Headbolts - oil or not, washer or not

[richind]

The generic pictures (@jegs.com) of a Felpro Permatorque look pretty beefy. But the Permatorque gasket for the Ranger that Felpro sells on their website looks just like the ones I had that failed. They look very different. What gives?

 

[shane96ranger]

They make different product lines, and I'm assuming this is what you are seeing. There is just a normal Felpro, Permatorque, and Permatorque Severe Duty (that I know of). From my experience, the Sever Duty series is only a couple more dollars over regular Permatorque gaskets.

 

[richind]

ok, I see the Severe Duty ones now. They offer just two types - "PermaTorque®; Improved design" - these are the ones that look like the ones that failed. Maybe the "Improved design" has fixed the previous problem.

And they have the "PermaTorque Severe Duty®". I'd have to see one of these in my hands to be able to compare to a revised OEM head gasket.

http://www.fme-cat.com/Application....cat=Engine&subcat=Gaskets and Sealing Systems

There is a big difference in the revised OEM gaskets Ford currently sells versus what the Ranger came with from the factory. I hope the new OEMs last much longer than the originals.

 

[aspevacek]

Victor Reinz has produced OEM gaskets for BMW for years. I think if there was an issue with them BMW would have swapped out to a different brand by now. I will continue ot use them as I have never had a single issue with them. I guess it just comes down to brand prefferance when doing something. People are creatures of habbit and will tend to stick with what they know.

 

[shane96ranger]

Victor Reinz has produced OEM gaskets for BMW for years.

Also Mercedes and VW. I agree, it's a preference thing. I've always had good luck with Felpro, so I'll continue to use them until they fail me. There are a lot of Ford factory gaskets made by Felpro, and I'm sure they even use Victor Reinz on some items. I know my rear seal on my Mustang said Felpro, and I got it from the dealer. That did leak from day one, but it's because I failed to sleeve the crank. I'll be fixing before too long.

 

[richind]

Hi Everyone - found this old thread bookmarked. 5 years later, the gaskets/heads are still holding. Only have about 30k additional on the gaskets and new cylinder head, but I think it's fixed I still rarely ever have to add any coolant to the overflow.

If I had to do it all over again, I'd have replaced the other head too. I'd still use the OEM gaskets as well. Still like my Ranger

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Thanks for the update.