Topic: Head gasket vs. cam tower pucks?

[B.O.X.N.I.F.E.]

I'm tearing through a 77 CB550 and need to locate the source of a steady oil leak up top. I've got the bike stripped to the motor-out phase. Is there a definitive way to tell the difference between a head gasket leak and cam tower pucks at this stage?

[bryanj]

550 dont have cam towers but uses the same pucks to seal between cam cover and head, these dont often leak on the 550 its nearly always the oil feed "O" rings in the head gasket and/or wrong washers on the bolts that hold the brackets the end caps fit to

[B.O.X.N.I.F.E.]

thanks bryanj

got the top cover off. The end cap washers were on correctly. Three of the pucks were rock hard and had shrunk. Was definetly wet beneth them. Think I'm safe in doing a retorque and replacing the pucks?

[bryanj]

Sorry, been away for a rest! Just replace the pucks using a small amount of silicone on the edges, dont bother with re-torque---never done one in my life on a Honda,carefull refitting the cover so you dont bend valves.

If you do have to pull th ehead and cylinder all you have lost is work time and that aint so bad on the 550 as its all done in frame

[B.O.X.N.I.F.E.]

Sorry, been away for a rest! Just replace the pucks using a small amount of silicone on the edges, dont bother with re-torque---never done one in my life on a Honda,carefull refitting the cover so you dont bend valves.

If you do have to pull th ehead and cylinder all you have lost is work time and that aint so bad on the 550 as its all done in frame

thanks bryan, i'll go that way. worst case is the o-rings are actually bad and I lose a couple hours on a second disassembly. might save some dough on a gasket kit if the pucks work out, though. it was weird, only 3 had hardened and were slightly shrunken.

[Tete]

I thought I would rather just continue than start a new thread about this topic.  I have what seems to be a head gasket leak somewhere.  Can someone with experience please explain to me the puck vs head gasket.  If the leak is in the puck does this ruin the head gasket as well needing me to replace both?  Also can I replace just the pucks and re torque the head.  have any of you had luck with re-torquing as a solution?

[Roach]

the pucks are about the size of a nickle if they are shrunk replace or just use some silicone on them your head gasket should be ok if its not the pucks then it probably is the head gasket. but start withg the pucks

[Duanob]

I would suggest cleaning your engine really good to see exactly where the leak is coming from. The places on a 550 where the head gasket leaks is the very ends on the sides of the engine where the jugs and head meet or the very front center but not as much as the sides. If your pucks are bad you will see oil coming through above the head gasket level usually at the head bolts on the exhaust side (front ) of the engine. It's a pretty easy fix and probably worth the time to replace the pucks, the valve cover gasket and cam cover gasket. I used a bit of marine Perfect seal around the edges of the pucks for extra insurance against leaks.

I would suggest buying a whole top end gasket kit, It has everything including head gaskets and base gaskets carb intake and valve cover O-rings, starter cover and points cover seals, valve cover and cam cover seals, cam end cover o-rings, pucks, valve stem seals, etc etc, everything you will probably end up replacing on a 35 year old bike anyway.

[djahlschwede]

I would like to do a total rebuild and was wondering where is the best place to buy a gasket kit? I've seen Athena kits all over the place but I have also herd a lot of bad news about them leaking where should I look?

[Johnny5]

I would like to do a total rebuild and was wondering where is the best place to buy a gasket kit? I've seen Athena kits all over the place but I have also herd a lot of bad news about them leaking where should I look?

Go with either Honda or Vesrah gaskets.