new head gasket leaking..

New head gasket is leaking right up front in the middle the top head gasket. A shop replaced it,actually where i work. It is going to get fixed no charge,so what i want to know is should i look out and tell the guy that is doing it and advice?

if it is a two piece gasket then you may have a problem with the center o-ring seal. if it has a one piece then you may also have a problem with the center if he used a one piece then the center o-ring groove must be filled evenly with some type of oil resistant silicon and the o-ring cannot be used also make sure he tourques the head properly in the right sequnce and right amount in stages. if the head gasket is a two piece like the stock one then the center o-ring may have come out upon installation of the head. i allways use weatherstrip adhesive to hold it in place. one other thing to check if the gaskets were installed properly is to check for square and true cylinder head and block surfaces. if they aren't they can be machined square and true again.

kzmarvo wrote:

New head gasket is leaking right up front in the middle the top head gasket. A shop replaced it,actually where i work. It is going to get fixed no charge,so what i want to know is should i look out and tell the guy that is doing it and advice?

If it is a 750 twin, tell him the next gasket will probably leak as well. They have small bolts in the center (front and rear) threaded up into the head to reduce the leakage, but all three of my head gaskets (original factory and two head jobs) have seeped oil there. The head and block are flat, they just leak.

I wonder if they forgot one or both of the bolts that go inside the head? I nearly did, it's easy to do. Would be a real pain after torquing all the bolts in sequence, rechecking with torque wrench, then finding the two bolts in horror, realizing your terrible mistake:blink:

have you tried retorquing?

bigkaw815 wrote:

I wonder if they forgot one or both of the bolts that go inside the head? I nearly did, it's easy to do. Would be a real pain after torquing all the bolts in sequence, rechecking with torque wrench, then finding the two bolts in horror, realizing your terrible mistake:blink:

On mine, you have to torque the three small 10mm bolts going up into the head after you torque the big head bolts. If you do it the other way round, the head pulls down and releases the pull on the small bolts at the edges.

its a kz1000 motor,and i have no clue,i will talk to the guy tomorrow that did it. He is a harley mechanic so that might be the issue....