Best intake gaskets???

[Snakebit]

I have to replace the intake gaskets on my Weber intake for the third time. First try used Victor Rienz Nitro seal with RTV just on the water ports. Leaked oil into the cylinders. 2nd try Victor Rienz standard gaskets. RTV around water ports and Aviation gasket sealer front and back around the intake ports. One plug is oil fowled on the driver side and notice oil on the exhaust manifold gasket. The other 3 plugs show oil on the end of the threads. The pasenger side is fine.

A few posts recommend Cometic gaskets and using Toyota 00295-00103 sealer. I use The Right Stuff for the front and back seals.
I used 2 studs to line up the gaskets and the manifold when setting it into place. This time I will try 4.

Any coments on the Cometic gaskets and sealer?

[Tom Wells]

Snakebit,

Maybe it's just me: I can't picture your problem

Oil on the exhaust manifold - now how could it get there from the intake?

As to sealing the intake, it sounds like it might be time to check the heads and the intake manifold for flatness?

Do you have any photos? What did the gaskets look like when they were exhumed?

Tom

[Zoom This]

Have you checked the machined surfaces on both mating parts? If out of spec, no gasket will work effectively.

Bill

[Snakebit]

I have not pulled it yet. I will dry fit with a feeler guage to chech clearances.

[FWB]

i just was in the intake gasket nightmare with my FE, i ended up making my own gaskets with the thick white Mr. Gasket material. i used another set of gaskets as a template and got a cheapo punch set from china freight. a couple of leather working razor blades and making them fit my ports exactly.
as far as sealer i found the best sealer hands down is the motorcraft sealer for the 7.3 diesel engines from ford, it is fantastic. used on the gaskets and the front and back beads. it comes in a short caulking tube.
now all this is assuming the head and intake surfaces are true to each other.
fit the intake on the heads without a gasket and use a feeler to check for any gaps. the thick gasket will allow for a couple thousandths but not much more.

[Snakebit]

I've used the Ford sealer on my oil pan gasket. Did you use it on the intake ports and is it fuel resistant?

[FWB]

yes, i used it around ports and around the coolant passages and yes it is fuel resistant, diesel is like kerosene it is a natural solvent. some of the surfaces on the diesels don't even use gaskets, just the sealer. ask yourself this....
does the pan leak? i've tried several gaskets and about 5 different sealers. from rtv blue, black, red. permatex 1, 2, high tack, plus several no name canned silicon. the ford stuff wins............

[Snakebit]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll give it a try.

[Rwillia4]

Are your gaskets the right thickness? for a new engine without a rebuild you might need a thicker gasket or two stacked. Having had to replace my intake gasket I talked to Keith Craft on how they do it. They use 3M weatherstripping sealer, by putting a very thin layer around the ports let it sit for 15 minutes to tack, then assemble.

[Snakebit]

I pulled the manifold and the gaskets were soaked in oil. The gaskets stuck to the manifold but peeld right off. I used Permatex Avaition gasket sealer on both sides of the gasket around the intake ports when I installed the Victor Rienz gaskets. There was no sealer on the gaskets when I removed them??? They have Armstrong stamped on them and do not show any compression marks on them. It would appear I need a thicker gasket.

I found a set of SCE gaskets that are .125" thick vs .062". I am still up in the air on what gasket sealer to use around the ports. Avaition Gasket sealer, Gasgasinch, Permatex High Tac. or the Motorcraft TA31 diesel sealer?

[olddog]

Turn you intake bolts in by hand with the intake still off, and make sure they do not tighten up before they would reach the thickness of the intake.

My heads had the intake bolt holes not threaded deep enough on the corners and the bolts bottomed out with about 0.005" between them and the intake.

[lovehamr]

With the gaskets oil soaked I would think the clamping force on the bottom of the ports has been insufficient. In that case I would look to olddog's suggestion and check the mating surface angles as well. In other words, if the manifold is tight at the top of the ports but loose on the bottom it'll seem A-OK looking from the top but will still suck oil from the bottom. This could occur with just a few degrees variance between the head and manifold mating surfaces.

JMHO, Steve

[Snakebit]

Replaced the intake with 1/8 thick SCE gaskets #136106. I had to trim the gaskets to fit the larger ports and used Permatex Hylomar gasket sealer on both sides. I replaced the valve cover gaskets and used Hylomar on both sides. While I had the valve covers off, I replaced the valve seals and adjusted the valves. Drove 128 miles this weekend. Pulled the plugs and they were all tan in color. Check my gallery for pictures of the plugs. Problem solved!

I originally purchased longer ARP intake manifold bolts and cut them to length so they did not bottom out. This way I had plenty of threads to grab in the head. Torqued the bolts to 20 ft/lbs. No leaks!

[Roush #1]

Try Keith Craft in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. He has a Cometic (I think this is the correct spelling) gasket that he uses and should solve the very common FE intake leaking problem.

J

[Snakebit]

I don't have an FE, I have a 302 small block. I think the Weber manifold may have been bottoming out on the block with the 1/16" intake gaskets. The SCE 1/8" gaskets were on the softer side compared to the Victor Rienz gaskets. In my application I needed the gasket to compress.