I just replaced what was a B16 PR3-2 head with a B16 PR3-4 Head.
Got it all together, and as absolutly ignorant as this sounds, was dismayed to find oil coming out the rear right corner (in relation to car). Turns out, head gasket went on upside down, shameful as it may be . Anyway, took it all off, and now I need to know how absolutly important it is to buy a new headgasket when I had one on that never even got hot. I really appreciate the help from the position of my lame-brained little mistake. Other than that, I also noticed a cap in one of the holes on my old head near where the leak occured (by the head bolt), this was on the PR3-2 head, but not on the PR3-4 head that leaked. I have pictures. Should I also cap my new head with this plug? (By the way, its going on a b18c1 block) Thanks!
JustW

 

When in doubt replace it anyways. In my case I would've reuse it since it didn't stay on the engine long enough to be properly broken in.

 

if it was torque down then i would throw that headgasket away!!!
its a bad ideal to use it once its torque down.... speaking from experience

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vangc6780 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if it was torque down then i would throw that headgasket away!!!
its a bad ideal to use it once its torque down.... speaking from experience </TD></TR></TABLE>

That's true but I've reuse a new headgasket that was torqued down and it ran 100K miles without any issues.

 

i would buy a new one.........but if your to cheap to buy a new one then clean up the gasket as best you can and give it a coat of copper spray gasket sealer and re-use it.

 

Its always a good idea to spend the time now to replace it since you already have the motor apart. Once the gsket has been crushed, its not designed to seal the same way a second time. I would spend the 60 bucks and get a new one.

 

im sure if the same head and block were used, it should seal up the same if neither were milled. but some time and future labor's sake, i would just spend the extra 60 for a gasket for peace at mind.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sleeperciv &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">When in doubt replace it anyways. In my case I would've reuse it since it didn't stay on the engine long enough to be properly broken in. </TD></TR></TABLE>
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vangc6780 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if it was torque down then i would throw that headgasket away!!!
its a bad ideal to use it once its torque down.... speaking from experience </TD></TR></TABLE>
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by non-VTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i would buy a new one.........but if your to cheap to buy a new one then clean up the gasket as best you can and give it a coat of copper spray gasket sealer and re-use it.</TD></TR></TABLE>
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civicgsr209 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Its always a good idea to spend the time now to replace it since you already have the motor apart. Once the gsket has been crushed, its not designed to seal the same way a second time. I would spend the 60 bucks and get a new one.</TD></TR></TABLE>
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Green Lude 93 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">but some time and future labor's sake, i would just spend the extra 60 for a gasket for peace at mind.</TD></TR></TABLE>
need i say more? listen to all this advice. nobody yet has said it's a good idea.

 

yeah especially if it was not only torqed down but installed upside down. save the hassle and spend the 60 bucks for a new one.

 

For the record, I went most definently went with a new one, didn't cut corners anywhere else, so It'd been stupid to there. Got a good one, thanks for the input!