posted this also in old plym:
Before, I changed one in 10 Years, making ~4000 mls / year.!
Earlier, I got gaskets with both sides of the gaskets completely copper sheated plus copper reinforcements at the perforations.
The last gaskets, I still have some, have steel reinforcements, but no sheating instead.
I fear, that the steel variety is not as compressible as the copper .
Any suggestions of why and what to do?
Go
Go,
Did you have your cylinder head checked for any warping?
Food for thought,
Bob
It has been planed last time (warp was minimal)
Hey Go, you are definetely having some bad luck with that gasket... Let me tell you what I have done in the past, maybe it will help you. I have rebuilt perhaps up to 100 engines and have a bit of experience, I worked as a mechanic for Ford (bad word) a number of years and never had a leaky cylinder head gasket using this method. ... Check your head again with a straight edge, also the top of your block to make sure nothing has changed since the head was planed. Lightly coat both sides of the gasket with engine oil (don't use a gasket cement on a head gasket), be sure to torgue the head bolts in sequence and to specifications, and re-torgue if the specs call for it after it has warmed up. (You did not mention if you had been adding coolant?) Your head gaskets (the ones you have) should be ok as long as they are not damaged. I hope this helps you.... Good luck.
SD Glenn
Glenn,
I had the impression, that the steel reinforcemnts around the bores waer not as smooth as the copper variety. I didn?t think it was rust.
Maybe I should have honed the surfaces a bit.
Maybe I get the copper sandwiched gaskets from jd52cranbrook.
You don?t think copper to be better than steel reinforcements?
The originals were copper but I have used the aftermarket steel variety with success. I don't think they would have gotten away with making the steel aftermarkets if they didn't work. And I still see many NOS steel ones for sale amongst the coppers at fleamarkets. I chased a 'blown head gasket' problem one year and I could not figure out why just because I removed the head for an inspection the head gasket would 'blow' after a short while. It turned out it was a warped head. Generally speaking the chrome blocks in these old Plymouths don't warp. I use nothing on the head gasket just put them on dry. After getting the head planed I put one of the 'blown' head gaskets back in and it's still there. My problem was so severe that the water in the rad boiled because of the cylinder 'fire' bleeding into the water jacket. I never use a torque wrench. Just a breaker bar and a good touch,I guess. Pay attention to the tightening sequence as it's VERY important.
One on EBay now
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dodge-Plymouth-218-230-6-Cyl-Head-Gasket-Copper-/120797845007?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1c201cd60f&vxp=mtr
Go - check your timing. Could be a simple solution to a hard problem......make sure the head isn't warped is also a good idea.
Thanks, jd2! will test them immediately! Go
Timing will be checked today, Jim!
Greetings and happy easter!
Go
I think that a head takes on a 'set' or 'warp' as it ages from the hot-cold cycles over time. I'm convinced that when you remove the head to do any work, it suddenly warps like a long spring lever ,from end to end, and you have to be really lucky to get it back down again pushing the warp away in the right direction to flatten the head on the gasket and block. With my own experiences behind me, I think you have to have the head checked once again before you go any further because it could be warped again. And you don't need much. A 1 thou. warp will allow the cylinder gasses to blow by and into the water jacket.
There is only one reason that a head gasket will 'blow' and that's because there is not a complete seal all over the top of the block in every corner and around every cylinder and every water hole. There is actually no reason to have a head gasket. For instance on small motors on lawn mowers and such many do not have head gaskets. If the head and block are true then the seal will be perfect between them. I believe that the gasket's job on our cars is to take up any gap that occurs over time. But the gasket can only fill so much of a gap before the pressures and heat start to punch through the gap and bleed into the water jacket. I had a Plymouth van once,a pile of junk made by Mitsubishi, and the head gasket blew out to the outside. Spraying hot water around the engine compartmant. That was different! I had a Kcar back in the 80s that the head gasket blew out between number 1 cylinder and the water jacket. The engine consumed it's antifreeze slowly over time, which is a form of liquid plastic, and 'washed' the #1 spark plug til it looked like it was brand new. This was how I knew,before I removed the head, that she had blown the head gasket. The seal would apparently come and go because we could see the temp. gauge go up 'hot' and then return to normal for a day or so. I also learned a new word: 'bridging'. This is what the mechanics call it when part of the water jacket bridges over to a cylinder through a defective head gasket. So I have lots and lots of experience in blown head gaskets. It can't be that difficult to track down what the cause is.
while having the head off, I will have it planed again!
Next week no time , anyhow I?m not missing the driving, very cold and rainy here...
Thanks!