I installed one of these almost two years ago and have noticed that it's cracking. I've also developed a coolant leak where the coolant enters the head. I installed the gasket without any sealant, should I have used some?

 

well if its cracking
i wouldnt use it anymore

and if a little sealant will fix your problems , then use it

i think they say u dont need sealant but i always use a little

 

Yeah I know sealant is not required but I probably should have used some anyway because the gasket didn't fit right. It didn't fit flushed with the head because of the way the holes are drilled so when I installed it, it had a bow to it and I just torqued it down from the center outward. I guess it couldn't handle the stress or I just overtorqued it...who knows. Just wondering if anyone has had coolant issues with these types of gaskets. Seems like it wouldn't make a sufficient water seal.

 

i have not had the problem
,but i used sealant

 

the thermal gaskets are a good idea that has some merrets to it

but i think id risk slightly higher intake temperatures and not worry about hotspots in the intake manifold, cuz its gona get hot in there without cooltant flowing threw it

 

Immitation gaskets may have problems, but the Hondata ones i've never seen a problem with.

http://www.hondata.com/heatshield.html

 

I'll find the thread of how driving on that cracked gasket ended up in a dead motor... it was Jowee I think who had it happen.... second while i track it down...

edit: looks like it was an ANR, https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1427724

 

I wonder if you could get something like the same effect by using two oem gaskets...just speculating.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fireant &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I wonder if you could get something like the same effect by using two oem gaskets...just speculating.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Doubtful, the bonus of the setup is that you are using a material that has a low heat transfer quality. Doubling gaskets will just space it an extra millimeter... but that material has no heat resistance (that i know of) properties to make it usefull.

 

Just pulled the gasket and it was cracking in 4 places radiating outward from the square coolant passage in addition to a couple of chunks missing! What a ******* POS. Apparently it couldn't handle the coolant temps enough to keep a reliable seal (the gasket is just hard plastic with no seal rings). I just installed a stock gasket and all is well. No more cold start issues, runs better, no more coolant leak, probably better gas mileage too. Not worth the theoretical 1/2 HP gain, IMO. We'd probably be better served insulating the studs and nuts.