Victor Reinz Head Gaskets: Any good?
 

Does anyone know if Victor Reinz head gaskets are any good?

I have a leaky passenger side gasket on a 2000 5.4. I have confirmed this basically by the fact that oil is slowly seeping down the side of the block on the pass. side from right below the exhaust manifold, and my coolant turns brown within a week of flushing and putting in new coolant.

Anyways, the local auto parts wants $210 for the head gasket set (Felpro), but I found a set made by Victor Reinz on ebay for $110.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Can anyone share any experience they have with this brand or if I should just shell out the extra cash for the Felpro gaskets?

Thanks,

- Erik

Rockauto.com wants $155 for the Fel-Pro set. Just the gasket is $45.

I would definitely verify the head gasket leak first. My head has been wet in the same location , but it wasn't the gasket, It looked oily, but it wasn't oil.- it leached from behind the passenger side head. Any coolant leak, whether it's the heater core lines or even the water pump tube down in the valley will leach out back there. It does track under the exhaust manifold, just under 3 & 4 from what I recall.

You can confirm the head gasket via vacuum gauge, -if in question. You might want to do that first unless you absolutely sure.

On the other other hand, Ford did have a burr problem with some of the heads that would cause the gasket to fail on the passenger side. There's a TSB somewhere about that.

That's about all I know about it, - Make sure you order the right thickness in gaskets, -after market can come with different thickness's. Reason, -boost compression. Just keep that in mind when shopping. Felpro is the way to go IMO, have never had a problem with their gaskets, -their a very respected manufacturer when it comes to that.

glc - thanks for the suggestion. The Felpro's are much cheaper at rock auto.

jbrew - I'm pretty sure it's oil in my case as I have the trans out at the moment and I can see where its seeping from between the head and block. Also the motor hasn't been run in around two weeks because i have been working on the trans, so i would think it wouldn't be moisture or coolant as it would have dried by now.

Another reason I'm leaning towards a leaky head gasket is that recently I had my truck overheat due to my alternator dying and my e-fans running my battery dead. After that the coolant turned brown. I flushed it with clean water and refilled several times already and no matter what it keeps turning a dark brown in only a couple days. Also the coolant appears to have combustion gasses in it as I can smell and kind-of see it in the degas bottle.

Theres no coolant in the oil as far as I can tell though. No milky-ness to the oil, no water in it when i drained it, and no milky residue on the oil filler cap.

I don't have a vacuum guage to test with, but I was thinking about confirming with one of those combustion gas test kits. Would anyone have a clue as to where I could get one? I can't seem to find them at the local auto parts store.

- Erik

best kind.... I just put them on a 6.0 along with ARP studs... torqued to 245 ft lbs.!!!!

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll82/CTC_B4Z/ARP.jpg

Those look nice $$$$ - I don't own a torque wrench like that tho, mine wimps out @ 150' lbs lol, - guess I need a new one of those, - more $$$$$.

VR gaskets are OEM suppliers for VW....good isht!

Yea, it's sounding more like your right now, just didn't want you to bust loose the heads for no reason.

Believe or not Auto Zone has many kits like that, they even had colored smoke kits for the DIY'er their lol. But if you can smell it ?? Then, yea, - isn't much need for a kit when it's indisputable lol. It's the gasket.

BTW- You would be surprised what leaks after they have been sitting awhile, - not kidding.

You can get Felpro head gaskets for you 5.4 at www.carpartswholesale.com for around $52.60 each side. I've ordered from them and they had good service. Typical overheat oil leak is at the rightside (passenger) rear. Thats also where the high pressure oil supply to r/s cyl head passage is so makes sense. jbrew is right (as usual). Like that jbrew?? There was a burr or chip issue caused when the robot installed the cyl heads over the roll pin locating dowel. A piece of alumimum cyl head would get broached in the process and drop down right at the high pressure oil passage to head gasket sealing bead. It compromised the seal and oil would sometimes leak at the rear of the right head and front of the left head. The left head leak was never an issue because the oil leaked behind the front cover and never caused an external leak or oil pressure problem.The small amount of oil just returned to the oil pan. Good luck.

:D - Yea, I vaguely recalled that TSB, at one time I thought that was a problem I had, - before further investigation. Ended up being the coolant lines.

Well, I had to go take a look at them , -cleaned the heads spotless on the outsides last winter before testing for leaks at the header flange and haven't really looked at them since. Well, I still have a piece of frickin dirt in my eyeball from that grand idea, but from what I could see their still clean back there, -thankfully. :rocker:

:beers:

I had this TSB done to my truck under warranty. It stopped leaving a puddle on the ground but a year later the leak had returned.
It has been leaking for the last 6 year, not enough to have to top off the oil but it leaves a wet mess all under the starter area.

