Head gasket
 

Last night my head gasket decided that it didn't like life anymore leaving me with an engine that is in the process of being removed. Hopefully it's just the head gasket and nothing else but I won't know that until later today once I get an engine lifter.

My question is this: What are the best head gaskets to get for a closed deck block and Cosworth heads? And what thickness etc should I be looking for? And most importantly, who will have them in stock?

It's already got a Cosworth head gasket which obviously couldn't handle things (or so it would seem at this stage anyway but will no for sure when it's opened up) so I would imagine something stronger is in order....?

99% of the time, the head gasket itself isn’t to blame when it blows. Its usually loose head bolts/studs, cracked bore or head (due to overheating or sheer inability to handle massive boost), incorrectly machined mating surfaces, etc.

This is also backed up by the fact that the stock STi gaskets, let alone the Cosworth ones, are more than capable of handling anything you can throw at them (in combination with some decent head studs), as witnessed by numerous builds over the years...

I’d be going with the Cosworth gaskets again, after you’ve determined the underlying problem.

What size head studs are in it currently?

ping?

i'd pick stock multi-layered gaskets over cosworth.

cant say why- but i know stock can cope.

but as mentioned, head gaskets arent the cause of a failure, moreso the symptom of what caused it.

I ditched the cosworth head gasket on recommendation from Tony knight.. i think we ended up go with stock gasket, ill find out..

[QUOTE=Rossco;503183]What size head studs are in it currently?[/QUOTE]
I will find out tomorrow once it's out. All I know is that they are ARP.

Just finished getting everything ready for the engine to come out tomorrow. I noticed green coolant inside the up-pipe when removing the turbo and the extractors were well and truly waterlogged. I then drained the oil and coolant was again mixed in with the oil in the sump.

I'm starting to lean towards either a crack in one of the heads or a crack in the block where it was changed from semi closed-deck to closed-deck but I guess I'll find out tomorrow for sure either way.

[QUOTE=rubberbudgie;503540]I will find out tomorrow once it's out. All I know is that they are ARP.

Just finished getting everything ready for the engine to come out tomorrow. I noticed green coolant inside the up-pipe when removing the turbo and the extractors were well and truly waterlogged. I then drained the oil and coolant was again mixed in with the oil in the sump.

I'm starting to lean towards either a crack in one of the heads or a crack in the block where it was changed from semi closed-deck to closed-deck but I guess I'll find out tomorrow for sure either way.[/QUOTE]

Shit hope u havent done what i did to my block....

Stuff that sounds bad! What where you doing when it went bad? Did you log anything with the motec?

[QUOTE=trainwrex;503626]Shit hope u havent done what i did to my block....[/QUOTE]

Why what happened to yours?

[QUOTE=RUSSGT;503631]Stuff that sounds bad! What where you doing when it went bad? Did you log anything with the motec?[/QUOTE]

Was driving along Tonkin Hwy going for a bit of a thrash. Motec doesn't show anything abnormal when it died, no huge spikes in RPM or manifold pressure. Bit of a mystery really.