Base gasket turning to mush

[sydduckett]

2nd time this has happened to my rb in six months. Oil leaking and when barrel removed base gasket is the culprit. Used correct Gasket and sealent both times......

Having said this the bolts were a smidge loose... This maybe the reason...

[bazman]

I never bother with sealant , unless there is no gasket. Just thin smear grease on gasket to keep it from moving , what sealant you using?

[Chutney Brownlove]

2nd time this has happened to my rb in six months. Oil leaking and when barrel removed base gasket is the culprit. Used correct Gasket and sealent both times......

Having said this the bolts were a smidge loose... This maybe the reason...

Was it an MB gasket? They had a bad batch a while ago. I had three fail.

The loose nuts were probably a consequence of the failed gasket. 0.5mm of slack if the gasket has gone.

[wack 63]

Although there was some dodgy gaskets out there,the main reason the gaskets are disintergrating is the cylinder moving and rubbing.Why not try AF's thin alloy base gaskets? To avoid the head nuts coming loose I use a drop of Loctite on the stud top threads.It's also worth checking your casing is true on the gasket face.

[nelson pk]

Also if you are running an alloy barrell torque the head nuts diagonally and re torque after 100 miles as the ally expands and contracts a lot until settled down.
I had this problem until i got a proper torque wrench. Do not over tighten and make sure each nut is torqued down correctly.
Personally i have found the MB head nut kit excellent and do not use spring washers.
Torque settings are specific to each kit but they are not that much different.
Hope this helps.

[nelson pk]

Just to add that i have also seen barrells that dont meet the casing without a lot of force due to repaired barrel studs atc. You have to make sure that the barrell will fit nicely to the casing without having to really force it on otherwise you will get this problem either with head gasket or base.

[nelson pk]

I agree with the fact that if it is a dodgy gasket that dissolves with heat and petrol, torqueing isn't going to help but i thought these gaskets were not being sold anymore and i was also refering to the fact that the man said his nuts were a tad loose

[sydduckett]

Not sure why this has happened, it may well be my own fault through not tightening up after 200 miles. could also be bad gaskets or the face of the barrel not being flat or indeed studs being crap. This time im going to use the gasket and gasket sealent but will re-tighten after 100 & 200 miles and see how it goes.

A freind who works in the Fords tooling div had offered to get the face nice and flat but it would have meant missing this weekends rideouts so i passed on his offer. Hope i dont live to regret it...

Thanks
lads

[sydduckett]

Not sure why this has happened, it may well be my own fault through not tightening up after 200 miles. could also be bad gaskets or the face of the barrel not being flat or indeed studs being crap. This time im going to use the gasket and gasket sealent but will re-tighten after 100 & 200 miles and see how it goes.

A freind who works in the Fords tooling div had offered to get the face nice and flat but it would have meant missing this weekends rideouts so i passed on his offer. Hope i dont live to regret it...

Thanks
lads

[Knowledge]

This is what the bad gaskets looked like.



If you still have one hanging up awaiting installation, you might think about binning it and saving yourself a small fortune.

Martin