On my '95 (21K), It seems there's a bit of oil coming out of the head gasket at its rear-leftmost point, on the corner of the cam chain tunnel. It's not dripping, but after a while I can see where it puts that superthin sheen on the motor.

Oil not milky, no coolant loss.

Thoughts? I have a 600 mile trip lined up starting Wednesday morning, having been planned all year, and want opinions on how badly I'm screwed. Is this the kind of thing people just put up with until they can't take it anymore, or does it need to be dealt with immediately?

Huh. That's weird. There's a fair amount of gasket pressure at that point and there's no pressure. It has to be a dried out joint, from nearly 20 years of just being there, that's just seeping a bit. I had a Cometic base gasket that seeped in spite of a deliberate effort to seal it. Probably not anything to worry about.

If you want to do something, you could pull the valve cover, crack off the two bolts that secure the valve chain cover, and re-torque them.

This is the head gasket, right, and not the valve cover gasket?

T

Actually the valve chain cover began in the 96 (97?) model year; I don't have one. There are two bolts that do the equivalent job. I might be able to reach them without taking the cams out, or the chain might be in the way, I'm not sure.

Correct, the head gasket; first gasket above the cam chain tensioner, yes?

So I'll continue to lean on making the trip, and try retorquing those bolts either before I go if I get the chance, or after otherwise.

Thanks for the info!

Yeah, I couldn't remember if they started with the cam chain cover with the first 650 or if it was one of the '96 changes.

At any rate, the bolts are there and you can reach them easily without removing cams or anything.

Cracking them off and re-torquing them may do something constructive, may not, but it's about all you can do short of replacing the head gasket. I don't think a bit of a weep warrants that.

Have a good ride, beej.

T