Head gasket woes

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First, Cometic makes some good gaskets. The FelPro 1008 gaskets @GTX JOHN spoke about are also good.

That said, lets address something. You DO have quench. It might not be "optimal" but you do have it. Also, since it's not optimal, that COULD be a factor in your blown head gaskets. Too much quench can allow detonation to sometimes occur and that can pop head gaskets in short order.
 
Auto Zone had a deal going for felpro 1008 gaskets earlier this year that had me twitching. And I’ll probably never use one. I mean it was a crazy good price.
 
Is it possible that this is something just dead silly? Like maybe the torque wrench got way off calibration?
 
RustyRatRod said:
First, Cometic makes some good gaskets. The FelPro 1008 gaskets @GTX JOHN spoke about are also good.

That said, lets address something. You DO have quench. It might not be "optimal" but you do have it. Also, since it's not optimal, that COULD be a factor in your blown head gaskets. Too much quench can allow detonation to sometimes occur and that can pop head gaskets in short order.
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any way to address the issue? Open chamber 308 castings.
 
My guess is the head bolts were either faulty...or not torqued sufficiently. One side blowing due to detonation maybe, but both sides.......

I have had ARP bolts too long, bottom out. Their QC leaves a lot to be desired....
 
What did u torque the head bolts too? Did u use the arp lube? Did u chase the bolt holes in the block with a bottoming tap? Kim
 
Bewy said:
My guess is the head bolts were either faulty...or not torqued sufficiently. One side blowing due to detonation maybe, but both sides.......

I have had ARP bolts too long, bottom out. Their QC leaves a lot to be desired....
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If it detonated badly enough, I can certainly see it takin out both gaskets.
 
Bewy said:
My guess is the head bolts were either faulty...or not torqued sufficiently. One side blowing due to detonation maybe, but both sides.......

I have had ARP bolts too long, bottom out. Their QC leaves a lot to be
Click to expand...

Bewy said:
My guess is the head bolts were either faulty...or not torqued sufficiently. One side blowing due to detonation maybe, but both sides.......

I have had ARP bolts too long, bottom out. Their QC leaves a lot to be desired....
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Checked the ARP against the OEM. The ARP's are .300" shorter than OEM. I ran them up to 95ft# per the instructions.
 
Bolts are 0.300" shorter?? That is 3/10 ths of an inch, that is huge. That would be 1/2 to a 1/3 of the available thread engagement that is missing. That means the threads that are engaged are taking much more of the load than designed for & could cause bore distortion.
 
Do you install your head gaskets dry? I have had issues with antifreeze leaks with Felpro #1008's. That's after retorquing, using ARP studs and lube. New trick flow heads and block was square decked. Haven't blown a head gasket yet, sealing the leak up with cooking ginger, so good so far. So the question is, do any of you spray HI Tack or some sealer on your head gaskets? I installed mine dry.
 
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67Dart273 said:
Is it possible that this is something just dead silly? Like maybe the torque wrench got way off calibration?
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Always possible.

I worked for a production engine rebuilder and all of a sudden we were losing rod bearings.

I was the warranty manager and one day the boss says we need to hire another engine assembler. And I said WTF??? Did our guy quit??

He says no, he isn’t torquing the rod bolts or he’s not doing it correctly so we are going to let him go.

The week before that we had a meeting about rod bolt torque and I said we need to send all these torque wrench’s out to be calibrated and every work station that needs a torque wrench should have two of them. One to use and a back up so you can send one out for calibration.

They called bullshit and blew it off. And now I was going to have to fire a guy who was really, really good.

I went to my tool box, grabbed my personal torque wrench and went out to the shop to check it against what he was using.

And sure enough, his wrench was like 15 pounds LIGHT or some crazy thing like that.

We started using my wrench while all the shop torque wrench’s went out to be calibrated. And they bought back ups.

I think this is one of those cases where the OP needs to verify everything so it doesn’t happen again.
 
Bewy said:
My guess is the head bolts were either faulty...or not torqued sufficiently. One side blowing due to detonation maybe, but both sides.......

