• Ciao Guest - You’ve landed at the ultimate Guzzi site. NEW FORUM REGISTRATIONS REQUIRE EMAIL ACTIVATION - CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER - Use the CONTACT above if you need help. New to the forum? For all new members, we require ONE post in the Introductions section at the bottom, in order to post in most of the other sections. ALWAYS TRY A SEARCH BEFORE STARTING A NEW TOPIC - Most questions you may have, have likely been already answered. DON'T BE A DRIVE-BY POSTER: As a common courtesy, check back in and reply within 24 hours, or your post will be deleted. Note there's decades of heavily experienced Guzzi professionals on this site, all whom happily give endless amounts of their VALUABLE time for free; BE COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL!
  • There is ZERO tolerance on personal attacks and ANY HYPERLINKS to PRODUCT(S) or other competing website(s), including personal pages, social media or other Forums. This ALSO INCLUDES ECU DIAGnostic software, questions and mapping. We work very hard to offer commercially supported products and to keep info relevant here. First offense is a note, second is a warning, third time will get you banned from the site. We don't have the time to chase repeat (and ignorant) offenders. This is NOT a social media platform; It's an ad-free, privately funded website, in small help with user donations. Be sure to see the GTM STORE link above; ALL product purchases help support the site, or you can upgrade your Forum profile or DONATE via the link above.
  • Be sure to see the GTM STORE link also above for our 700+ product inventory, including OEM parts and many of our 100% Made-in-SoCal-USA GTM products and engine kits. In SoCal? Click the SERVICE tab above for the best in service, tires, tuning and installation of our products or custom work, and don't miss our GT MotoCycles® (not) art on the BUILDS tab above. WE'RE HERE ONLINE ONLY - NO PHONE CALLS MADE OR RECEIVED - DO NOT EMAIL AND ASK QUESTIONS OR ASK TO CALL YOU.
  • Like the new V100, GuzziTech is full throttle into the future! We're now running on an all-new server and we've updated our Forum software. The visual differences are obvious, but hopefully you'll notice the super-fast speed. If you notice any glitches or have any issues, please post on the Site Support section at the bottom. If you haven't yet, please upgrade your account which is covered in the Site Support section or via the DONATE tab above, which gives you full site access including the DOWNLOADS section. We really appreciate every $ and your support to keep this site ad-free. Create an account, sign in, upgrade your account, and enjoy. See you on the road in 2024.

Valve cover gaskets

Ozrider58

Ozrider58

Tuned and Synch'ed
Joined
Feb 13, 2012
Messages
42
Location
Newport, Victoria
I recently took ownership of a Breva 1100. I have sorted out nearly all the little glitches but I seem to keep blowing valve cover gaskets. About every 1000km I blow a valve cover gasket. This is happening on both cylinders. Is there some preventative maintenance that I should be doing?
 
That's odd, my B11 still has the original gaskets with over 30k miles. A light coat of grease on the gasket helps. Hand tighten the bolts in a cross pattern.

Have you inspected the mating surface for marring? PO might have used a screw driver to pry the covers off.
 
Check the valve covers for flatness. This can be done using a piece of glass. If you detect high spots, These can be removed using the same glass with a piece of abrasive paper on it, I like to use 220 grit. If flat, use a non hardening sealant (Permatex 85249 Hylomar Universal Blue) on the lower half of the gasket on both sides.
 
The torque spec is 10 Nm. Tighten to 10 Nm in a criss-cross pattern. If that fails, check for flatness.
 
Thanks for the tips. Is there any way I can be setting up an excessive vacuum under the valve cover? The gaskets keep going in the same place - just in front of the exhaust valve from being sucked in.
 
Guzzi changed the gaskets, the new ones have the part number 976139, the old ones kept leaking.
 
iainw said:
Guzzi changed the gaskets, the new ones have the part number 976139, the old ones kept leaking.
Click to expand...

That new gasket has a sealant on it that causes the gasket to tear each time you remove the valve cover. I've been using the old square head style gaskets on my Breva since 2006 with no leaks.
 
Yes Im using the new gaskets. They stick on one side. Im putting the sticky side against the cover not the cylinder. Amazingly though the gasket still gets sucked in under the cover eveb when its stuck hard to the valve cover.
 
