Valve seals

S

swoopswoop

Hi fella's, tried the search icon and didn't work out,still on L plates. Am chasing 1100 valve seals and fork seals. Suzuki local $142 and $42 respectively. eBay $31 (vesrah brand))+ post and $30 respectively. Choice seems obvious but am l missing something like quality? Any thoughts welcome. Cheers John.
 
I have learned the hard way, the extra $$$ is worth not having to do the job twice. Stick with Suzuki genuine parts, at least with the valve seals, I have brought fork seals from evil bay but there did not fit as well as the originals, but they don't leak (yet)

Cheers

Paul
 
you could buy a engine gasket kit off Ebay that would include the valve seals and exhaust seals for around $90 - $130 or less ,depends on how particular and or how cashed up or in debt you are,idearly though if the seals are made out of vitron they should be ok or spent the big bucks for original in the box/plastic bag suzuki stickered packaging .but don't mess with fork seals ,go original .cheers pat.
 
Noooooooooooo! I'm just about to put the valves in after fitting my seals from APE so I don't need to hear this.
One other guy with a very heavy, slow Katana has warned me too but it means another month for me to get the cash.

Aaaaaarrerrrggggghhhh!
 
I used aftermarket viton valve stem seals (can't remember the brand) on my engine rebuild and have had no issues. Viton has an operational temp range from -20°C (at which your balls drop off) to 232°C (which incidentally is ignition temperature for petrol vapour). It can live at high temperature which on the exhaust guide of an air cooled engine in traffic ain't a bad thing. Viton came on the market in the mid 80s so wouldn't have been originally fitted to the GSX motors of the day. I have no idea what the current SGP seals are made of, but it would have made sense for Suzuki to upgrade them as replacement parts, as the same part is used on a crap load of different models.
 
Ben,
If the ape seals are viton, they are probably better than the OEM.

I used the green viton aftermarket(from that auction site) ones on GS, did the best part of 60k klm before she died the first time.
Wasnt the seals fault they were still as soft and pliable as the day they went in.

And Swoopswoop if your aftermarket fork seal supplier starts with PY you might as well thow your cash in the bin.

Cheers John
 
Fella's you've saved me some heart ache! Much appreciated for the tips, shall give mick a ring and get it sorted. Was going to CBC to see what they had but for 40 odd won't bother. Thanks john
 
darkside said:
Ben,
If the ape seals are viton, they are probably better than the OEM.

I used the green viton aftermarket(from that auction site) ones on GS, did the best part of 60k klm before she died the first time.
Wasnt the seals fault they were still as soft and pliable as the day they went in.

And Swoopswoop if your aftermarket fork seal supplier starts with PY you might as well thow your cash in the bin.

Cheers John
Click to expand...
Hi John,
Apparently colour isn't a reliable indicator, and the best way to find out what they are made of is to burn them... which is a bit drastic. From the web:

Identifying seal material

How can you tell one type
of seal material from another? Color is not necessarily an accurate
guide because the same material may come in several different
colors. Nitrile seals may be black, green or blue. Polyacrylate
is usually black, while Viton may be brown, orange or black. Nylon
has a translucent appearance while Teflon is white. Silicone is
usually black.

Replacement seals may not be the same color as the
OEM seals even if the materials are identical, while others may
be the same color but made of a different material. The color
identification information contained in some OEM service manuals
is also inaccurate. So going by color alone is not a very good
way to tell what type of material is in a valve stem seal.

Some engines may also have two different types of seal materials which
may be color coded to distinguish the intake and exhaust valve
guide seals (a higher temperature material being used for the
exhaust valves). AERA has published a technical bulletin (September
1997, TB 1488) identifying the seals used in 1984 to ’96 Chrysler/Jeep
2.5L and 4.0L engines. On this application, black seals (polyacrylate)
are used on the intake valves and brown seals (Viton) are used
on the exhaust valves.One way to identify an unknown seal material
is with a burn test:

Nitrile will burn easily and produce thick black smoke that
smells like burning rubber.
Polyacrylate will also burn easily producing a less dense
black smoke that smells like burning plastic.
Silicone will turn white when burned, regardless of the original
color of the seal, producing smoke that has little color and no
odor.
Viton/fluoroelastomer seals will be difficult to burn and
produce white smoke with no odor. The seal color will either remain
the same or turn black."

http://www.enginebuildermag.com/1998/07/valve-stem-seals-materials-and-designs/

So there you go.
 
Far out boys,to save burning multiple sets of seals I'll go with Mick's originals. Besides if l upset the wife's washing with burning seals the kat could be in mortal danger.lol
 
Swoopswoop, Geez your only burning seals.....it's not like you've taken the baseball bat out on the little baby fur seals...
 
void.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom