Blown head gasket....again

[muff]

well I blew my 440 head gasket again, I have a wisco sleeve and JE 10.5:1 piston, I was using stock thickness metal cometic gaskets

the first time it happened we had gotten the head machined since the sleeve was lower than the top of the block

I havent gotten to tear it down now since it just happened yesterday so I really dont know why it happened

anyone know any solutions? is there anything I can do?

I'm thinkin about just buyin a used fully built 440 motor

[muff]

also should I not get a cometic gasket this time, what other gasket companies are there?

[Ralph]

buying a used 440 would proably be more probs, u never really know who did it, what happened etc...

[Silverfox@C&DRacing]

You might try a steel flex cometic gasket

i have a 416 and dont make the same mistake i did 3 times,finaly after 3 blown head gaskets i realized cometic sucks, get OEM...all 3 of my head gaskets were brand new, i used copper gasket in an aerosol can to seal them when they were brand new, all 3 of them blew, i put OEM ones back in finaly, sealed them up with the gasket sealant and i ahvent hada problem yet...also once you re-install the gaskets, put the head back on, torque the bolts down, put the valve cover back on and torque those down, just set your gas tank on and pop the fuel line on, put you air filter and everything else back on like the carb and air boxe, then start it up, let it run for like 30-40 seconds..then shurt the fuel back off, take the gas tank off, take off the valve cover, take out the came and tighten all the head bolts back down, i did it to mine its just some extra insurance, when i did this i could turn the bolts maybe another 3-4 mm and that 3-4 mm could make a difference

[ridered86]

get over sized studs and some stock gaskets

[Dune Surfer]

I feel your pain. I have blown three. I have installed larger studs, decked the head, had the cylinder checked. and it's leaking again. This time I ordered a gasket from sparks racing. I have blown two cometic gaskets. To be honest, this time I tried to reuse the cometic after I installed the piston bacwards (duh). I would get oversized studs from rocky ridge racing and a new gasket. I hear some people are using copper gaskets with good results.
good luck.

[RiPPiNiTuP7]

Originally posted by ridered86
get over sized studs and some stock gaskets

Thats exactly what I would do.

[muff]

well I just got her all apart and it was a weird sight

1. the gasket wasnt blown
2. the spark plug wasnt on tight, so that might have been why there was oil on the front of my engine and on my oil tank
3. the piston is very black and I have only had it together for about 10 rides, the first time it was apart we cleaned the top of it
4. the brand new spark plug that wasnt tightened all of the way was coated in like a black powder, that was slightly wet, it was the same stuff that was on the top of the piston
5. the head gasket was covered in oil

also two of the nuts that held the head down (not the top engine piece but the second one) werent very tight, that may have contributed to the oil blowing out

any ideas here?

[JUSTINcredible]

get the holes your studs go into re-tapped.. thats most likely why some of the nuts wernt tight and why your gasket was going out

[jchevy]

If two of those head bolts werent tight then they were over torqued and it pulled the stud out of the jug. Seems to happen to just about everybody. I helicoiled mine, but most people choose to put bigger studs in. So far ive been ok...knock on wood.

[Dune Surfer]

Yep, sounds like your studs pulled. Call rocky ridge and order a larger set, have a machine shop install them, get a new metal head gasket and your good to go. The black deposits are carbon.

[airheadedduner]

Originally posted by ridered86
get over sized studs and some stock gaskets
Its a 440, no stock gaskets gonna fit.

Tyr the cometic steel flex like silverfox said. Your basicly gonna have to live with it though. It is the EX's head design that is the problem. 4 studs to hold on the head?? Not the best idea for a 4 valve 4-stroke. Even the 250X got like 5 studs. Maybe you can find some brave soul that would attempt to o-ring the head. It is very hard to prevent the head gasket from blowing.

[muff]

thanks for the info, I'll look around tomorrow, but now I gotta start a project for trig thats due tomorrow :(

[type3tom]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by airheadedduner
[B]Its a 440, no stock gaskets gonna fit.

If you wanna use factory gaskets you might wanna give Powroll a call,they use stock Honda gaskets that have been bored out fit to the larger pistons which is what I use and I havent blown a gasket in 2 years with their 440 stroke and bore kit.It couldnt hurt they've been doing 4 strokes for 25 years and probably know a thing or two.

Tom

[Dune Surfer]

Sparks has bored stock gaskets also. I have one next to my computer waiting to be installed.

[jbkk]

I am having 10mm bolts put in mine instead of the 8mm (with 10mm threads). I was told the 8's stretch. We will see if this helps.

Was the oil deff coming from the head gasket? I find that many times a leaky head cover gasket is mis read as a head gasket.

If its still together try doing a comp test to see if there is any pressure loss.

I have had several leaks that freaked me out and they all were traced back to the head cover, still not any fun but the engine runs better than if it had a blown head gasket. BTW I am runing over 12.5:1 actual comp.

I see a lot of you guys blame the cometic gasket, but I have to ask if you find the oem head cover set up any better. I just cant seem to get that cover to be leak free, and yes its a new one and the old one leaked less.

if all else fails the bigger stud and oring idea seem great.

[airheadedduner]

Is the EX gasket a single piece, or is it pleated like the R gasket?? I tried milling a stock R gasket on a CNC and couldn't get it to seal, even after spraying it with copper sealent. I am supprised they can get it to work.:confused: