2001 951 head gasket dripping

[newtomedoo22]

So I replaced the head gasket on my 951 and it's dripping just a little bit. I sprayed the gasket with permatex copper gasket spray and made sure the mating surfaces were clean. I torqued the bolts down to 25ft lbs as the manual states and after I noticed the drips, I retorqued them again with no improvement. I used aftermarket gaskets so I would assume that was my first mistake. Any advice to offer on how to avoid this when I change them out? I will be using oem gaskets next.

I replaced the oil tank and lines, fuel lines and selector valve and rebuilt the carburetors. It runs good on the stand but does idle a little high 3050 rpm, I can't get it down to 2800rpm even with the idle adjustment screw backed off all the way.

 

[newtomedoo22]

Another question would be is if I could just reuse the gaskets I have now and just use permatex copper but in the tube form and just apply it a little thicker than the spray would have?

 

[POPPS]

I believe the correct torque is 30 and not 25,,,ever!,,we have had similar issues,,now we take head gasket and apply "perfect seal" to both dides... (the marine tech swears by it,,,)...torque correctly,,,and have not had the drip ,,,usually on the low aft side...we also of course apply it to both sides if the base gasket.,,Perhaps you can reseal it (using the existing gasket),,.and torque to 35.?,,you have nothing to lose.,,,and...if its leaking to the exterior,,,it may be leaking water to the cylinder,,,which,,,with a 951,,,is a death sentence.

 

[newtomedoo22]

The leaking out isn't as worrisome as the possible leaking in, so I agree! Thanks for your reply, I will try retorqueing to the higher spec and if that doesn't work, I will try the perfect seal.

The leak was in low aft side, so you are absolutely correct!

 

[POPPS]

"Perfect seal " is amazing stuff,,,have not had the dribble since.

 

[newtomedoo22]

So, from what I can gather from my internet searches, Perfect Seal is the same thing as Permatex aviation 80017-80019. The 2 different part numbers are for 2 different size containers. I bought some today and will do my reseal tomorrow. Wish me luck!

 

[POPPS]

Yes...good luck,,,

 

[Poormanracing]

Some guys swear by sealer but me personally never ad sealer causes more harm than good.and I never ever use a scotch pad disk to clean the old gaskets it bevels the edges.take the head of put it on your kitchen counter with 600 emery paper a little cooking oil and figure 8 it to make sure it's flat.then a brass brush to the top of cyl to make that clean.torque to 30 ft pounds then see where your at.or use acetone to clean both head and cyl apply loctite 518 very lightly on the cyl head and the cyl very lightly

 

[newtomedoo22]

Some guys swear by sealer but me personally never ad sealer causes more harm than good.and I never ever use a scotch pad disk to clean the old gaskets it bevels the edges.take the head of put it on your kitchen counter with 600 emery paper a little cooking oil and figure 8 it to make sure it's flat.then a brass brush to the top of cyl to make that clean.torque to 30 ft pounds then see where your at.or use acetone to clean both head and cyl apply loctite 518 very lightly on the cyl head and the cyl very lightly

Already replaced the gasket using the aviation permatex and torquing to 30 ft lbs a few days ago but haven’t tried it out yet as I have been too busy. I will keep the emery cloth and cooking oil trick in mind if this fails or disappoints in some way… thanks for the advice!

 

[Boyd12]

Did you figure it out?