Topic: When it rains, it pours! CB550 questions

[cleveland]

My 1974 CB550 has an oil leak in the head gasket.  I thought it was minor so I planned to rebuild the engine this winter, but I think it needs to be done sooner.  I was ridding when I noticed it was making a puttering noise then it died.  I pulled over and looked it over but I did not see anything wrong like oil or gas leaking so I checked the oil.  IT WAS BONE DRY!!!!    I pushed it over to my buddies house and he gave me a ride to pick up some oil.  I put in 2 1/2 quarts of oil and try start it up. I got 7 blocks towards home and it died again, but this time it was not the oil it was the power.  Battery was completely dead! 

So can it be that the oil is not leaking but burning up?  What should I be looking for?  Do you think the power and oil issue is related or two separate issues.  Also, where would you suggest going for an engine gasket kit for a 550?  If anyone has one I have a 750 gasket kit I would trade you or just buy yours.

cleveland

[csendker]

Gasket set --> http://www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=2003

My '75 550 takes 3.2 quarts of oil, and so should yours.  I put a little less than 3 quarts in, run it for a minute and then top it off ~ you have to fill up the filter, etc. 

And 3.2 quarts worth of leaking oil is one heck of a puddle of oil, or a veritable smoke cloud out your pipes.  Either way, it would be real noticible.  Do you have a huge puddle on the garage floor or lots of smoke when you're running it?

Dead battery: could be a bad battery, could be a bad charging system, could be overused.  Remember, 550's don't start charging until you bump over 2,000 RPM.  The starter chews up the available juice - a couple of starts with minimal running inbetween will do it.  And don't use a car charger to charge it up - it's too much and will kill your battery, I know.  When it's running again, check the charging voltage at various RPM's to see if it's OK.  Use a hygrometer to check the acid and top off the water (w/distilled if you have it).

1,000 RPM = 12.0V
2,000 RPM = 12.4V
3,000 RPM = 13.2V
4,000 RPM = 14.5V
above 4K   = 14.5V