Salt Lake’s Best head Gasket Repair Shop

Detonation, or spark knock, is a significant cause of head gasket failure, resulting from severe spikes in combustion chamber pressure. Over time, these pressure surges can overpower and fracture the gasket armor surrounding the cylinder, leading to burn through and subsequent compression loss. Detonation may be caused by several issues, the most common of which is the buildup of carbon in the combustion chamber, increasing compression. Many modern engines operate at relatively high compression ratios, and some even require high octane fuel. If the compression level rises to a point where the fuel spontaneously combusts before the spark can ignite it, the engine will produce a knocking or pinging sound under load, indicating a problem.

In bi-metallic engines, sealing problems pose a significant challenge due to the differential expansion rates of aluminum cylinder heads and cast-iron cylinder blocks during the warm-up cycle. The aluminum cylinder heads tend to heat faster than the cast-iron cylinder blocks, further exacerbating the disparity in expansion rates. This discrepancy leads to a “scrubbing” effect, which gradually results in the deterioration of the stainless steel “fire ring” that prevents combustion gases from permeating into the cooling system. Consequently, the repeated thermal events cumulatively result in the failure of cylinder head gaskets. To counteract this issue, numerous aftermarket gasket manufacturers have pioneered the development of head gaskets utilizing materials derived from space-age technology, which exhibit increased resistivity against scuffing wear in bi-metallic applications.