Leakage around on Spark Plug

[Fire3456]

I have a single engine (951) 2001 Sportster LE.

The engine seems to run fine. After 3 or 4 minutes, I get a leakage around one spark plug.

While hooked to a water hose, and at idle, the leakage is gray (oil/water). While running at high speeds, on the river, the leakage is darker 'blackish' color.

This problem doesn't seem to foul the plug at all. I ran it for an hour at all speeds and it ran fine. It only seeped out about 4-6 oz or so.

I saw a post dated 2009, that someone had a similar problem. The recommendations were to remove the head and replace the O-rings. His engine was different than mine. I only have 8 tiny O-rings that seem to be more for vibration dampening.

I bought a new head gasket, but then after googling I saw a few other possibilities i.e. the seal in the exhaust (I don't understand that reasoning), or a cracked head.

Maybe I should replace all the gaskets in the 'top end'.?

ANY SUGGESTIONS? (I'm thinking of just dealing with the small amount leaking out and just wipe up the excess oil/gas/water that seeps out as I go.)

Thanks for any suggestions!!!!

 

[mikidymac]

You don't have head o-rings for the waterjackets to sparkplugs on your 951 so...
First try replacing the sparkplugs with new ones ad torque to factory specs.
The only other thing it could be is a cracked head.

 

[Fire3456]

I have torqued my spark plugs down to aprox 15 ft/lb ( read that 17 would be good ). I was able to give it several turns, so It was not torqued properly. I will be trying out this weekend.

Assuming the worst (or one or the worst options) and the head has a crack. I know I've had auto engine heads 'magna-fluxed' to check for cracks. Is there a way to check an aluminum head for cracks?

Is there a source to buy a new or used Head for a 2001, 951?

Thanks for the help!!

 

[mikidymac]

Nope, just buy a good used one from someone like Westside Powersports Seadoo.

 

[Fire3456]

Thanks mikidymac !!! I was always afraid to torque the plugs down because of the aluminum head. I read somewhere that I could torque the plugs to 17ft/lb. Seemed like a lot so I started at 10....and hot damn, that solved the problem! Now onto the other problems! At least the engine is running fine.