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R100rs Valve Cover Water Trap

J

JLSMITH37804

Guest
Hi folks,
when removing my valve covers to check the valves on my recent purchase, I found several tablespoons of water pouring from the joint as I separated the cover from the cylinder. After examining the gasket and joint surface, it appears that there is a slight opening cast in the area where the spark plug is and opposite it on the bottom of the valve cover. The top opening looks to be the obvious place where water could be entrapped in the pocket created by the cylinder head and cover. Is there any reason for this casting gap, and could I/should I drill water drain passages. It would seem that cold weather bikes could see this water freeze and crack something?! Or can I seal it up and not worry about it?
Thanks for any help!
 
Never really heard it to be a problem...unless the bike's stored a long time. That area gets water in it when I wash the bike or ride in a rain storm. With the engine heat, it eventually boils away. Seems like if water were in there and it froze, it has room to expand upwards...not sure what kind of force it would exert that might crack the head...never heard that mentioned before. Drill the bottom if you want...no one but you will know about it.
 
I had the same problem with my R80RT. I put on a new valve cover and the problem went away. I really think you should fix this properly. It is my understanding that this oil circulates and this water could find its way back into the sump. Oil and water do not mix, as you know. Yes, it will eventually boil away, but I am not sure if any damange is being done in the meantime. I swapped valve covers before I found out. I would not in any case drill a hole in the valve cover. You are going to have a slippery, oily boot on that side.
 
Hmmm...I reread things...several tablespoons of water?? That's a lot. And I wouldn't think there should be an oil associated with the water that is trapped.

Sounds like you've got a problem with your valve cover gasket and/or the cover or head is warped. No water should be getting into the valve area and no oil should be seeping out.
 
try silicone gaskets
as a cheap fix, cheaper then new valve covers.....
Im not a fan of them but they do seal up warped valve covers and heads pretty good
but they torque strange and are a big hassle to re-use
plus they are orange, look different
I dont use them, except one time, like in your situation
I think you can find them on the web under the name realgaskets
 
Ride it for 1000 miles and pull the valve covers and see if there is still water. You can trap water in the spark plug area, but if water was getting into the rocker area from that source, you would have oil leaking out. Water in an engine for any length of time will become emulsified and look milky, not clear.
 
if it is just water trapped on the outside of the valve cover which happens on the peanut shaped valve covers I wouldn't worry about it. I have never heard of it causing a problem in the 30 plus years I've been riding airheads. If however its water Inside the valve covers, then yes get new gaskets, they should last a good long time. Some folks use sealant on the surface next to the heads to hold the gaskets in place when removing the covers but again I've had the same set of gaskets on my current airhead for the past 9 years and never had any problems with leaking. If you are not seeing any oil on the underside of the valve cover gasket then my bet is that they are fine and nothing is getting in. Also when you say several spoonfuls I think that may be hard to really confirm without really measuring it, it may seem like more than it is.

RM
 
I had a misshap a few years ago and had to replace one valve cover. I had always had the same problem with water getting trapped in that area, too.

Well it turned out that the new (used) valve cover was cast with an opening to allow the water to drain thru and out. So I took a dremmel tool and modified the other one to drain too. It is not as neat and pretty, but no one can see it and it works. No more trapped water from rain and/or washing.

Rod
1982 R100Lufty
 
The internal oil rocker areas looked H2O free, it was just the web area of the valve cover between the rockers that had water. It looks like a trap for moisture and crud by design. I couldn't imagine it was designed that way, but who can decipher the Aryan mindset. Thanks for the responses!
 
water on the outside on the valve cover?? don't worry about, run the bike hot, it will boil off. If you wash the bike at all or ride in the rain ,you'll get water there.
 
Air compressor;

Blows the water off easily after a wash. All the older Airheads have this issue and its not really a issue:). If you ride right afterwards, it boils quickly, but I prefer to blow it out with my compressor. Rain? I've never had it accumuluate in my valve cover as i ride. The engine is simply too hot to let it gather in there:). Randy13233
 
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