Valve cover leak

[fermin]

After replacing the valve cover gaskets on the left cylinder to fix an oil leak, the leak has worsened.  The cover seems to be straight checked with a piece of glass and feeler gauge. Both cover and base were cleaned with acetone and a rag and the cover placed back.  The nuts are barely tight ( also tried tightening a notch but same result).  

The right cycinder which also used to leak fixed itself (I love that) after the valve adjustment.

Should I use a light coating of gasket compound like Permatex No 3?

[marcmax]

Fermin,

I had the same problem on mine. Every time I adjusted the valves I seemed to get a leak, first one side and then the other. I bought a set of silicone valve cover gaskets from an independent BMW shop in Deland FL.  http://rennsportmotorrad.com/ They weren't cheap, about $35 for the set but they never need to be replaced. Just wipe them clean and use again. No leaks at all and I have had them on/off a half dozen times. Mine are red because I was in a anxious and that was all he had at the time but he has them in black and I think grey also. Well worth the money.

[fermin]

MArc

I had seen silicone gaskets for the carb bowls at www.realgaskets.com, will check these out

thanks for the tip

[montmil]

Make sure the valve cover gasket is placed correctly. It's way easy to get 'em on upside down.

Monte

[fermin]

Monte what do you mean by upside down?. The side bolts are diagonally opposed so you can only place them one way, or are they specific for R and L sides?

[marcmax]

Fermin, I am sure that is were Tom in Deland gets them from. The last time I was in his shop he was ordering some more of them.

[montmil]

Monte what do you mean by upside down?. The side bolts are diagonally opposed so you can only place them one way, or are they specific for R and L sides?

Ha! Anything can be f***ed up! I stopped by a new-to-him BMW R90 owners crib when he asked for help... d'oh! Gasket upside down. If it won't go, force it. And this guy teaches high school math.

Nuttin' personal, Fermin. Stuff sometimes slips by us all.

Monte

[fermin]

Just checking because the manuals only take you so far along and more often than not you need someone in the forum to set you back on the right track

[azcycle]

I just adjusted the valves on mine last week, and put new gaskets on that I purchased at the local BMW shop. Both of mine leaked quite a bit... one still is.  I tried flipping the gaskets... didn't work.  I ended up just using a very tiny bit of gasket sealer and it worked on one side.  Of course the side that didn't seal is going to be a mess with the gasket sealer compound on it.

What I noticed on mine was that the valve covers were switched. I just put them on as they came off, but I had never noticed the small "L" and "R" stamped into the cover. Switched them to the correct side when I had to remove to fix the leaks...

[Bengt_Phorqs]

On the first R65 I owned almost 20 years back I took it into the dealer for a valve adjustment.  One of the best mechanics in town showed me how to perform the adjustment.  When it came time to put the valve covers back on he took some Permatex blue silicon sealant instead of the paper gaskets.  Never ever leaked and I've been using that method ever since and have never had a valve cover leak.  Works for me but may not work for you.

[Yikes]

I had a pesky leak in my left side that kept dotting the toe of my boot with little oil droplets.  I tried a new gasket and that didn't work.  So I cleaned up tho old gasket which was still in pretty good shape and stacked it on with the new gasket and that stopped it!

[yomama]

One possible cause is that the  surface the valve cover mates to is warped.  I have the same problem on my R100 and fixed it with doubling up in the gaskets.  If and when you get your heads redone have 'em checked for flatness (wording?), because it's something that they don't routinely do.  The R100 heads were done by a place in CA who do good work but I got this pair back with a leak.  It was so bad the when I tried the silicone gaskets the space was so great the the gasket acted like a reed and made a chirping sound when the bike was running.  jep

[fermin]

I doubled up on the left head and I think I have stopped it.  Well see later today.

Thanks for the tip

[azcycle]

The right side is still leaking quite a bit for me. My right boot is covered in small drops of oil and there is always a small puddle of oil when left parked for a while.  The old paper gasket was a pain to remove, and this newer rubber/plastic gasket I got from Iron Horse just isn't sealing, even with a small smear of gasket sealer.  

I'll get it, though.

[drewboid]

I use the REALGASKET silicone gaskets on all the airheads. The old "acorn" valve covers were the same for right and left - no such thing as putting the gasket on upside down. the gaskets are the same for the new valve covers so I don't see there being an upside down. Also the PO of my R65 installed two "R" valve covers! one looks a little strange but it has worked fine for the three years I've owned it.