To Seal or not to seal...........?

Very close now to re-fitting my cylinder block / jugs onto the crankcases.
When doing this in the past, I have always just fitted the BASE gasket dry, without any form of sealer, but reading numerous forums for Jap bikes recently, many people use a thin smear of gasket sealant on either side of the BASE gasket. Not silicon sealant, just regular gasket sealant.

Whilst I do always use a thin smear of BLUE HYLOMAR on normal gasket surfaces (obviously not Cylinder Head) & have never had a problem with it, Its not everyday you replace your BASE gasket & don't want any issues once built.

Interested to hear from anyone who has replaced their own 1300 or other multi-cylinder BASE gasket recently & what they used......or didn't use.

Pete F

Hi Pete, I didn't use any sealant on my base gasket & there wasn't any evidence of any on the original when I scraped it off. As long as you get the mating surfaces scrupulously clean & there aren't any imperfections I don't think you need it, but a thin smear won't do any harm if it sets your mind at rest mate

I use grease on both sides of my base gaskets before assembling the cylinders.

Reason being, the gasket should be all you need and next time it releases easier.

Hopefully there is not next time in the near future.

Pete

I always smear both sides of gaskets with some grease for the same reason as BrianB mentions - easier to get off in the future. Spent far too long scraping mating sides of engines in the past trying to get welded bits of gasket off !!