hey OPT and others with great wisdom! so when i purchased my scrambler i was told the top end had been rebuilt(roughly a year ago)...i noticed after riding that at the right corner area where the head meets the jug, there would be a tiny bit of oil seeping thru, not a gusher or anything as my oil level hasnt visually dropped so its a really slow leak but enough to bother me(any leak big or small bothers me)....i have no oil in my coolant and no coolant in my oil...i have no clue who did the rebuild so have no clue if they knew what they were doing and didnt torque the head down correctly

so the question is, do you think it would be ok to loosen the head and torque it back down the correct way and see what happens or since theres already hours on the gasket and what not, should i or do i need to replace the head gasket...im figuring youre going to say replace, and im sure thats what i should do, but it being a fairly recent rebuild maybe i can get away with just re-torquing the head...

 

If you loosen the head bolts you've lost the "squish band" on the gasket that sealed the combustion chamber and water jackets to begin with.It'll just leak more or blow the gasket. Probably wasn't torqued properly to begin with. If you have the manual then you can see the different torque stages on this. "Torque head bolts to 22 ft pounds,then torque to 51 ft pounds,loosen bolts(180 degrees) 1/2 turn,then another 1/2 turn. Final torque sequence,torque to 11 ft pounds then torque (90 degrees) 1/4 turn,then torque a final(90 degrees) 1/4 turn" This procedure is to eliminate any possible head bolt "stretch" to help eliminate any leaking in the first place. You can't just torque a 500 head down to 28-30 ft pounds and call it a day..To do it right replace the head gasket.

 

thats pretty much what i thought u would say lol, and i know thats what i should do but i was hanging by a thread(no pun inteanded lol) that maybe it was possible to get away with...guess the head is coming off

i have the pdf manual u sent me a while back so the correct procedure should be in there...the head will come out without pulling the engine correct?

 

If it's barely leaking,running good,no water in the oil,and if you can live with it,just keep a check on it. If you're picky about it,then replace the gasket. Engine can stay in the frame. Recoil cover doesn't even have to be removed if you have the cam sprocket index pin at tdc of the head,mark it's position and remove the tensioner,rocker arms, chain and sprocket without moving the crankshaft,then it's a fairly quick job.If you do move it then you can time the cam up by the manual.Either mark tdc on the flywheel to where you can line it up with the recoil case pointer or the hard way and remove the stator and have the bottom crank sprocket line up with the case mark and time the cam.

 

i think i am going to leave it since its so small of a leak, havent even seen it drip, just "moist" on the corner...ill get back into it after winter..cant wait for snow! thanks again!

 

so ive said screw it, im going to do the head gasket, im still waiting for parts for the split brake conversion...

so im just trying to get some clarification before i begin...when i do the torque sequence, do i tighten 1-4 first..then after do the 2 6mm bolts after 1-4 are torqued?

 

Yes do the torque sequence first on on 1-4,then tighten the two 6mm bolts last.

 

funny i live a cpl blocks away from the biggest polaris dealer around and they didnt have a 500 gasket...had to drive 3o mins each way to a small town shop that had 1 in stock...smh

 

hey opt..got a problem..i got a new PC with windows 10(not sure if it has to do with it but i think it may)yesterday and the site didnt recognize my password...so i hit the "forgot password" link and it sent me a username and password

the problem is it gave me the wrong username and its like ive never posted before...its using my real name instead of 1ArmBandit....thats me up there! this is my post lol, i didnt know who else to ask about this situation, hopefully you can help....

 

Contact one of the moderators.I've got Windows 10 and my own set of problems..