base gasket oil leak

[bluewolf]

my XJ1100J has a leak around the base gasket. now i also own an old airhead BMW and when the cylinders start weeping oil all you do is re- torque the cylinders. i am hoping this is what i need to do with the XJ. does anyone have the torque specs for doing this? i also have one valve a little out of adjustment, would anyone have the specs on that as well? i do thank any help on this

[Hawkins]

These are the clearance values I have. Best to confirm before use though.

XJ/XS SHIM TABLE lower mean upper
Specified Intake Clearance 0.16 0.18 0.20
Specified Exhaust Clearance 0.21 0.23 0.25

[DGXSER]

I would suspect it is the same on an XJ as the XS since the engine is pretty much the same. The 12 top nuts are 25 ft-lbs, the underneath two are 14.5 ft-lbs per my Clymers. Pattern is to do the top ones first starting at the center and working out in a crisscross or figure eight pattern.

For the XS, on the later models the intake clearance for valves was dropped to .11-.15 mm. As stated, the exhaust has always been .21-.25 mm clearance.

An XJ owner or expert will surely confirm or contradict the consistancy between the two models.

[trbig]

The torqu on the head nuts is 24 ft pounds... but IF you have a leak, once that starts seeping, that will act like a wick and keep pulling oil through no matter how tight the nuts are.

The reason I said IF you have a leak, is the way these are designed, there is no pressure behind the base gasket. Oil will leak from some other place such as the front of the motor and get blown back over the head.. or it also likes to leak on the inside portion of the valve cover in around where the #2 spark plug is.. then go through the air slots, run down the carb holder boot on #2 and drip down on either the head gasket fin or run down further. The way the motor sits at an angle, when the bike is stopped, gravity takes this oil around and drips off the front somewhere making it look like a base or head gasket leak.

I'm not saying it can't happen or that the base can't leak, I'm just saying that you should clean everything off really well and check before determining that this is indeed the problem.

I also would highly sugggest you get a manual before attempting the things you are talking about doing. If you have an email that accepts larger than the 10mb file size limit of most emails (Yahoo, MSN, AOL, etc.. ) I can send you the XJ manual on PDF.

Tod

[BigDick]

These are the clearance values I have. Best to confirm before use though.

XJ/XS SHIM TABLE lower mean upper
Specified Intake Clearance 0.16 0.18 0.20
Specified Exhaust Clearance 0.21 0.23 0.25

Made my eyes bug out for a second, then I realized you were talking in millimeters not inches. Crazy metric bikes. . . . .

[trbig]

I was wrong... it is 25 ft pounds not 24.. sorry.

Tod

[dbeardslee]

You might try cleaning it up good, and then put some talcum powder on it. As Tod said, it might be coming from somewhere else (valve cover gasket, and oil delivery pipe banjo connections are two notorious culprets on the back side). The talc will show you the 'tracks' the oil is making. My $.02

[mitch]

Oil Leak

Another thing to pay attention to is the timining chain tensioner they leak and run down to the lower part looking like a base gasket.

[Ken Talbot]

Almost guaranteed the leak is not coming from the base gasket. Clean it up, sprinkle with baby powder, and watch for the oil tracks. Probably coming from the valve cover gasket.

[Pat Kelly]

My E was leaking oil at the front of the engine. I thought it was the cam chain ensioner and tried everything to seal it. Turned out to be the base gasket at the camchain gallery. I put a thin coat of RTV silicone over the suspected area and no more leak (it's not under oil pressure, just the oil running back to the oilpan). 3 years now and bone dry.

[Ivan]

Mine seeps from the rear center of the base gasket. I thought it was the oil pressure switch or the banjo fittings on the up tube, but I couldn't get so lucky. Foot spray showed it to be the base gasket.

I just wash it every so often and drive the snot out of it. When it starts dripping down the kick stand, its time for another wash. Hopefully some time it will sit still longe enough for me to fix that.