Author Topic: CB750 cyl head: 6 flat seals  (Read 175 times)

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Offline 01Thomas

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CB750 cyl head: 6 flat seals
« on: March 17, 2026, 05:41:32 AM »
Hi
After a 30 km ride this past weekend my CB750F (F1 if you will) developed a sudden and severe oil leak from the cylinder head area.

During the strip-down I found:
1. one of the 6mm bearing cap nuts was loose
2. that bearing had partially seized on the cam and sort-of freed-up again
3. the flat rubber disc-seal under that bearing-carrier had completely distorted into a funnel-shape and was allowing oil to flow into the air-space in the cyl-head - see attached photos of the rubber disc.

Aside from the fact that the bearing cap nut was loose, what could have caused this flat rubber seal to distort so dramatically? And how do I prevent it from happening again?

cheers, Thomas
1971 Honda CB750 Four K1 [Engine: CB750E-1113521 / Frame: CB750-1113838]
1977 Seeley Honda CB750F (F1) [Engine: CB750E-2551214 / Frame No: SH7-655F]

'96 Yamaha YZF750SP & '81 Moto Guzzi SP1000 & '80 Moto Guzzi 850 LeMans II & '82 Bimota KB-3 [Frame No 49] & '66 Ducati 50 SL/1 & '53 Miele K-50 & '38 Miele 98

Offline bryanj

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Re: CB750 cyl head: 6 flat seals
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2026, 06:02:13 AM »
Excess heat from lack of oil causing bearing to sieze, loose nut would not cause it but blocked restrictor jet would
Semi Geriatric ex-Honda mechanic and MOT tester (UK version of annual inspection). Garage full of "projects" mostly 500/4 from pre 73 (no road tax in UK).

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Offline MauiK3

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Re: CB750 cyl head: 6 flat seals
« Reply #2 on: March 17, 2026, 07:55:48 AM »
Hopefully you can get it all fixed up!
1973 CB 750 K3
10/72 build Z1 Kawasaki

Offline 01Thomas

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Re: CB750 cyl head: 6 flat seals
« Reply #3 on: March 17, 2026, 11:02:40 AM »
Thanks everyone!.

This afternoon I removed the restrictors and I couldn't push a needle through either of them. It took a bit of effort but now they're both clear. I think I dodged a bullet there. Apart from the damaged bearing/carrier/tower there's no real damage, although the blueing does indicate that things got a bit hot under the tappet cover.

As far as fixing it is concerned, that shouldn't be a problem: I have the grand total of 11 camshafts* and about 8 cam carriers.

* 7 of which are stock with 7mm exhaust lift and
3 of which are performance cams with 9mm exhaust lift and
1 is a Yoshi cam with 10mm exh lift and marked POP B (or R - it's not clear). Oddly enough you have to remove the locating washer at the left end of the cam to see this stamping. Normally these identifying marks are on the RHS end, where the notch is.

So while this failure shouldn't have happened it does present me with the opportunity for an upgrade.
1971 Honda CB750 Four K1 [Engine: CB750E-1113521 / Frame: CB750-1113838]
1977 Seeley Honda CB750F (F1) [Engine: CB750E-2551214 / Frame No: SH7-655F]

'96 Yamaha YZF750SP & '81 Moto Guzzi SP1000 & '80 Moto Guzzi 850 LeMans II & '82 Bimota KB-3 [Frame No 49] & '66 Ducati 50 SL/1 & '53 Miele K-50 & '38 Miele 98

Offline HondaMan

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Re: CB750 cyl head: 6 flat seals
« Reply #4 on: March 17, 2026, 11:19:43 AM »
If any tiny crumb of debris of any kind has plugged up the oil jet underneath the cam bearing on that side, this will happen. The curled-up rubber seal indicates very high temperatures occurred in that area when the oil stopped flowing.

There is a small oil metering jet underneath each cam bearing, toward the middle of the head, at the back side of the bearing housing(s). They are fed oil directly from the main oil journal on the back bottom of the cylinders, where you can see a cap on the right side of the engine. From the middle of this journal, in the center of the engine, there is a passage that goes straight through to the oil filter where the oil pump has pressurized that filter housing to push the oil everywhere. Troubles with debris in the oil system happen when the oil filters are either torn, installed backward (filter to the from instead of having the spring and flat washer push the filter toward the engine block), or someone lost the flat washer that fits behind that oil filter spring, letting the rubber get chewed up by the spring. Then, when changing the oil after that chewing had started, leaving tiny black rubber bits all around in the oil filter housing instead of cleaning it all out (not checking), the bits end up in the main oil journal, then move upward to block the oil jets, and the cam bearings lose their lubrication and seize. I've seen this series of events totally destroy these motors before, hence all the details.

I'd suggest pulling off the oil filter on the front of the engine. Look to see if tiny black bits of rubber might still be floating about in the area, chewed off a previous (or present) oil filter. Get the washer: PartsNmore and Honda still sell them. For the top end, you'll need another cam bearing with caps and a newer cam.

