420a where to buy headgasket

[eclipsekid1013]

ok so i just bought a 99 eclipse gs it smokes a little bit im bringing it to a fidn of the family he is a great mechanic to do the work. im doing head studs headgasket waterpump vavle seals timing belt. all oem i dont plan on turboing it or major stuff maybe intake exhaust that type of things normal bolt ons so i dont want cometic head gasket mls or any of that stuff its not needed no arp head studs just oem its a daily driver. he said he would do the work only if i got the parts from "chrysler" he said dont buy the s*** gaskets and parts. where can i get them and what exactly does he mean? im guessing he means no felpro advanced auto head gasket and valve seals. any help would be great thanks. links or websites or anything

 

[turbodude]

If the vendors on here don't have what your looking for i guess you can try here at the link below, i've bought from there several times before. Fast shipping and good prices. Just keep clicking their interactive flow chart till you get to the part your looking for:

RockAuto Parts Catalog

I checked and they do have allot of options for head gasket and head gasket kits for your 420A, good luck

 

[sek_phok]

Ebay if you are not in a hurry

 

[eclipsekid1013]

Well idk what he means exactly I was Gina get one fro
Rock but those r the same brands as like advNced he said not to get a composite gasket unless it's Chrysler and felpro off rock is t Chrysler

 

[Silver99OZ]

Go to any Dodge or Chrysler dealership to get the head gasket.

 

[96 420a-t]

Get a fel pro from autozone. Mls is cheap.

 

[ed1380]

Get a fel pro from autozone. Mls is cheap.

+1 to felpro. really good stuff.

 

[95talongirl]

Mopar or Felpro; get the MLS option. The Chrysler engines were known for head gasket failures; and the MLS gasket fixed that problem.

 

[Shake_Zulla]

Just a heads up, it is recomended to get your matting surfaces machined flat before putting a mls head gasket on.

 

[Brian O Conner]

get yourself a triple layer cometic head gasket by far better than fel pro

 

[ed1380]

get yourself a triple layer cometic head gasket by far better than fel pro

please show proof that cometic > felpro. I can show you people running 30+ psi on $30 felpro composite gaskets.

 

[99gst_racer]

get yourself a triple layer cometic head gasket by far better than fel pro

"Better" is completely relative to the engine and bolt-ons being used. There's no such thing as one HG that is best for every engine. If the block and head aren't going to be re-surfaced prior to replacing the head gasket, then a composite gasket will have a far better chance at sealing. Not to mention it will be much cheaper, and probably hold twice as much cylinder pressure as the engine will actually be producing.

 

[blindboarder_02]

Some 420a's also had a defect from factory. Up to late 1999, this engine type suffered from oil leaks between the block and cylinder head. The threads for the head bolts near the 4th cylinder were bored too shallow at the factory, preventing the head from properly sealing. The oil restrictor in the composite gasket would separate from the gasket causing a leak. Chrysler Corporation used several different designs of composite material head gasket in an attempt to solve this problem. In 1998, a thicker multi-layer steel head gasket was introduced that eliminated this oil leak. It can be identified by a small metal tab with a hole through its center sticking out between the block and head between the 2nd and 3rd cylinders.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_1.8,_2.0_&_2.4_engine

 

[glowryder]

that defect only effects 95-97 years. 98+ should be good.

Get a mopar MLS.

 

[Silver99OZ]

that defect only effects 95-97 years. 98+ should be good.

Get a mopar MLS.

From my understanding the problem was only corrected for the neon, they corrected the problem for 98+ neons. The problem was never corrected in the version of the
420A engine that comes in the eclipse and the avenger.

 

[99gst_racer]

Before you consider running an MLS gasket, make sure your surface finish is of 50 RA (roughness average) or finer. You could have sealing issues otherwise.

Regarding the link in post #13; If I read correctly, the issue is that one head bolt is too long for the hole in the block, right? So, proper clamping force isn't achieved at that bolt, and the head gasket leaks as a result? If so, couldn't you simply remove a small amount of length from that one head bolt? That way it can fully tighten without bottoming out. It also mentions that the head gasket "fix" is a thicker gasket. I wonder if a thicker composite gasket would also do the trick? If so, FelPro does also list a thicker version of their composite head gasket for the 420a engine.

