Oil Leak below exhaust port after valve clearance check? HELP!!

[RZ350]

I just did a valve clearance check on 2007 FJR1300A and now I have a small weep of oil coming out of a small hole directly below the exhaust port on cylinder #4 with the engine idling.  What did I do wrong?  Everything seemed fine during the valve check, no gaps needed adjusting, and it went back together smoothly.  I don't see any leaks around the cam cover gasket above and the leak is clearly coming from a small hole beneath the exhaust port

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[RossKean]

My bet is the valve cover gasket.  

Your photo does not show up.

 

[RZ350]

I jumping in and I think fixed a sharing issue in Google Photos.  Can anyone see the picture now?

That was my thought and I looked it over good.  There is a tiny hole (maybe 1/16" dia) at 6 o'clock position beneath exhaust port that it is clearly weeping from when the engine is idling.  There is no oil present on the head above the port anywhere.

What are these holes for?

 

[RossKean]

I can see the picture now but Google Photos linking isn't reliable and it may disappear at any time.

Anyway, there is no reason I can think of that would cause oil to come out of an exhaust port after a valve check - especially oil that isn't burnt or degraded.  I think it is leaking from some point above that - likely the valve cover gasket.  Easy to get it pinched or one of the "half-moons" not fitted correctly.  No reason to have a head gasket leak after a valve check/adjustment.

 

[RZ350]

Correct, Google Photos link only lasts a short time (weeks/months?), but they have a Google Album Archive that all photos get instantly saved in and my links from there have lasted over 6 years now.  Lots of confirmation of from others on the web too that they are "permanent".

I'll check the cover gasket one more time.  I imagined that gasket being difficult, so I triple checked the full perimeter with my endoscope before torqueing the bolts down all the way.

The tiny hole is underneath each exhaust port, but only one is leaking...  I'll get a better picture of it.

 

[RZ350]

More pictures of this mysterious weep hole...

 

[RZ350]

Here is a shot showing the top of the exhaust port where the leak is coming from.  When its running, there is no sign of oil running down anywhere in this area, yet that hole below has a steady weep coming from it.

 

[Fred W]

 Never noticed that weep hole before. I wonder if it drains from the spark plug well?

 

[RZ350]

Fred - you are a genius!  You pulled my butt out of a sling again!  Look what I found in spark plug well #4 !!!!  Haha.  I guess I have some more work to do this afternoon, but at least it is nothing serious.  I thought I checked all those wells closely before tightening the cover down, darn.

Do you think I can just loosen the cover bolts up and tuck it back in?

 

[Fred W]

Probably, yes.  I’d give that a shot before draining the coolant again.

 

[RossKean]

So it was the valve cover gasket - just not where I thought.  I have seen photos of that bit of gasket around a plug leaking and letting oil into the well but I have not heard of it leaking out by the exhaust header.  Doesn't seem to me to be a good place to have oil potentially leaking out - pipes get to red heat.

Good catch, Fred.

 

[RZ350]

Well, I was so focused on the outer perimeter of the cover seal, I forgot about the inner perimeters.  Duh!   All's well that ends well, I always say.  This blunder cost me nothing more than a few hours of extra time.  Time I was going to use to install a bike powered garage door opener transmitter.  That will have to wait until another day.  The important thing today is the bike is back together and running good...  with no leaks!  My riding season is just coming into full swing now.

The gasket was in worse position that I thought.  That whole spark plug gasket ring was snagged on a cam cap bolt and was almost a full diameter off from where it was supposed to be (the picture above shows it) .  Since it was snagged, I had to take all the cover bolts completely out and lift the cover about 3/4" and reach in and unsnag it.  The rest of the gasket stayed put while all this was happening, luckily.  I didn't need to disturb the coolant piping either.

I'm good for one of these blunders every few years, and luckily this time, it didn't cost anything.  The bike is now ready for many more miles, with piece of mind that valve clearances are within spec.

Thanks again guys for the support!

 

[Fred W]

So it was the valve cover gasket - just not where I thought.  I have seen photos of that bit of gasket around a plug leaking and letting oil into the well but I have not heard of it leaking out by the exhaust header.  Doesn't seem to me to be a good place to have oil potentially leaking out - pipes get to red heat.

Good catch, Fred.

At least the weep hole is below the hot exhaust.  It’s kind of a great idea, IMO.  If there were no weep hole the OP’s plug well would fill up with oil until it fouled the plug, and the plug boot or coil in the case of 3G+.  At least seeing the nasty spooge leaking gets you looking for problems.  

 

[mcatrophy]

At least the weep hole is below the hot exhaust.  It’s kind of a great idea, IMO.  If there were no weep hole the OP’s plug well would fill up with oil until it fouled the plug, and the plug boot or coil in the case of 3G+.  At least seeing the nasty spooge leaking gets you looking for problems.  

More likely there to let rainwater escape. Unlikely to get there on the FJR, but probably pretty much standard practice. 

 

[Fred W]

Yeah, now that you mention it, I had one on the Rotax 650 single cyl engine on my Aprillia Pegaso.  That hole had lots of Pegaso and BMW F650 owners (they were the same bike back then) quite perplexed.

 

[RZ350]

Just a follow-up here...

I took my step daughter out for about an hour long ride last night and all is well after my little gasket blunder.  No leaks, and the bike is running great!  In fact, the bike is crisper off idle than ever before.  I'm not sure if its due to the new iridium plugs, new air filter, throttle body synch, or perhaps all, but whatever it is, its better.

Here are the old plugs that came out.  Just standard NGKs.  Iridium plugs were fitted.

And here is the result of the throttle synchronization.  It took some adjustment to dial it in and I wished I would have snapped a before picture for comparison.

Anyway, again thanks to the support of this forum to keep the bike logging more miles!

 

[RossKean]

In fact, the bike is crisper off idle than ever before. 

Glad you got it all sorted out.  I always get the feeling that it runs better after I have done a major service but in reality, I doubt any differences would show on a dyno if I had it done.  Still, having everything good after a major service is a great feeling - especially when it means that it will be a long time before you have to do it again!

 

[JREW]

I had the same issue after a valve check and I reused the old valve cover gasket.  I got a new one and the issue went go away.  There are very fine lines of rubber on the gasket that do not last from change to change.  

Also, I found that holding the gasket to the cover with blue painters tape or thin strips of duct tape help when putting the cover on.  After the cover is snugged down the tape easily pulls off.

 

[RossKean]

There are very fine lines of rubber on the gasket that do not last from change to change.  

Mine was still just fine when i sold the bike after 165,000 miles and 11 years.  Never a drop of oil leakage.  At the first valve check, I carefully cleaned the channel in the cover with solvent (carb cleaner) as well as the gasket itself (with mineral spirits).  Used a small amount of high temperature RTV silicone (O2 sensor safe) in the channel to glue the gasket to the lid.  Never a problem with reinstallation.

The OP had a problem with the separate gasket bits around the spark plug holes - not the part around the perimeter of the cover.  Tape could not be used to secure these.