seeping head gasket, V7II Stone

[stevet]

Bike- 2016 MG V7II Stone.  3000+ miles.

Last fall, on the day I was putting Sophia to bed for the winter, I noticed a wee bit of oil spatter down(air)stream of the left jug.  Spatter on the starter, the "V7II" side panel, the swing arm, and the muffler heat shield.  There was some even on the gear shift lever, and probably on my filthy riding pants.  The oil dipstick was snug and free of oil leakage.  The source looked to be about half way down the height of the cylinder from the valve cover, and with close examination you can see a gasket joint where the oil comes from.  Being a quiet Saturday, I buzzed her down to the dealer, we took a look at it and decided to wait until spring to repair it.  Snow was 2 days away and I wasn't going to ride in winter conditions.  I went home, cleaned her up along with end of season service, and put her to bed.

So, here we are, spring.  The bike was still asleep yesterday so I drove the car to the dealership and made an appointment for a warranty repair, will drop it off later this week.  When I got home, I woke her up and we went for a 30 mile ride.  And again, oil spatter, too light to be noticeable at the dipstick.  Here are a few pics.  Click on the photos for a larger view.  A couple have text written on the photo.

I'm not concerned about the gasket being replaced, this is a good shop and I have a great relationship with them (Mill City Moto/Scooterville, Minneapolis, MN).  The mechanic is skilled and humble, I'm confident he'll do well.

I don't have the skills or experience to perform this work myself.  But, is this a DIY repair?  (I wouldn't anyway, it's under warranty.)  I'm guessing it is rather involved, and exacting in what you do.

Anyone else experience a weeping head gasket on their modern 750 engine?  Tell your story...

Thanks,
Steve.

[pyoungbl]

Yeah, let the dealer take care of this.  I'm guessing it's a head gasket issue.  Were the heads torqued at the first service?  If not, that's the root cause.  As I recall, replacing the head gasket is not difficult.  With a pushrod Heron head engine you do not have to deal with cam timing, timing chain, tensioner or other complications.  Someone with more small block teardown experience might have a better answer but mine makes perfect sense to me.

Peter Y.

[stevet]

Yep, torqued along with the valve adjustment at the scheduled first service.  And I stood there watching the mechanic, saw the torque wrench settings and everything.  I had the torque settings for the different bolts in hand when he did it, obtained from this site, and from his service manual.  All went well with that.

Steve.

[Chuck in Indiana]

But, is this a DIY repair?

About as easy as engine work gets.  I would think that it is more likely one of the O rings rather than the head gasket, though.

[bmc5733946]

I have never actually seen a Guzzi leak where they appear to be leaking, it is always leaking from somewhere else. Oil travels at a remarkable pace and travels easily and far on a warm engine. It may well be a head gasket but I would be looking elsewhere first, is the breather hose securely attached to the valve cover etc. etc..

Brian

[stevet]

No signs of oil above, in front of, or much below (only one more fin below, that's it) the suspect location, just downstream behind, blown back there in the wind of the moving bike.

Well, it's good to know that the fins move the air needed to keep the cylinders cool, as demonstrated by the oil.

Steve.

[drawnverybadly]

I had the same leak , I did end up fixing it myself by replacing the head gasket, it came from the factory slightly mis-aligned and it was obviously damaged where the oil was seeping out. I was a while ago but I remember it was easy peasy to replace it, the hardest part was forcing the rubber intake boot off and back on the cylinder head.

In Guzziology, the older small blocks would also occasionally have this problem and the fix involved coating the factory gasket with a layer of Permetex gasket maker but I think the older gaskets were the one time use cardboard type and the modern gaskets are made from a coated metal material, but if replacing the gasket didn't fix my problem I was planning on going that route.

Also don't forget to retorque the head screws to factory spec after 620 miles of running in the new gasket.

[mikefmoto]

Interesting. I have a Breva 750 with the exact issue. I'm planning to do it my self, if not too complicated.