Well, because of other issues i am in the process of fixing this and am also looking to get the gaskets and parts needed.

Kinda asked the question for me.

wow, thanks for all the replys guys! :thumbsup:

Yeah, jbrew, I did a bunch of readin around to make sure it was the head gaskets. Trust me I was hoping it would'nt come to that either lol. Thanks anyways.

Yep, that's exactly where my leak is. Also thanks for the suggestion on carpartswholesale, but I think rock auto had em cheaper too. The reason I wanted to go with the kit is that since I have to pull everything apart to replace the head gasket I might as well throw on new seals everywhere.

Alright nice to hear a positive opinion on the VR gaskets, but I think I might just go with the Felpro's since glc showed me rockauto has a great price on that kit. I've never had any problems with felpro products before so I trust 'em. The VR's will be my backup plan in case im tight on cash.

BTW: sounds like a nice setup camarothatcould! but 245 ft lbs!? :eek: jbrews right that must be a huge friggin torque wrench lol...

Thanks again guys,

- Erik

You have a Cam Lock tool? I was talking with lees99f150 about that. I don't think it's possible to time it without one. I know user FRod was trying to time his without using the tool and wasn't having much luck, - just emailed him to see if he found a way yet lol.. If there is a way, I don't know it. I've searched it before, but all I got from that is you DEFINITLY NEED the tool or your screwed.

I would think there has to be another way, I've heard just making the marks doesn't fly. ? I haven't done it yet on these motors, so I don't know for sure.

yea the torque wrench was about 3 foot long... While making the last pass to torque I had the gear in the ratchet slip twice, my hand right into the block a few times... felt like punching jbrew in the brain... only my hand got hurt

The way it appears to me is, if the chain links are put back in the same gear tooth, then you should have the same timing. Reading the service manual, it says not to move the cam but then says to adjust the cam to help align the chain on to the timing marks.

I guess I'll find out soon enough.

http://forums.modulardepot.com/showthread.php?t=109923

The mustang guys do it all the time.

What! :confused:

You can't punch my brain, It's buried way to deep to infiltrate, you can try with your other wimpy hand if you like. Just remember , I get a turn too :D

i was referring to your untouchable source of knowledge

Oh,- see, - my brain has already took a shot :D

:beers:

one and only time.....


now fix my 4x4

There yuh go, good find if all the info is their :thumbsup: - I didn't read thru it all yet, I will.

What's wrong with it ? You have a thread going somewhere ?

Yea, that ones beyond me, - sounds like a tough one for sure CTC, but you have good guys helping yuh. I've heard of the GEM causing those kind of problems before. Kingfish would be a good source to go to as well, - could PM him and see what he has to say.

I don't have a cam locking tool, but the thread lees99f150 posted shows that it is possible to do without one.

Really, unless I'm misunderstanding things, it's difficult to mess up the timing. Both cam gears, the crank gear and both chains have marks on them for the purpose of alignment, so the trick is getting them all to line up properly lol...

I'll figure that one out when I get there I guess.

- Erik

i'll take it to work and throw it one IDS... if that fails, I'll start throwing parts at it... Vacuum solenoid, shift motor

In regards to cam timing. Remove cam covers, damper and front cover. Do not remove chains,chain tensioners, or guides yet. Now rotate the crankshaft so the crank keyway is at 12:00. IMPORTANT! Do not move the crankshaft again until both chains,tensioners and guides have been reinstalled and tensioners released. Now remove the chain tensioners and chains. The pistons will all be low enough in the bores with the crank in this position so you can reinstall heads and rotate the cams to set the timing without bending valves. Two ways of finding the correct links to place on the crank and cam timing marks. Look carefully and you should be able to find two darker links on each chain each 180 degs from each other. Those would be the original copper colored timing links. The best way is to lay each chain down flat on a table and pull them lengthwise so you have two parallel rows of links tight against each other. At each end you will have one link facing the opposite direction of the two rows of links. There will be an equal number of links in each row making these end links the two you want to mark with a paint pen. They will be the links that are placed on the timing marks, one on the cam gear and one on the crank gear timing mark. Install the cam timing gears and crank timing gears. Now place the driverside chain with paint marked link on the crank timing gear mark. Holding the chain move it up to the cam gear and while rotating the cam timing gear only NOT THE CRANK! align the other painted chain link up with the cam gear timing mark and place it over the timing gear and into place aligned with the cam gear timing mark. The chain should now be in place with paint marked links one on the crank gear timing mark the other on the cam gear timing mark. While holding the chain tight install the chain tensioner under the chain guide and tighten both tensioner bolts. Now perform the same operation to the passenger side chain. Now visually inspect the painted links making sure that all 4 are lined up with the timing gear marks, two on the crank timing gear and one on each cam timing gear. Now remove the chain tensioner retaining pin allowing the tensioners to extend and put pressure against the chain. Reinstall HDR wheel, front cover, etc. Remember not to move the crankshaft through out all this leaving it's keyway at 12:00 through out the entire process. This is one of those things that once you do it you and get the hang of it it's quite easy. No need for special cam locks and or anything else. Good luck.

