what head gasket for a 440?

[440exnacsracer]

i was just wonderin what head gaskets yall use on your 440ex's...nothin else. if you run cometic, do you use the stadard or the heavy duty version. thanks. lata
Ben

[Big - D Racing]

I run standard cosmetic with no problems

[440exnacsracer]

thanks for replying. thats what im runnin and i cant keep it from blowin the head gasket, tryed em all. heads been shaved 1/1,000,000 of an inch, heads been inspected, studs have helicoils, and its been torqued to specs........i cant figure it out

[RAPTORAZ]

Call SPARKS Racing. They have a fix for that. It involves bigger studs. My friends 440 had the same problem until he sent them his jug.

[Davids440ex]

the head bolts need to be tighen to 30 psi i had this problem to

Funny that i hear more of this after the cyl gets decked etc. Mine has both sealed and leaked since getting decked. both times are with the .025 3 pc cometic steel gasket.

Have you retorqued the head after some run time? This may help and dont try to over tighten it to avoid the re torque since that makes it all worse.

What compression are you running? What amount of shaving was done? Do you mean .001 or .010 etc.

[Extremeracer167]

I run the stainless steel cometic head gasket. Havent had any leaks or any problems at all.

[two_baaalls]

Same as extreme

[quadman21]

I had the problem too. It was my studs. The threads were stripped. I eventually bought a new cylinder from Honda. I had the 440 put in it. I put new studs in the new cylinder AFTER the sleeving work was done. No leaks and I have had it off ond on a dozen times for non-related reasons. when you remove the studs for sleeving it is very easy to strip the threads. The only answer is helicoil or oversized studs. Also, I have never decked my head so I'm not running a true 11:1.

when you remove the studs for sleeving it is very easy to strip the threads. The only answer is helicoil or oversized studs. Also, I have never decked my head so I'm not running a true 11:1. Well I hope that isnt the problem with mine but it didnt leak the first time so who knows.

[OCCRA288]

degree keys have been known to be a factor in a blown head gasket.

[440exnacsracer]

the guy who shaved the head said he only shaved it one- millionth of an inch....just enough to make sure its even w no flaws, its an 11-1 wiseco piston..so its prolly like 10.5-1. i may try torquing them, then retourqueing them after a few hours..sounds like alot of trouble, but i guess its worth it. if it blows again, im gonna trade it in on a crf450. this quad just has too much crap to break, corse the dirtbike could break stuff on me!:devil

[400exRacerX]

You dont have to retorque steel gaskets.

You dont have to retorque steel gaskets. Are you sure on this? That would be a good thing and save a lot of bs.


the guy who shaved the head said he only shaved it one- millionth of an inch....just enough to make sure its even w no flaws, its an 11-1 wiseco piston..so its prolly like 10.5-1. Thats not much of a decking there LOL and since I dont think you are truely at even 10.5:1 the problem most likely isnt the compression.

Let us know if you figure it out.

[440exnacsracer]

sure thing. i was at a party the other night and a guy said he used to work on hot rods and has all the tools i could ever need, so i think im gonna get w him next week while i wait on my shocks to get rebuilt.

[400exRacerX]

You only have to retorque the material head gaskets.

[Chef]

I use a stainless one with some work for my head studs and some other stuff.

[440exnacsracer]

but you do have to retourqe the material ones though?