Head Gasket Info..

[onefiftyone2003]

ok, i was riding today, and spotted a bit of oil on my cylender head, so i took a look at it, and it turns out that i need a new head gasket. I've got a 2000 440ex, so im wondering what kind of gasket i need to use, like will a stock gasket work? or do i have to get a gasket for the kit? any help would be appriciated...thanks.

[jonc623]

i use cometic 440 gaskets on mine also take a real good look at your head studs they tend to pull out with the 440 kits and no i dont think stock gaskets will work have to use the 440 gaskets good luck

[onefiftyone2003]

could it just be that the head needs to be tightend then? because when i was lookin around the gasket it doesnt look to be chewed up or broke or anything, theres not much of a leak, but i want to be sure before anything major happens to the engine, i believe the gaskets in it now are cometic, if i need to replace i will just go with them i guess, thanks alot for the help

[tprender]

Alot of people think that the head gasket is bad because the head is leaking some oil. Like he said it is because the metal in the head is weak. with the 440 kit, it put's to much pressure on the threads in the medal and the studs will pull out. The fix is to put in the larger studs and it will solve your problem. I rode last on a trip to Baja over 130 miles will a blown head gasket. It didn't do any damage to the engine. Put in larger studs after coming home, no problem since.

[nakomis0]

There 2 types of gaskets....

One you have to re torque the head after a few hours of riding.

The other you just tighten once and it shoudl be good to go.

I use the second one... and I still go back one more time to re torque the head. (just in case)

I had a cosmetic.. also had the same problem as you with it. Granted I never did go back and re torque it like I should have.

I now use that other gasket and haven't had a problem, and I even have greater compression then before when I blew the cosmetic.

[onefiftyone2003]

ok, im goin out now to see what is going on. i'll re torque the head and see if that will take care of my problems because the gasket really doesn't look blown, thanks for the info and help guys i really appreciate it.

[Aallron]

I forget... these things got acorn style head nuts or ??? Anyway, just to be sure I would loosen the nut next to it and remove it to see if there is any height difference between the two studs, if there is alot it is an indication of the stud pulling out of the block.

[onefiftyone2003]

alright, I went out and gave the engine a good overlooking, and i don't see anything wrong with the gasket. i didnt re tourque the bolts cause im not exactly sure how to do it, and i don't want to over tighten anything or screw it up, it's the middle gasket of the cylender and im not exactly sure where to tighten/loosen it from, can somone get me a layout of the engine head showing me what to do? or where the bolts are? I really don't want to mess around with the eigine but if i have to i will. the bike starts first click every time and there is not much of a leak, but i need this fixed ASAP so if somone could be me a diagram of the engine it would be alot of help, thanks

[toby400ex]

Just take the valve cover off and there will be 4 large acorn nuts, or atleast thats the way I remember it.

[onefiftyone2003]

too far for me, Im new to the 4 stroke world, and i don't want to go near the valves or anything. I think it's time to take it to a dealer ship :confused: thanks anyway guys, but if i could still get a diagram i would appreciate it alot, thanks again

[cals400ex]

Originally posted by onefiftyone2003
too far for me, Im new to the 4 stroke world, and i don't want to go near the valves or anything. I think it's time to take it to a dealer ship :confused: thanks anyway guys, but if i could still get a diagram i would appreciate it alot, thanks again


you need a service manual.

[onefiftyone2003]

hahaha that i do, what is the best gasket to go with? cometic's in the engine now, but what is the best? i don't want this to happen again a few months down the road.

[onefiftyone2003]

Originally posted by nakomis0
There 2 types of gaskets....

One you have to re torque the head after a few hours of riding.

The other you just tighten once and it shoudl be good to go.

I use the second one... and I still go back one more time to re torque the head. (just in case)

I had a cosmetic.. also had the same problem as you with it. Granted I never did go back and re torque it like I should have.

I now use that other gasket and haven't had a problem, and I even have greater compression then before when I blew the cosmetic.

what is the name of the gasket you used? i'll see if i can get one, it sounds good to me, because i don't want to have to re tighten the damn thing every weak. but i also want a gasket that will hold up for a long time.. thanks

[cals400ex]

i use the cosmetic in mine. however, with the larger bores your suppose to use a different head gasket than stock. i can't remember if they recommend a larger on when doing the 416's or the 426's and larger.

[nakomis0]

I forget the name of the gasket. I got it from C&D I wanna say it was called a flex gasket or something. Its pretty common.

[cals400ex]

Originally posted by nakomis0
I forget the name of the gasket. I got it from C&D I wanna say it was called a flex gasket or something. Its pretty common.


this is the cosmetic flexsteel gasket

[onefiftyone2003]

right on, does anyone know where i could get one of these and what the price would be? i looked them up on google but found nothing, thanks alot guys

[Hondaluva]

right on, does anyone know where i could get one of these and what the price would be?

If you guys are talking about Cometic Gaskets here is their number...(440)354-0777. The cost of a head gasket is around $20. They have a ton of different options as far as thickness.

[onefiftyone2003]

thanks again guys, 20 bucks doesn't sound to bad at all lol

[cals400ex]

C&D can get these for you

[onefiftyone2003]

C&D? im not sure where that is, Im in the atlantic provinces of canada so Im not sure what i would be able to get, im going to check a dealer tomorrow to see what i can get.

[cals400ex]

Originally posted by onefiftyone2003
C&D? im not sure where that is, Im in the atlantic provinces of canada so Im not sure what i would be able to get, im going to check a dealer tomorrow to see what i can get.


they are the site sponsor of this site. the # is floating all over the top pages here. it is 308-696-7805

[BSTURDIVANT]

Cometic # H0402, Wiseco# W5942 88 to 89mm! Required on 426 and 440!