CJ360 Headgasket

duggyb

duggyb

where are the skis?
i noticed just at the end of last year my headgasket on my 1977 CJ360T was leaking,not major but i do want to get it fixed before i ride this season, the bike still runs and drives fine.

just curious what's the best gasket to get? OEM? or will a jobber be fine? and is this a hard thing to change? i am mechanically inclined, just dont ever work on bike engines, usually cars and sleds.

any links to parts would help too! i am located in Calgary ,AB
 
its not terribly hard just time consuming as long as you have the basic know how to set cam timing and ignition timing and i would also sync the carbs again once it was done.

as far as i know the only "special" tool you might need is a chain breaker other than that should be normal hand tools.
 
You don't need a chain breaker for a 360, and you don't even need to pull the engine, it can be torn down the the pistons in frame.

Ebay has Top end gasket kits for 360s on it all the time for good money. However, it might not be the head gasket. I would scrub the engine CLEAN and then then dust it with either baby powder or go find some of the spray on athletes foot stuff that looks like white powder and spray it on all the areas that MIGHT leak and go for a quick drive around. Then look for leaks again, might surprise you what you have leaking.
 
frogman said:
You don't need a chain breaker for a 360, and you don't even need to pull the engine, it can be torn down the the pistons in frame.

Ebay has Top end gasket kits for 360s on it all the time for good money. However, it might not be the head gasket. I would scrub the engine CLEAN and then then dust it with either baby powder or go find some of the spray on athletes foot stuff that looks like white powder and spray it on all the areas that MIGHT leak and go for a quick drive around. Then look for leaks again, might surprise you what you have leaking.
Click to expand...

what else could be leaking? i can clearly see where the head meets the bottom end is where the oil is coming from, is there something else in that spot that could leak?
 
I thought my head gasket was leaking and it turned out to be a rocker arm shaft. The oil was just very thin and collected around the cylinder jugs. I'd stick with what frogman has to say. Tracking down oil leaks isn't always as straight forward as it seems.
 
hmm, odd, well the bike is still in storage but i am going to be bringing it out right away and i will take pictures, i know its not tapet covers or something like that as its clearly leaking out between fins.

but it has been awhile since i looked at it, so ill grab pics before i dig into it.
 
There are oil feeds at rear of cylinder.
It's very rare for them to leak though
More common is cylinder head could be overtightened and distorted or thread is stripped/damaged (luckily the nuts are softer than the studs)
Maybe it's been apart and gasket wasn't changed?
Check the 6mm bolts under spark plugs, they are often overtightened and strip threads, they only use 7ft/lbs torque
 
When I got mine, my oil leak was at the head gasket at left side. That was one black combustion chamber after I opened it up...

Here's how it looked immediately prior to disassembly:
66372_481762460158_734955158_6815235_1270943_n.jpg
 
sonreir that's exactly where mine is leaking from, passenger side(wait can we say this on bikes? haha) same spot, just mines not near as bad, its maybe only lightly saturated the second or 3rd cooling fin down.

I just moved to Calgary AB and haven't got my bike up here from Sask yet, once I do I will post back on this thread, and check all the bolts for proper torque,etc and make sure they are not stripped or broken.

thanks for the tips guys!

thinking I may just order a head gasket so that its here when I get my bike up here in a couple weeks, I wanna go riding already!!! its so nice out!

is the CB/CL gasket the same? im assuming it is mines a CJ360 and no one ever lists it in their ebay ads haha
 
The 360 engines are all the same, more or less. The CJ only has 5 gears and earlier models have different rocker arms shafts (which were recalled) and different style of tensioner (which were also recalled).
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HONDA-CB360T-ENGINE-GASKET-SET-NEW-CI-CB360GS-/130566949942?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item1e66658c36#ht_1230wt_1037

this one be a fine kit to get?
 
Finally got my gasket kit, and also got my bike out here to Calgary, so i took a pic of where it is leaking, what do you guys think?



575570_10150711651108424_561958423_9761697_1404878164_n.jpg


2012-04-27%252019.00.43.jpg
 
Yep, that's a head gasket leak ;)
You need to make sure you have all the dowels in place and fit the new rubber 'tubes' (way too wide to be 'O' rings)
Check torque on the 6mm bolts (10mm head)
 
was reading the manual, looks like a fair amount of work to do the gasket, do I need to worry about timing? or any other thing other then just holding the timing chain up, like does it matter how the cam and the rest goes in?
 
YES, It matters.
If timing is off you'll be spending a couple of hundred for parts if you bend valves or crack guides
 
i know the timing matters, what im saying is do i need to keep anything else in time other then the chain?
 
Don't try and cut corners, remove all the valve adjuster caps and loosen all the lock nuts then back off the adjusters
Be careful with points cam, it's possible to have it slide off mechanism then put back on 180 degrees out
Basically, you have to re-set and adjust everything when you put it back together, too many people screw up by trying to 'keep adjustments' when they disassemble things
 
ok this is what i wanted to know thanks, i also would rather just take everything out and put back in without worrying, then re adjust/retime.

but i thought maybe i HAD to keep things in time when i did it.
 
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