And flush out the oil passages manually if you have to: you must pull off the alternator cover on the engine's left side to see through the whole oil supply journal. Remove the camshaft and the cam bearings on the top of the engine and pull out (and clean) the oil jets. Flush downward with solvent spray from those oil ports into the main oil journal and let it run out the open cap and plug on both ends. Then plug the alternator end of the main oil journal and flush it through with solvent, which will then flow out the oil filter area on the front of the engine. When the engine is all put back together, put in 3 quarts of oil and re-prime the oil pump, then, using the electric starter and with sparkplugs removed (and your car's battery jumpered to the bike's battery to help with this, as the cranking times will be long, like 10 second bursts) restore oil pressure (Oil PSI light goes out) and flow (look into the valve caps to make sure you can see oil drooling down by the valve springs) to fill up the new oil filter and all the journals. Then drain all that oil, as it will likely have other black bits still in it, somewhere. Then install new oil and filter again.

BTW: this requires the engine be pulled out of the bike, as you cannot remove the cam cover on top without doing that first... :(
See SOHC4shop.com for info about the gadgets I make for these bikes.

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Link to Hondaman Ignition: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=67543.0

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Link to website: https://sohc4shop.com/  (Note: no longer at www.SOHC4shop.com, moved off WWW. in 2024).

Offline 01Thomas

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Re: CB750 cyl head: 6 flat seals
« Reply #5 on: March 17, 2026, 11:47:49 AM »
Thanks Mark, my bike's a Seeley Honda so I stripped the head quite easily without removing the engine. It is just about time for an oil change anyway so I'll remove the 4-1 exhaust and the oil filter tomorrow to check it all out.
This is not my first rodeo but I thought I'd taken care of the cleanliness issue when building this engine.
1971 Honda CB750 Four K1 [Engine: CB750E-1113521 / Frame: CB750-1113838]
1977 Seeley Honda CB750F (F1) [Engine: CB750E-2551214 / Frame No: SH7-655F]

'96 Yamaha YZF750SP & '81 Moto Guzzi SP1000 & '80 Moto Guzzi 850 LeMans II & '82 Bimota KB-3 [Frame No 49] & '66 Ducati 50 SL/1 & '53 Miele K-50 & '38 Miele 98

Offline HondaMan

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Re: CB750 cyl head: 6 flat seals
« Reply #6 on: March 17, 2026, 02:47:54 PM »
It's happened to me when I pulled down an engine that had been sitting open for a while. It also happens (pretty often!) in the sandcast engines and some of the early K0 versions, before Honda used a 1-piece casting rod for the oil journal on the back of the cylinders. I have a sandcast build somewhere in these threads that shows what happened back then: they started with a 2-piece rod for the center of the oil journal, and right in the middle of that width, where those rods met, it would cast flash inside the journal. I remember it so well because of how incredulous I felt the first time I looked through one of those journals and saw the large flash chunks still left, and how rough the corridor was inside: I got a very long (and expensive!) drill bit and ran it down the whole width. Sadly, I also forgot and left that drill bit in my shop when I moved to Colorado: I don't think the guys I left behind even knew what it was for? This is the source of so many of the sandcast's damaged top ends, when the oil feed paths into the cam bearings were merely a drilled hole about 1+cm long. The flash chips clogged those right up.
:(
See SOHC4shop.com for info about the gadgets I make for these bikes.

The demons are repulsed when a man does good. Use that.
Blood is thicker than water, but motor oil is thicker yet...so, don't mess with my SOHC4, or I might have to hurt you.
Hondaman's creed: "Bikers are family. Treat them accordingly."

Link to Hondaman Ignition: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=67543.0

Link to My CB750 Book: https://www.lulu.com/search?adult_audience_rating=00&page=1&pageSize=10&q=my+cb750+book
Link to My CB500/CB550 Book: https://www.lulu.com/search?sortBy=RELEVANCE&page=1&q=my+cb550+book&pageSize=10&adult_audience_rating=00
Link to website: https://sohc4shop.com/  (Note: no longer at www.SOHC4shop.com, moved off WWW. in 2024).

Offline 01Thomas

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Re: CB750 cyl head: 6 flat seals
« Reply #7 on: Today at 12:02:33 AM »
Thanks Mark!
1971 Honda CB750 Four K1 [Engine: CB750E-1113521 / Frame: CB750-1113838]
1977 Seeley Honda CB750F (F1) [Engine: CB750E-2551214 / Frame No: SH7-655F]

'96 Yamaha YZF750SP & '81 Moto Guzzi SP1000 & '80 Moto Guzzi 850 LeMans II & '82 Bimota KB-3 [Frame No 49] & '66 Ducati 50 SL/1 & '53 Miele K-50 & '38 Miele 98