I don't mind them tearing when I lift the cover, it only takes a few minutes to clean the surfaces and fit a new one, they don't cost much anyway.

What grips me is when they don't do what they're supposed to, when they leak and blow oil over mi kecks and boot. :angry:
 
Yes that is the biggest pain of the blown valve covers - the oil on the boots.

Just changes another one so will see how it goes.

Michael
 
Ozrider58 said:
Yes that is the biggest pain of the blown valve covers - the oil on the boots.

Just changes another one so will see how it goes.

Michael
Click to expand...

Have you checked the surfaces as suggested?
 
No John I havent yet. I will see how this goes and check the next time one blows (hoping they dont). Ive ordered and got in some spare gaskets. The gasket sticks to the cover so it seems ashame to pull it off while its still new. I will just keep an eye on the tension on the bolts that hold the cover down and see if that helps.

thanks for the comments

Michael
 
Stop purchasing 1200 Valve Cover Gaskets - get the gaskets for the 1100. These are thicker, of a different material, and are re-usable (so I've been led to believe) and fit straight on.
 
Re. leaking valve gaskets, the following solution I came up with cured the problem for good on my 2006 BREVA 1100.

1. Be sure and remove all the old gasket material with cellulose thinners and if necessary us a craft knife blade only to remove big bits be careful not to leave any scratches..!

2. Mop up any engine oil left on the cylinder head or in the valve cover with plenty of paper towels and de-grease both mating surfaces with more thinners on a paper towel. If you have any trace of oil or contaminated old gasket the new gasket will not seal, this is because the gaskets are impregnated with a sealing adhesive which will not bond with oil contaminated surfaces when the engine is first run after fitting

3. Apart from the result of a contaminated seal the always present vibration causes the valve cover nuts to slacken off causing valve cover to move and hence break any gasket seal. The solution that I use is to fit M6 A2 Stainless Steel Split Shake Proof washers under each nut and torque down as detailed in the workshop manual. These washers work better than just Loctite because the threads are often contaminated with oil so will not work, not problems with split washers though.

Following these steps has provided solution to this common problem, also keeps your engine and clothing clean between services. Would work on other MG models too. Good luck.
 
I have used the 1100 gaskets now for the third time without replacing them. They simply come off clean and go back on the same way. No oil leaks for a long time now - I guess they must be reusable...
 
aquila01 said:
2. Mop up any engine oil left on the cylinder head or in the valve cover with plenty of paper towels and de-grease both mating surfaces with more thinners on a paper towel. If you have any trace of oil or contaminated old gasket the new gasket will not seal, this is because the gaskets are impregnated with a sealing adhesive which will not bond with oil contaminated surfaces when the engine is first run after fitting
.
Click to expand...

Interesting logic. When I replaced a leaking gasket with the thicker paper one from MG Cycle, I actually coated both surfaces with plain old grease to help seal the gasket. 3k miles and not one drop leaking.

I did prep both surfaces with light sandpaper to ensure all the previous gasket was removed.

Tom
 
Hi, good to hear that you don't have any leaks using your method. Personally I would not recommend using abrasives on a factory machined surface for the very reason Moto Guzzi and others designed it that way. The reason that old gasket material was left behind on your mating surfaces explains my point and the methods suggested in why and how to remove them. Dry gasket fitting to clean smooth surfaces is the recommended factory way of fitting dry gaskets with perhaps the exception of applying a silicone gasket sealant if surfaces are damaged or non adhesive gaskets.The tip of fitting spring washers are the key though, they maintain the torque setting and hence even pressure on the gasket seal, and cope withe the ever present Guzzi vibes between service intervals.

Kind regards
 
Oz1200Guzzi said:
I have used the 1100 gaskets now for the third time without replacing them. They simply come off clean and go back on the same way. No oil leaks for a long time now - I guess they must be reusable...
Click to expand...

Hi Tony,

Could you please confirm that this would be a correct replacement as suggested for my '08 Breva 1200 S? Is that the 1100 model gasket you described?

I just did my 1st valve job on the bike and had to clean off the stuck original gasket. I'd rather not have to repeat that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top