Help!! Head Gasket Issues!

[Frog Ranch]

I am brand new to this forum and I will surely become a member, in the meantime, I got issues!! I purchased a 94 Voyager in immaculate condition, I was told the carbs needed work because it ran so poorly and had been sitting. So I replaced the plugs and put ACCEL wires (hope that's OK) on her. It fired up and ran smoothly. THEN!!! I checked the oil, LOOKS LIKE A MILKSHAKE, and there's oil in the radiator, so I am safely assuming the head gasket is history. Question: How much is this gonna suck and what should I do when I have her apart in terms of extra stuff I should do for the motor. BTW, I love this bike, I researched the big tourers heavily and these are hands down winners so I want to remain married and do the work necessary and learn a ton along the way!
HELP!!
Craig

[doug of so fla]

Depends on how much you want to do and exactly what is going on in the engine. You first have to find out what the problem is. could be water pump leaking into engine, unlikely, or could be cracked block. Can you take engine out? If it is a major engine problem you may want to find another engine and just swap it out. If it runs good should not be to hard to find out where the problem is and go from there. How many miles on the XII, How long has it been sitting? Do pressure check on compression & one on the cooling system for starters. Change all fluids and see what happens. Let us know what you find.. where are you located?

[Mr Jensee]

The simple answer is to order a set of valve cover and head gaskets and if you feel comfortable slowly disassemble the top end. Leave the pistons alone, inspect the cylinder walls for cracks by rotating the engine and inspecting the walls with the cylinders down. check gaskets for a leak. I have done this on older air cooled bikes and though it is intimidating, just remember where the timing marks are on the cam and cam chain and when you remove the cams suspend the chain to prevent it from falling into the engine. Remove the oil and replace with the specified amount after replacing those gaskets. Please get a torque wrench and re torque the head bolts back to spec. Run the engine and inspect the oil after a hundred miles or so. There is a possibility of a cracked head if you do have oil in the coolant. Often there are heads available on Ebay if you look at a decent price. It will require honing the cylinder walls and replacing all the rings on the pistons.

[bikerking.biz]

Before you go to all the trouble of replacing gaskets (which would be rare if it needed them), I would do a few other things first. Since you indicated that this bike was stored for quite some time, it could be a simple as there was condensation within the engine, and this is the moisture that mixed with the oil and foamed into a "milkshake". Drain the oil out and refill with new. Is the radiator actually loosing coolant. Do you see where it might be going if it is. Also some XII's after a period of extended time MAY need the heads re-torqued, but that is also somewhat rare and is not the easiest to do since some of the head bolts are covered. Do the easy stuff and checks first, then go from there.

[voyager55]

You should always check fluids before buying any bike.

I am brand new to this forum and I will surely become a member, in the meantime, I got issues!! I purchased a 94 Voyager in immaculate condition, I was told the carbs needed work because it ran so poorly and had been sitting. So I replaced the plugs and put ACCEL wires (hope that's OK) on her. It fired up and ran smoothly. THEN!!! I checked the oil, LOOKS LIKE A MILKSHAKE, and there's oil in the radiator, so I am safely assuming the head gasket is history. Question: How much is this gonna suck and what should I do when I have her apart in terms of extra stuff I should do for the motor. BTW, I love this bike, I researched the big tourers heavily and these are hands down winners so I want to remain married and do the work necessary and learn a ton along the way!
HELP!!
Craig

[ekap1200]

Im sortoff leaning towards what Bikerking.biz suggested and drain both, the coolent and dump the oil and filter. check the coolent overflow bottle and see how full it is and whats in it. ( left side behind side covers ) Don't panic yet. We have a mistic among the group , although he has just had surgery. There are a few here, that could tell you when is a good time to speak with him. He has solved many a panic situation. Are there any external leaks showing ? And you said it runs smooth now with the plug change.
From what I hear these engines are tough, but #^*# happens.

and would that be a vanila milkshake or chocolate ?
Gene Kap.

[suzib6sw]

Another "trick" I was told about was, once the fluids have been changed dont fill the coolant to the tiop but run the engine with the radiator cap off and watch when you rev.. There should be a natural surge of level as the water pump pushes more but watch for big air bubbles..
If this happens then you have a blown head gasket into the coolant system..

Pretty sure it will work on the Voyager..
Pete