Blown Head Gasket? Please help!

[mcguirepr]

I had my 1984 VT700c at the local honda dealership where they replaced the carburetors (One's I had bought off of ebay) and did some various other jobs. The bike has had many running issues before, but this seemed to fix them.

So I rode the bike to my parent's house and everything was going great. I had noticed though that my fuel economy was unusually low. I was getting about 30 MPG versus 50-60 MPG that I had been getting in the past. I didn't think much of it at the time, because it was running so well. Then this morning I left my parents house to head to a friend's house, and it had a slight loss of power for the first mile, then seemed to pick right up. I figured the engine was still not warmed up, because of how cold it was this morning.

When I left my friends house, I had a complete loss of power. I mean it was hard to keep the bike at 60 mph. I got a little ways, maybe 10 miles, and then I heard a loud knocking noise. I slowed down quite a bit and got to a parking lot where I could take a look at the bike. I checked the oil level and it was very, very low. At first I couldn't find where the oil had gone. I looked at the left exhaust pipe, and found that there was oil all over the exhaust joint where the pipe joins the exhaust baffles. I also noticed a spray all over my back tire, just on the left side.

Did I blow a head gasket? How hard is this to repair, and what are we talking about in repair costs?

Thanks for the input!

[landon]

I would start by doing a compression test.

Aside from that to check anything you are going to have to remove the engine from the frame and start taking the cylinders (covers, heads) apart , you cannot take the cylinders apart with the engine still in the frame. As to what is wrong you either have a blown gasket or something is internally cracked.

Cost wise... it is going to vary depending on what is wrong internally, the cam plugs at the top of the cylinders are going to cost $32 (US) for the set of four plus a tube of black high temp RTV, the cylinder gasket set from Honda is about $148 (US).

[sdanville]

Hey mcguirepr

When you tear into the motor. can you post what happened. There are so many beginnings in these forums with no endings. I would like to know what happened.

Ive torn apart a few motors, discovering the problem ripping apart a 4 stroke motor makes ya thankful you have testostrone.

[jon lewis]

Hey mcguirepr

When you tear into the motor. can you post what happened. There are so many beginnings in these forums with no endings. I would like to know what happened.

Ive torn apart a few motors, discovering the problem ripping apart a 4 stroke motor makes ya thankful you have testostrone.

I second that; a blow by blow account of difficulties, unexpecteds and surprises that the MOM doesn't address would be valuable. Might be a good way to vent frustrations the job presents.