How difficult...

[Ice7771]

...is it to change head gasket yourself? It doesn't sound too hard, and i'm fairly technically minded..but my worry is i'll mess something up when it comes to the camchain and timing and all that nonsense, should I just bite the bullet and get it fixed at the local garage, which incidently isn't that local (Cambridge)?

[eastanglianbiker]

depends on what bike it is????

[satnavsatnav]

Just do it yourself Mark everything up with tippex or something that will show up . making sure the chain keeps tight on the bottom gear then when putting back together line the marks up bobs your uncle. Thats how i would do it. There will be other ways and if all else fails check the manual.

[Ice7771]

Fazer 600, so far nothing but trouble, but i think i was just unlucky. It's very tempting to have a crack at it, but theres also a broken exhaust stud i'd have to deal with (not flush), feels easier to just throw it at a garage and have them do both. Hate garages though! always have the worst luck and go with the ones that rip you off!

[megawatt]

If you like giving money away, go to a garage! Buy a manual and watch some YouTube vids. Not a difficult job, just need to be methodical. Easier to remove stud with head off anyway. You will probs need a top end gasket set and some sealant. Setting the cam timing is straight forward, just align the timing marks and don,t let the chain fall down the tunnel. Go on, you know you want to. If really nervous pm ya number for a chat.

[Ice7771]

Cheers, garage quoted me £300-£500! depending on any problems they have, for that price I could have a crack at it myself and if the worst happens, buy a second hand engine and replace it. So I think that's what i'll do, ive got the haynes, and the official service manual, gonna pop to the yamaha garage tomorrow and order all the gaskets as I've heard bad things about the cheap green gaskets you can get online, might be wrong though?

I'll order:

4 Exhaust gaskets

1 Head Gasket

1 Rocker cover Gasket

8 rocker cover seal bolts

8 exhaust studs and nuts

Am I forgetting anything? Worst thing would be to start it and not have everything I need

[megawatt]

Might be best to strip it first. You might not need all new studs etc. Post some pix?

[satnavsatnav]

As megawatt said strip down first then you know exactly. why waste money. Let us know how you get on good luck

[TC]

good luck, take your time, mark everything up and take loads of pics.

[Tango]

Why do you need to change the head gasket?

If it's essential then the above advice is mint......mark everything, get some wire to thread through the ends of the camchain to stop it dropping down the tunnels, take loads & loads of pics and take your time......and torque everything to the correct torque (I learnt that one the hard way....fortunately in a time when there were lots of small engineering firms around that could helicoil a head for a couple of quid.. )

Good luck,

Bob

[Ice7771]

Right, so a quick update, I've been doing what I can in my free time. Friday night I got to this point:

http://i51.tinypic.com/2rw8b3q.jpg

Took the front fairing and rear seat cowl off (just to clean the frame etc), took the radiator/fan off, and removed the downpipes. All without any real problems (thanx to WD-40).

Quick question...does anyone know how I could test the fan while it's off the bike? Could I just hook it upto a 9V battery, or is that a stupid idea?

Last night I had some free time and thought I'd get the carbs out, which was a pain unhooking the choke and throttle cables! But went fine. I'm also learning that, although bikes seem easier to work on than cars, the limited space is a pain in the arse! I wanna get the head off, so I have to take the valve cover off, so I have to get the carbs off, so I have to pull the airbox back, so I have to take the battery out?!

http://i53.tinypic.com/2d2i35k.jpg

Another silly question...2 breather hoses at the bottom, fuel pump hose at the top, but what is the black right angle tube in the middle? It wasn't connected to anything...

So the bike currently looks like this:

http://i54.tinypic.com/2nk5c6.jpg

Tonight I'm getting the valve cover off and hopefully the head, it's all gone well so far, but now the bit i'm dreading...the camchain. What happens if I did drop the chain down the middle, or didnt manage to keep it tight and it came off the bottom gear?

I've also taken your advice and have not yet ordered anything, so far I've spent a grand total of £80, purely because I needed to cleaners/degreaser and a nice torque wrench. Im glad you guys gave me the push to do it, i'm learning a lot, and I havn't been robbed of £500!

Will keep you updated

[megawatt]

If you drop camchain, you just have to fish it back out. The important thing is to have crank at TDC mark and cams at timing marks aligned with either cylinder head top flange or similar.

Test fan by putting 12volts across contacts .

[Colin the Bear]

Paraffin for cleaning/degreasing, works a treat and is cheap as chips

[redline]

on some engines there is a bolt that goes through the side of the engine to stop the cam chain falling in there, either way make sure you cable tie it to the top of the motor so you dont drop it, its not as fun as fishing beleive me....i droped a piston circlip down in to the crack once, not fun!

[megawatt]

Once the head is off and the camchain suspended, put a rag in the tunnel to stop crap and bits galling in.

[satnavsatnav]

Looks like your doing alright Just remember take your time take pics and mark up. As for the hose if it wasn't connected , Does it look like it was connected check the manual it will tell you , The fan just needs 12v across the terminals. Dont worry about the cam chain if you drop it just fish it out its a big pain in the arse but not life threatening Enjoy the learning and put bolts nuts little fixings in little pots nowt worse than missing bolts

[Ice7771]

Yep the hose on the carbs isn't supposed to be connected to anything it seems and the fan works fine. Got the valve cover off, but now I'm stuck...

I removed the cam chain tensioner and springs from its housing, then removed the 2 bolts either side to remove the housing but then...nothing, it's stuck! It was suggested to me that the CCT gasket it just causing it to stick but it's really on there tight. And removing the actual CCT/springs hasn't slackened the camchain, it's still tight.

So it would seem the CCT is stuck, would really appreciate some suggestions, I gave in and popped to the yamaha garage and ordered the parts I need in the mean time. Also ordered a new CCT gasket as the current one is most likely knackered either way, was a bit worried about the price but hey 90p isn't bad! haha!

So yeah, advice please?

[Fozzie]

I take it you are trying to remove the cam chain then, perhaps its tight as it is only its tight point...

A chain will go through a tight point and slack point on a drive chain so I assume it could be the same case here, in which case you need to crank the engine round a bit and try again.

[Tango]

Removing the CCT spring will allow some movement of the slipper...but I don't remember the cam chain on any bike I've worked on being really loose. The slipper may have stuck....but even if it's loose you are not going to get a huge amount of play in the cam chain I don't think. As Fozzie says just wind the engine around a bit and if the slipper has stuck this may loosen it.

Have you just removed the CCT spring or the whole adjuster? If it's like my bike the adjuster has a ratcheted plunger.....so the spring will push the plunger in and as the camchain wears it will push the plunger onto the next tooth on the ratchet. So removing the spring only will not release the tension on the CCT. You would need to remove the whole CCT plunger assy.

Hope this makes sense?

Bob