head gasket thickness vs engine CR

K

kalibwenm2

Member +
Hi guys,

I'm running a stock 4efte, at 13psi of boost, and due to a radiator failure the other day, i've encountered an overheating problem when going uphill, or engine is under a bit of load...this lead to a cracked headgasket, which doesn't cause the engine coolant to leak into the oil passages, but it does let exhaust gas to leak through the radiator pipe, which is the main culprit for the overheating issue...

Anyway...i'm planning to replace the headgasket, aswell as take this opportunity to overhaul the whole engine, by going with forged internals...i have some second hand low-comp ROSS piston (74mm), and obviously there will be a need to skim the cylinder head (but i don't know how much though)...now to my question, what head gasket thickness would you advise me to get, a 1.2mm like the standard ones, a 1mm, or a 0.8mm?...a mechanic told me to get the 0.8mm and i'm in doubt...:/

I'd like to go with a hybrid TD04 in the near future, with a good engine response and power (it will be a daily driven car aswell), but for the time being i'm sticking to my CT9...so what are your views guys?...i really need your help, before i buy the wrong one (on a tight budget right now)...

Thanks in advance...cheers (y)
 
dac69er

dac69er

Super Moderator
i would go with a standard headgasket. but it wont make a huge difference either way at the boost levels you are talking about at the moment. are you using any sort of management?
 
dac69er

dac69er

Super Moderator
best way to go about it (if you can) is to decide where you want to realistically go with the car and then make mods to support that.

you will find with a low CR on low boost with standard management, it will be sluggish. you need to consider whether you can live with that. if you buy low CR pistons in, then a thinner headgasket, you will get it closer to standard CR. you need to do some calculations to work out what CR you will end up with.

if you are just going with a hybrid td04 like you mentioned, i would look at a 0.8mm headgasket to bring it closer to stock CR with the low CR pistons. its not quite as simple as i have made it sound, but that should get you somewhere near what you want.

have a search about as people may have made these calculations before to save you the effort.
 
K

kalibwenm2

Member +
Thank you Dac69er.

The mechanic told me the exact same thing, after a quick inspection of my low cr pistons, so i guess he really knows his stuff after all.

Honestly i don't wish for it to be sluggish, i just want my car to have a good engine response, with really good power, and still be able to handle some abuse at high boost. It will be used as a fun car on the weekends, and still take me to and from work during the week...lots of uphills, and tight bends where i live...:)
 
dac69er

dac69er

Super Moderator
it will be fine with a low CR, but only on boost. if you fit a larger turbo and run more boost, then you will find it hard work to drive as it will drop off power quite a bit, especially on hills. this is fine for a weekend car, but for every day it might make it a chore to drive.

it does sound like you want it to do a bit of everything. i would save some money to get yourself an ecu to be able to adjust things. that way you can claw back some of the things you will lose.

personally though, i would go with around stock CR, TD04 with 1-1.1 bar of boost. that will give you good reliable power, without going too mad. you can get it mapped fine on a piggyback, which will save money. i think you will be happy with that setup.
 
K

kalibwenm

Member +
dac69er said:
it will be fine with a low CR, but only on boost. if you fit a larger turbo and run more boost, then you will find it hard work to drive as it will drop off power quite a bit, especially on hills. this is fine for a weekend car, but for every day it might make it a chore to drive.

it does sound like you want it to do a bit of everything. i would save some money to get yourself an ecu to be able to adjust things. that way you can claw back some of the things you will lose.

personally though, i would go with around stock CR, TD04 with 1-1.1 bar of boost. that will give you good reliable power, without going too mad. you can get it mapped fine on a piggyback, which will save money. i think you will be happy with that setup.
Click to expand...

Noted mate, thinking of going with an e-manage ultimate, or even better a haltech series...but until then i'll stick with the CT9 at 1bar...
 
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