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.!!!!

 

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.

 

- 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.

 

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!

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!? 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.