Originally Posted by JTECHSAFF
no they prevent the gasket squashing cos most non genuine gaskets dont have them, and if you torque them they squash and leak
the bolts are put in locations so they DO seal around the bolt holes though,,, look at a gasket and you will see that the surface should be flat and as such when the bolts are pinched up at the right torque setting they seal
most headgaskets fail from incorrect fitting
the fire rings on a head gasket should spin free before fitting but when fitted it should be squashed evenly in place,,, thats how it seals by the crush
the gaskets only have 2 jobs,,, to allow for thermal conditions and to make a presure seal
all of them do that,,, most are fitted wrong im afraid to say
theres a few with design issues,,,, some are trying to do a job there no ment to
oh and some people favor gaskets for no reason other than personal choice
the OLD name in gaskets was payen,,,, i STILL get people who wont use anyone else,,, when payen is prob the most outdated and underdeveloped gasket there is in the market
the best is obvious,,, but the other companys now are allowed to copy there designs as there designs to not allow them to be patanted for some reason and i cant remember why
yes they just buy gaskets from main dealers,,, take em to a lab and test them, measure them up and then get the tooling to make me,,, simple,,, then when they fail they rely on there engine building companys feedback and solve the issues from there