COOLANT LEAK

[monster malibu]

After rebuilding my 500 topend I'm losing coolant around the base nuts and they are tight. I used a re-useable rubber coated aluminum base gasket and the surfaces were clean.
Can I pull the cylinder and coat the base gasket with silicone to stop the leaks?

[BDI]

You should not be leaking coolant from the base gasket do to the fact there is no water jacket it that part of the jug. Where did you get a reusable base gasket? I have never heard of such a thing.

[monster malibu]

I'm going to check for leaks elsewhere, I got the gasket from cometic (B0035018AFM) and the salesman said it was reuseable.

[don46]

he didn't sell you a reuseable head gasket to did he . In a pinch I've reused base gaskets but always replaced them asap. There is no such thing as reuseable base gaskets, I use cometic as well and they get pitched after each use. if you have a leak at the base bolts the cylinder has a crack, I would suspect that it is leaking out the head, or maybe the crossover hose between the radiators and running down the cylinder. I wouldn't think you had a cracked cylinder I'd bet a leaking head gasket. What year is your bike? have you lapped the head to ensure it's flat?

[kaw rider]

kaw, has a base gasket i think you could reuse. it's aluminum with coating on it. i have one in my motor right now.

[BDI]

kaw, has a base gasket i think you could reuse. it's aluminum with coating on it. i have one in my motor right now.

That is the same as the cometic and as a rule I would not reuse any gasket. I figured M/B was mistaken but rather then takeing a guess at  what he was talking about I was hoping to get him to rethink it or clarify it

[Polar-Bus]

I'm going to check for leaks elsewhere, I got the gasket from cometic (B0035018AFM) and the salesman said it was reuseable.

That's the SAME salesman that sold me reusable condoms ! That dam liar is still at it !! I have 7 kids now instead of 2, because of him!

[monster malibu]

I ran my bike yesterday and found coolant leaking around some of the head bolts as soon as the bike fired up. 

[monster malibu]

Any ideas on how to fix this leak?

[maddoggy]

i would suspect that the head is warped and needs lapped to ensure that it is flat. either that or you could have a cracked cylinder. or both of these. i would agree with don and bdi on the gasket issue. never reuse a pressure recieving type gasket, if you do your just asking for headache causing leaks. MADDOGGY

[BDI]

Any ideas on how to fix this leak?

You will need to pull the studs out of the cylinder and lap the head and cylinder deck. The best way to do it is with a piece glass on top of a piece of granite with valve laping compound. If you lap with sand paper or emery cloth you will cause more problems then you will fix they always role up the edge of what you are laping and the more you do it the worse it gets.

 P.S. you do not need to lap them to each other.