I have installed a cometic 88mm x 0.078" gasket in my H22A and it started to leak coolant into the #4 cylinder after 5 minutes of starting the car, arrgh!

My guess is that the #4 cylinder leaks because that's the side that the coolant enters and exits the head??

Copper spray (VHT) has been used and it still wont seal! When I take the head off, the copper has been pushed away from the mating surfaces and just collects round the waterway holes. What is the point of copper spraying it, if it does this?

After reverting to the stock gasket, the problem goes away.
I have performed a search and I have come to the conclusion that thick steel "shim" gaskets seem to have problems with keeping up with the faster expansion rates of the aluminium head and block.

Does anyone have experience/success with using this thickness of gasket??

I have taken the gasket apart and plan to use the 2 outer layers of a new OEM gasket with the cometic steel shim in the middle.

Anyone else had similar problems and overcome this???



Modified by jmcclell at 1:07 AM 9/15/2004

 

i never had any proablems with my cometic head gasket. I think stock and cometic are both 3 pieces. I say OEM is really good to, ive used both OEM and COmetic on my motor which is boosted and neither one did i have a proablem with so i say hit up oem again unless you just want a nother cometic.

 

I would prefer to use the OEM gasket but my compression is way too high (13:1 on pump gas) and I need the 0.078" thickness to drop it to an acceptable level. See my problem?

Anyone have success with using 0.078" or thicker Cometic gaskets?????

Please help!

 

are you using the cometic hp or the mls? ive heard the mls is much better and i never had a problem using it. i use the .054 before..078 is huge, thats drops you to about 10.5:1. you can run 12:1, maybe 12.5:1 with good tuning on pump gas.

stock gasket is .029, for every.010 you drop ~.5 point.

 

I am using the MLS gasket.

The calculated compression ratio using the 0.078" gasket should give me 11.5:1.
The compression calculations are based on a measured chamber volume of 51cc and a measured deck height of -0.004" with JE Pistons (9.8cc dome volume) and crower rods.

My concern is I have read on this forum that cometic no longer supply a 0.120" gasket because of sealing problems.

Would this not be the same case with the 0.078" gasket? No-one used this thickness or greater before???

 

bump it up...

Anyone have success with using 0.078" or thicker Cometic gaskets?????