Thanks DYNOTECH! I was hoping someone would post a "How To" in regards to timing, ~without the cam lock tool.

Great Post! Saved and Filed.

I've been lucky up to this point, - This truck has been part of the family for over 10 years. Now sits at 262,000 miles and the heads haven't been off the block yet. My times coming soon I bet, -this will come in handy when it does. Not that familiar with SOHC or DOHC as far as timing procedures, but know how crucial it is to get it right the FIRST time.

Easy write-up to follow.

Thanks man :beers:

Would you mind if I referred you and your write up to the "How2's" on this site, - for easy access? You'll be able to make revisions or whatnot if you think of anything else to add that may help. ~
"Technical Article Contributor"

Go right ahead jbrew. Anything that can help someone out here I'm all in favor of it. If you ever need to replace the heads whatever let me know jbrew. I'll meet up with you and give ya a hand. Like nothing better than to get my hands back into one of these engines. Take care guy.

Sounds good, thanks !! Working with someone that know's what there doing would be a treat :thumbsup:

I'll pull the cab and clip, then give yuh a call. ~ Might as well make a little easier on the back bone ;)

Here it is, thanks again and thanks for your help as well Mr. Bluejay . -

Check out the title, it almost sounds like one of those professionally done a babcox editorials lol :D

https://www.f150online.com/forums/ar...r-engines.html

Doing some google searching I came across this PDF on setting the timing on the 5.4.

http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/jm...ming_02_54.pdf

Just thought I'd share it to complement the walkthrough that DYNOTECH posted.

BTW: The guy who had posted this online suggested that you don't need the special tools if you remove the rockers so that the cams can freewheel. So just one more way to do this I guess.

- Erik

Or drain the lifters free of oil at the front and rear of the head? That will allow the cams to spin a little easier. That website you provided will work best for you if you have made the markings on the timing chains otherwise you need to follow Bluejays write-up. I am still having difficultys, but thanks to this forum, we'll git er' dun!

That would be DYNOTECH's write up.

Bluejay posted it. :thumbsup:

Yea, this thread has everything needed info wise to DIY :thumbsup:

I removed my head with no problems. i just need to get the parts now.

I posted some pic in the thread i started.
https://www.f150online.com/forums/v8...lugs-cops.html

oh, MY BAD JBREW! lol!

lees99f150 - when you removed the heads, your drivers side cam should have recoiled and spun out of place, correct? And are the cam gear marks facing more upward or more downward side?

ok, nevermind i checked out the other thread. And that answered my question, i had to spin the crank around 1 more time to get the gears to face the right way for timing, now that i know this im happy!

When i marked it, it was 90 deg from the deck (straight up) and once the chain was removed it spun 90 deg clockwise as you look at it. I think this is why they recommend using the cam holding tool. No big deal to reposition it so the marks line back up for reassembly.

Not sure about these diagrams showing two copper timing links on the cam gear. The only engine that two colored links were used on the cam timing gear were on the 4v engines not the two valve engines. The timing marks on the cam and crank gears of a two valve are right in line with a tooth not between the teeth such as a 4v so only one link at each end of the chain is needed not the two at one end and one at the other as shown here. Hope people don't get confused using this. In any event yes you could remove the followers but with the method I use the pistons are all down far enough in the bores so there is no danger of bending the valves anyway when you rotate the cams with the chains removed. It would just be a lot of extra work to remove the followers IMO. Take care.

-Edit - DYNOTECH are you sure that the 2v don't have two colored links on the cam gear side of the chain? Because from looking at lees99f150's thread he had to color two chain links on the cam gear side of things because the cam gear mark fell between two links on the chain. Just want to clear that up and learn as much as I can for when I change the head gasket in the near future.

- Erik