Ice Cube/stroker base gasket issue

[Bad luck]

Hey all, new to this forum! Ive been having an on going issue with my base gasket and im starting to wonder if its got something to do with the ice cube jug? Any suggestions or ideas on this issue would be greatly appreciated

Ok, so when i first bought the bike it had this cylinder already installed but it hadnt had much driving. Im fairly hard on equpiment and soon after buyin it had to replace the base gasket. It had a steel one(id imagine the one that came with the kit).it was leaking oil from the front of the case where the half's meet but off twards the coolant passage with the dowel. maxrpm recommended i use a stock yamaha fabric gasket, so i did. It lasted for a few rides throughout the winter and recently blew out at the back under the starter. I again replaced it with fabric but used yamabond case sealent on the gasket. A 3 hour ride later i have another blown base gasket. From what i could see by using fine sandpaper and a block the case half's are flat and they are a match set. The piston/cylinder/rings all look brand new and neither of my vents are plugged at all

Ive heard alot of bad reviews about the ice cube but nothing about base gaskets, mostly about the sleeve slipping. Otherwise the bike works amazing.

What should my next step be to try and finally fix this leak??
Any suggestions besides "put it back to stock" would be great!

[Bad luck]

Nobody has had this problem before?? Maxrpm says its pretty well unheard of but someone must have run into base gasket problems...even on a stock cylinder??
Anything i can use here would help. A local shop recommended i cut my own gasket out of copper flashing, but that seems pretty sketchy to me!

[ldjbuff]

Have you called Ice cube to see what they say? That would be my first step

[climb-101]

did you put any thing on the gasket? we normally copper coat ours. before we coated them they would always leak a little, not enough to loose oil or anything like that but enough to have the dust stick in that area. Also are your cases flat where the 2 halfs meet. i have seen a lot fo them that have one side that is high, this will also cause this problem

[BossNossLTR]

I had this problem with my ltr, They actually made the cylinder wrong and it kept poppin the base gasket and overheating but they did send me a brand new one, I would call them an send it back an see if that is the problem!

[Bad luck]

I did call maxrpm(ice cube) and they told me they've never heard of this problem, which i find hard to believe but ok... They also said to check if the bottom
Of the cylinder had been turned on a layth, it hasnt, at that they said there shouldnt be an issue with the base of that piece,but it is aluminum and i know that stuff loves to warp. i did check the case while it was apart last time and it didnt seem to be out of shape...im not sure how sensitive it is tho. The first gasket(steel) seeped oil from the front while the last two fiber gaskets have actually blown a piece right out the back(basically 2" long). The last gasket i used i coated with yamabond case sealant which since then i heard was not a good idea. The strange thing is that the first gasket actually lasted a few rides thru the winter and gave me no issues untill it poped, then the second one with sealant blew right away. I did check before it got a good ride and the torque of the head bolts didnt squeeze the gasket out. It all happened during the ride

[Bad luck]

Sorry for the long messages(rambling) just want to get past this issue and have a somewhat reliable bike....as much as it will ever be anyways... Oh, climb, the first gasket just got that dirt stuck to it like ypur saying, but The last gasket that blew basically coated the whole side of my motor(made it look like the sprocket seal went) and dumped enough oil out under the starter to coat half the swing arm with oil

[climb-101]

i would check the breathers. sounds like there plugged and thats why it will push the gaskets out, the motor cant breath. the air in the cases need to to be able to move as the piston goes up and down as well as get rid of the blow-by from the piston

[Bad luck]

Thats what the local yami dealer said to do before i put the last bade gasket in... I took both breather hoses off and the box by the coolant resivoir and theres no blockage at all. Only a very small amount of weird milky liquid in the hose coming from the starter cover. The box had started to come apart at the seems so i blew it all out and sealed it back up with rtv..didnt think that would make a diff but figured it couldnt hurt. You can see why im at a loss here! 3rd time around and im starting to get frustrated haha!

[climb-101]

get rid of the black box and put a normal breather on it the hose. see if that helps. im guessing the box is plugged. There should never be realy any pressure in the bottom of the cases and never enough pressure to push the gasket out

[BossNossLTR]

Wow they seem to have lost some customer service I see, although this happened to me 4 years ago you would think I am not the only one who had this problem considering they made the mistake on the cylinder when they made it...but any ways if i was a gambling man i would bet the cylinder is off IMHO

[roccrawler]

I would be almost positive the cylinder has gone out of round and you are building crank case pressure and pushing the gasket out. Ice cube is garbage I went through the same thing sorry to say.
I recommend JSR cylinders, i have had great luck with them.

Sorry probly not what you wanna hear

[Bad luck]

I checked the box, plugged the holes and i could blow air thru the other one and the box flows fine. I will try regular breathers on it but i should really check the base of the jug and the case surfaces again before i put any new gaskets. Anyone know the tolerances? Should i just go with the same .05 as the head ?

[Bad luck]

So the cyl being out of round actually made enough pressure to pop base gaskets? Did you notice any other symptoms or just the one gasket?

[Bad luck]

ok so i got the bike back apart.... the case seems to have shifted since i last had it apart,or more than it already had anyways... now at the back of the base surface its .009 off and at the front its almost .005 . that seems like alot to me but i cant find any specs. my buddy came over and messured the cylinder aswell. thats off by a spread of .007(most being the middle of the cyl from side to side)
how do you fix uneven cases? the cyl ill either have to replace or send back to maxrpm id assume, will i need a new piston too?.... ill probably stay away from ice cube's now tho!

[Terse]

You can have the cases machined flat again.

[Bad luck]

Thats pretty much the only option is it? I didnt want to have to get into takin apart the entire bottom end... On top of the cyl. This is gonna rack up a hefty bill! If i loosened up the case and bolted the jug on would it by chance pull those two surfaces flat? Just a thought?!

[Terse]

I seriously doubt it, but you could try it.

[SeniorTaco]

First off never use yamabond on the base gasket. it weakens the gasket and it will push out like you stated. Ice cube cyl are very bad for going out of round. This will cause blowby and may be enough to cause or aid in the issue you are having. As for the cased Terse is on the money as usuall. They need to be nest to perfect and flat.. Make sure when you install the base gasket that the surface is very clean. There can not be any oil on the surface of the case or the jug. I would personally recommend getting rid of the cube jug though. I have seen and heard of several people having major issues with them.. On a side note also over torqued head bolts and under torqued head bolts will cause this as well..

[Bad luck]

Well looks like i have some work ahead of me..thanks for all the info/help guys! One last thing. As far as cylinder/piston goes. Should i replace one with the other