I just installed a 3mm cometic head gasket in one of my customers b16a2. I try to stay away from these type of band aid solutions for lowering compression but i have run into a problem some oil and coolant are seeping out slowly around the gasket all the mating surfaces are clean, everything was torque down good. Anyone w/ any suggestions or experience w/ these type of gasket?

 

usually caused by mis torquing the head studs correctly.

They are excellent quality gaskets compared to many out thre.

 

I have done haed gasket hundreds of times and i never run into any problems.
It isn't rocket science you start from the center and u work your way out.

 

mis torquing not mis install .Over or under torquing usually causes these situations.

Another possibility might be deck is warped or head is not straight.

 

I don't think it could be the any type of warpage it's a '00 b16 w/ 15k miles
the torquing i did right 60ft/lbs any ideas? w/ the original gasket there were no leaks, i'm going to put the fac gasket back on and see what happens.

 

Stock is 63 foot pounds, but with a thicker headgasket you should go to about 70 foot pounds, also was the gasket put on right side up? Not saying anything but we all have done it I did with a inline pro head gasket it was not marked, I told some one make sure to put the headgasket on the right way, 5 minutes later I put it on up side down,duh, Jason

 

honda master book says 60ft/lbs so let's not argue about that they designed the motor they know. and about torquing it down some more 70ft/lbs sounds like a good idea, i have been debating wether to do that or not since i put it in. I am going to put the stock back on until i talk to cometic people.

 

well try torqueing it down 10 more foot pounds when the motor is cold worst case you got to yank the head best case it does not leak any more, also when I torque heads with stock or arp's I usally do it 3 steps in stead of stock 2 step, I go 22 1st step, 40 2nd step, then 63 for the last step going inside sutds to outside, were is it leaking from? You can also try copper spray on the gasket if there is a slight inperfection on the head block or gasket copper spray might help, Jason

 

I always use copper gasket sealant. From what i can see it's the leaking from the two front corners one side is leaking oil the other side is leaking coolant and i also see oil spots on the ground so it's leaking from some where in the back also. and i also torgue in multiple steps.

 

Man sounds like too much fun, I hope re torqueing helps, might be the problem.Good luck sorry for not having any other useful insite, Jason

 

thanks jason

 

Yeah, I might be looking at changing my head gasket here soon. This is kind of a heads up for things that can go wrong for me. Thanks for sharing this information here. I think now I will have a better chance of not botching the job!

 

hey i tried torquing it down to 70ft/lbs and it did no good so i went ahead and put the original gasket back on and all my problems went away. I think the cometic gasket has a defect in it, i am going to contact cometic on tuesday and see what they suggest. car feels so much better w/out it anyway.

 

i usually spray two coats of copper seal on each side of the gasket to make it seal better

 

I always use copper gasket sealant

 

dont ya love factory honda stuff, but I have heard good things about cometic, as long as it is not sce summit copper headgasket crap, Jason

 

We had a very reputable shop put the head on our block with a cometic gasket. After i took it home and put the whole motor back in, i cranked it to get oil pressure and oil shot out the side of the block. The gasket was on backwards. These are guys who have a low 9 second Civic and have been building turbo Hondas since 95. The cometic gasket have no markings so its easy to do.


[Modified by 5speedv6, 2:57 PM 5/28/2002]

 

are you sure you're not using a nonVTEC gasket instead of a VTEC one ? or even upside down ? I don;t remember seeign the "UP" on the cometic gaskets ...

where is the oil leaking ? rear passenger side ?

greg

 

Let me know how you make out with cometic because i am having similiar problems with leaking and it is torqued down at 70 with ARP Studs.. I think i am going to go back to factory also...it will be the third time i pull the head in a week

BTW can u reuse ARP STUDS without any problems

 

maybe you forgot the dowels?

 

yeah you can reuse arp's with out a problem,just torque them to 80 foot pounds with oil or 73 with molly lube, make sure the studs are bottomed out or you will strip the threads. Sounds like cometic has leak issues, Jason

 

I think so cause i have done evberything properly twice and its still leaking coolant into the chamber.....the next time i open it up i am throwin it away

 

You know we just put my brothers H22A4 back together with a cometic gasket and it's blowing a **** load of smoke when you give it gas. It's whiteish - grey smoke. I am begining to think it's coolant because of the gasket. We pulled the plugs and the they are wet especially #1. We sniffed them and it's not gas, does'nt feel like oil......it's gotta be coolant! Man this is gonna suck. If it is the gasket where can I get a good Prelude gasket thats thicker than stock? Preferably metal and not HKS$$$$. Who is inline pro?

 

http://www.inlinepro.com/

 

OK, this is making me really nervous! my shop is putting my prelude back together now with one of these (a thin one - .027").

Has anyone had a GOOD experience with these things? They were pretty highly recommended last time i asked!!!