Got me scratching my haed

[Dooley_m47]

Hi guys and girls. I have an 03 VY V6. I replaced the intake manifold gaskets just before christmas and all was well up untill a month ago. I noticed the new gaskets were leaking coolant and two day later it split the radiator. I replaced everything with a Pro_Torque VRS kit. The previous were the same brand. I inspected the heads and cylinder walls and found nothing. The original head gaskets were perfect and I shouldnt have replaced them at all. Anyway, I completed the job and added coolant and a new thermostat due to fitting a new radiator. A week after it was all done I found it to be bubbling in the radiator and oil was also coming out. Any Idea what the hell has happened. Are these plastic gaskets reliable. Seems pretty strange to put plastic directly against a hot set of heads.
Any help greatly appreciated

Cheers Peter

 

[VR38]

Did you torque the bolts up correctly?

 

[Brett_jjj]

Its an ecotec engine right? Did you follow a workshop manual when doing the job? Were the head gaskets installed on the correct sides of the engine, as they are not interchangeable, the drivers side gasket has a 5mm round identification hole, and the passenger side head gasket has a letter L stamped into the gasket, and both arrows on the gaskets must face the front of the enigne. The ID markings on each gasket, and the arrows, should still be visible when the heads are fitted if the gaskets have been fitted to the correct sides.
Were the head and inlet manifold bolts torqued down correctly with a torque wrench, as already mentioned above, and were they torqued down in the correct order? Both are very important steps when assembling an engine.
These inlet manifold bolts only have to be tensioned up from 12 to 18 Nm, which is not very tight at all really.Any tighter though, and the plastic gaskets can crack and fail pretty quickly. Ive used prop torque brand VRS gasket kits before with no problems.

 

[Dooley_m47]

Hi Brett. Thanks for the heads up mate. I did everything by the book. I had a similar problem in the past with a VN. A trick I learned was to lubricate the mounting faces of the heads with dish washing liquid. This allows the gaskets to slide rather than grab on a dry surface. I have done this job quite a few times as I work as a mechanic at a Yokohama tyers and more workshop. All the info you supplied is 100% correct. I think my parts supplier got a dud batch. I went to a felpro set and problem solved. Thanks mate. Long delay in the reply. I just found out how to reply.
Cheers. Peter

 

[SavVYute]

Why would you want to lubricate the gaskets with dishwashing liquid? That would probably cause them to squish out of position as you torqued them down.

 

[Dooley_m47]

The torque setting stops them from "squishing" as does the location lugs to some degree. The dish washing liquid lets the fine silicone fillet type gaskets move freely as the inlet manifold is being correctly located. I've used it more than a dozen times and each time I have the disired result. No leaks and smooth running engines