I have had ARP bolts too long, bottom out. Their QC leaves a lot to be desired....
Click to expand...

Agree. Seems to me it’s got to be either the head torque, or possibly something to do with the mating surfaces being out of whack.
Where on each head did the gaskets let go?
 
B3422w5 said:
Agree. Seems to me it’s got to be either the head torque, or possibly something to do with the mating surfaces being out of whack.
Where on each head did the gaskets let go?
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Top of No 6 and top of No 1
 
Right from felpro corp 1008 felpro gaskets go on dry and do not need retorqued. From what I’ve seen ARP studs is one of the best upgrades one can do. To much timing will kill head gaskets. Low octane will kill gaskets.
 
Pictures of gasket damage? I’m thinking something wasn’t surfaced correctly.
 
Is that gasket hanging over into the bore? Like you have a 4.04 bore and a 4.03 gasket. Hard to see. If the fire ring impedes into the bore it can create a hot spot and detonation can happen. Also could the balancer have spun? Are the numbers you’re seeing accurate?
 
Bewy said:
Bolts are 0.300" shorter?? That is 3/10 ths of an inch, that is huge. That would be 1/2 to a 1/3 of the available thread engagement that is missing. That means the threads that are engaged are taking much more of the load than designed for & could cause bore distort
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SSG_Karg said:
Pictures of gasket damage? I’m thinking something wasn’t surfaced correctly.
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I'll post up more pics. Conversation with ARP tech this morning, then the supervisor called me back. Supervisor stated: "if you have a fire ring that thick, .053, bring it up to torque, then back them off, 1/16 and bring torque back up. The fire ring needs to get crushed as much as possible.


Discussed the washers and shorter hardware length. ARP position is there is no need to exceed thread engagement beyond the necessary torque load of the fastener.

I hunted up some oem hardware from my stash and will likely use fel pro gasket with oem hardware and give it a shot. Obviously, going through the tune up before it gets hammered again. Thank you all for the responses.
 
There was just a thread on here by @Coyote Jack with head gasket problems and ARP bolts he was saying his head bolts were only a little more than hand tight when he took his heads off . I have never seen loose head bolts on any engine i worked on before. Were your head bolts easier than normal to loosen ?
 
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jimjimjimmy said:
There was just a thread on here by @Coyote Jack with head gasket problems and ARP bolts he was saying his head bolts were only a little more than hand tight when he took his heads off . I have never seen loose head bolts on any engine i worked on before. Were your head bolts easier than normal to loosen ?
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Several were not "snapping off" when loosened.
 
Newbomb Turk said:
Always possible.

I worked for a production engine rebuilder and all of a sudden we were losing rod bearings.

I was the warranty manager and one day the boss says we need to hire another engine assembler. And I said WTF??? Did our guy quit??

He says no, he isn’t torquing the rod bolts or he’s not doing it correctly so we are going to let him go.

The week before that we had a meeting about rod bolt torque and I said we need to send all these torque wrench’s out to be calibrated and every work station that needs a torque wrench should have two of them. One to use and a back up so you can send one out for calibration.

They called bullshit and blew it off. And now I was going to have to fire a guy who was really, really good.

I went to my tool box, grabbed my personal torque wrench and went out to the shop to check it against what he was using.

And sure enough, his wrench was like 15 pounds LIGHT or some crazy thing like that.

We started using my wrench while all the shop torque wrench’s went out to be calibrated. And they bought back ups.

I think this is one of those cases where the OP needs to verify everything so it doesn’t happen again.
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Once a month my Bro has the Snap-On crook check the torque wrenches.
 
B3422w5 said:
Sounds like probably clamping issue to me
Not sure what book says, but mine I always do 95. Have never went back and retorqued with 1008’s or cometics.
35/65/95
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That's gotta be it. Both sides? Something went bad in the clamping process. Never even heard of a bad ARP bolt, never mind several.
 
Take a fine flat file softly over the head deck surface and see if you have any high areas around the bolt holes. If you do I’ll make a suggestion. Keep in mind. Fine file and softly. No digging!!!
 
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