 

[blindboarder_02]

No, they were bored too shallow, resulting in a bad seal between the head and gasket. The headgasket from factory was actually a paper material and swelled up when the coolant was introduced to it. I have pictures of the work in my photobucket/signature.

 

[99gst_racer]

No, they were bored too shallow, resulting in a bad seal between the head and gasket. The headgasket from factory was actually a paper material and swelled up when the coolant was introduced to it. I have pictures of the work in my photobucket/signature.

It says, "The threads for the head bolts near the 4th cylinder were bored too shallow at the factory." Too shallow = not deep enough. I assume that the shallow hole prevents the bolt from being tightened completely/properly due to it bottoming out, right?

 

[bullettdsm]

If so, couldn't you simply remove a small amount of length from that one head bolt? That way it can fully tighten without bottoming out. It also mentions that the head gasket "fix" is a thicker gasket. .

That's how we fix the problem, simple enough. But if you are buying new bolts and MLS headgasket, you should not have that problem anyway. Words of multiple experiences. Just always be sure if you tank a block, that you clean out the holes.

As for MLS vs composite, I always have my heads checked/decked and always use MLS. The Felpro MLS will work fine. I have put it to the test on my turbo engine. But if your friend has a boner about it, then get one from the dealer.

MB

 

[Silver99OZ]

It says, "The threads for the head bolts near the 4th cylinder were bored too shallow at the factory." Too shallow = not deep enough. I assume that the shallow hole prevents the bolt from being tightened completely/properly due to it bottoming out, right?

Yes, this is correct. Some people have shortened the bolt by a few threads to solve the problem, another way to solve the issue is use studs instead of bolts.

 

[blindboarder_02]

Before you consider running an MLS gasket, make sure your surface finish is of 50 RA (roughness average) or finer. You could have sealing issues otherwise.

Regarding the link in post #13; If I read correctly, the issue is that one head bolt is too long for the hole in the block, right? So, proper clamping force isn't achieved at that bolt, and the head gasket leaks as a result? If so, couldn't you simply remove a small amount of length from that one head bolt? That way it can fully tighten without bottoming out. It also mentions that the head gasket "fix" is a thicker gasket. I wonder if a thicker composite gasket would also do the trick? If so, FelPro does also list a thicker version of their composite head gasket for the 420a engine.

Actually it was bored to shallow. The result was a bad seal.
I have pics of the factory head gasket from last years work. I used the studs like mentioned above and so far its been fabulous.

I was having a hard time keeping up with posts while at class and using an iphone without Tapatalk. I apologize for my eratic posting and basically posting the same thing over. I also forgot to post the link where it shows my old head gasket, so here it is. http://s1231.photobucket.com/home/blindboarder_02. I hope it helps OP's question. The multi layer metal upgrade is a great choice for a daily driver 420a.

 

[eclipsekid1013]

So from I'm hearing a felpro mls compared to a felpro composite correct? And I read in another thread that the new oembhead studs r corrected to avoid the issue with the one being long and as far as Valve seals go just felpro aswell

I feel that for what I'm doing I should just use an own composite hg. Does that mean felpro composite hg is considered oem correct

 

[ed1380]

Its made to oem specs or better

 

[MathixPerforman]

If you don't want to deck your block then I would get a composite gasket, it will adhere to any warp edge that there may be. I've always just used FEL-Pro gaskets that you can get at most any auto parts store. I wouldn't suggest a cheap one off ebay. In my experience they hold compression on the cylinders but always seem to leak at the oil jackets. FEL-pro MLS is also a great way to go.

 

[bullettdsm]

Unless you overheated the crap out of it.....and then kept going for a much longer time, there is no reason to deck your block. You're welcome to check it, but I have only decked one block through all my rebuilds/builds (and one had the head so bad I needed to take off .030 JUST to clean it up!).

As I said previously, MLS.

MB