled the gas tank, Battery out and on trickle charge etc) and I am doing some maintenence (Rebuild suspension, etc) and inspection.

When I dropped the exhaust system to clean it up and paint it (getting rusty) I noticed that the rear of the block is covered in oil-based gunk .... traced it up and it appears to be comeing from the valve cover. So we have either bad or leaking valve cover gasket. So i will be ordering a new gasket just in case and I will butter it with hondabond (RTV) when I re-install it.

So - for the valve cover removal -by the looks of it I have to pull the coils, and cover (gas tank is allready off),and then I should have "easy"access to the rear valve cover.

Is there any gotcha's or tricks I should know about,or is this an easy peasy job..,



Thanks


Moose

 

Is this 2nd gen. you should not have to pull coils to remove, but it may make access easier.. This really shouldn't be that big of a deal Might even just check to make sure the bolts are tight holding it on.

 

Just make sure that the washers under the retaining bolts are placed with the coppery-looking side UP.

Also, you should bond the gasket to the valve cover but NOT to the head.

 

Lol....if it is a gen 2 bring beer. It is like a Rubics Cube to trick that thing oot of its home. Best to pull the top mount oot of the sub frame and let it rest on the rear wheel to buy some room. It will come oot but it will be scratched to shit before you wiggle it oot. Install is even worse unless you do so.

 

True dat !!


One of those f'ups you wonder "Why didn't those smart Honda engineers account for this ?"

I refuse to loosen subframe, so i usually try getting up the left side front corner first and gradually wiggling and jiggling around to get the right rear corner off somehow where it's blocked by the cam holder.

If it takes less than 10 minutes--or one beer-- you're lucky.

 

Ooops ...Forgot to mention it is a 86 VF500 ... so it sounds like it "may" be easier than a 2nd Gen

Squirelman - Why butter only the valve cover side of the gasket ? With my other Honda's I have allways put a very very very light skim coat of honda bond (barely enough to oooz out) to make sure the gasket seals to the head, but not enough to be a risk the internals

Moose

 

Why butter only the valve cover side of the gasket ? With my other Honda's I have allways put a very very very light skim coat of honda bond (barely enough to oooz out) to make sure the gasket seals to the head, but not enough to be a risk the internals

Moose[/QUOTE]

If it will stick to the cover you won't have to fight with it staying in the cover while upside down and maneuvering it into position. there should be that ridge on top of the gasket and then a groove it fits into around the bottom rim of the cover. Tightened down just right it should not leak even without the bond on the bottom.

 

R&Ring the rear cover on the 500 is reasonably easy, just remove whatever is in the way, the cover comes right off. The front cover is not difficult, just time intensive since the cooling system has to be drained and the radiator removed. Using the Hondabond to glue the gasket to the cover is the way to go, keeps the gasket in place and when/if future removal is necessary, the gasket remains stuck to the cover and comes right off. Make sure that the gasket and gasket surface on the cover is clean and completely free of oil when using the Hondabond. Same for the head gasket surfaces, clean and completely free of oil. Some will disagree, but I apply a VERY THIN coat of RTV to the head side of the gasket when installing.