Cylinder Head Gasket Failure

A blown head gasket can ruin your day and cost you or a customer a lot of money. Blown head gaskets can be the result of detonation, poor engine cooling, or improper installation. With the help of the gasket experts at Fel-Pro, we’ve identified not one, not six, but 15 ways to prevent head gasket failure. Keep them in mind and you’ll be less likely to find yourself tearing your engine apart in the future.

• Composite: General use on stock engines• Composite with copper wire ring: Performance applications using aluminum cylinder heads• Composite with steel wire ring: Performance and street/strip applications; well suited for forced induction engines• Single-layer embossed steel shim: Commonly used to increase compression ratio and power• Multi-layer steel (MLS): High-horsepower street or race-only applications; well suited for forced induction engines

Summit Racing’s OnAllCylinders blog posted a basic overview on gasket materials that’s worth reading.

This article is sponsored by Summit Racing Equipment. For more information, please visit www.summitracing.com.