head gasket brand

[volcomsk8a]

i replaced the head gasket 1000 miles ago from napa with new bolts, head milled down, and everything torqued right, and now its leaking i can tell from the exhaust in the coolant. everything was working perfect

No has had any problems with napa gaskets right? I'm about to tear it all apart and hopefully see where the gasket failed if it isn't a crack in the head.

[TourDeForce]

Fel-Pro

Motorcraft originals

Those are the two that seem to be most reliable on the Contiques. I know for the V-6 intake manifold, the fel-pro & stock are very good quality & anything else risks leaks.

Did you compare a fel-pro gasket to the NAPA brand? Perhaps you should do that & post a report so we know for sure if it's any better. Take your used NAPA gasket to someplace they sell the Fel-pro & do a comparison.

[volcomsk8a]

so i thought maybe a crack in the head but there was no leakage for the first few months so i still think its the gasket

I the head milled flat via an auto parts store that do it all the time. i bet they milled it within specs but i can not find the specs anywhere...the only thing i can think of now is that maybe when some was milled off the head bolts are maybe a hair to long now not allowing proper seating, is that a valid concern????

[ohsigmachi]

No, If they had to take that much off they should've told you to junk the head.

[volcomsk8a]

damn...thats what i was hoping for.

[ev1lbry4n]

i work at a parts store and all we carry is fel pro

[volcomsk8a]

i wish i knew if the napa one was a felpro, does anyone here know???. Now i got to spend $40 on the gasket and another $20 on some bolts, just for the chance that things will work out. Not to mention about 5 hours of work.

I actually today took off the spark plugs today and the number 3 right in the threads were all nasty but the others all looked good.

[ohsigmachi]

yeah your gasket probably failed around that cylinder

[volcomsk8a]

i've done it all before but before i tear everything down is there anything i should check while it can run???

[ohsigmachi]

you could have a shop run a compression and leakdown test, but it won't tell you anything you don't already know.

Head gasket jobs have one of the highest failure rates I think. The mating surfaces of the block and head need to be SPOTLESS or it will fail again.