The Hodaka Club Forum

Hey Guys,

Got a 94 Wombat with head gasket leak. Pulled head and can see tiny bit of aluminum dust in ports, just enough to notice. Tried to pull cylinder off to check things out. Cylinder refuses to pull. Popped sides with rubber mallet. Sprayed WD 40 down stud holes. No joy. Over the years on other Hodakas, pulled many a jug off. Any suggestions?

Steve

Gentle but firm heat.

Sounds like someone glued the bottom gasket on, take the rubber hammer and just go around it tapping on the cylinder, sometimes smacking the exhaust flange from the bottom will pop it loose.

Get it to pop loose yet?

Still working on it.

The motor does turn over doesn't it? -------------- Clarence

Steve, where are you located?

Hey Guys,
Bought bike about 7 months ago. Kicked it over, started right up. Been doing restore on it, finally got around to riding it 3 weeks ago. Runs good for about 10 min, then overheats, pops, leaky head gasket. Replaced head gasket with new one plus goop, ran bolts down to spec. Same thing, runs good for little while, then gasket leak comes into play.
My Hodaka buddy has a good Wombat engine. Swapped cylinder head, problem solved. DPO somehow warped head. But I would like to pull jug off to check piston. It just does not want to come. May just ride bike as is for now. Am in Birmingham, Alabama - only a few miles from Barber Track.

For future reference - "goop" is not required, nor recommended for any gasket surface of a Hodaka engine. Base gasket should be greased, then wiped clean prior to installation. Sealing is unaffected, but removal of the gasket when rebuild time comes will be far easier.

Ed