Head Gasket size

[Rorie]

I am replacing the head gasket. The one that came out was a composite, but had no markings. Do I now need to measur the piston rise to work out what gasket I need, or is there a 'standard' one?

 

[resto_d1]

You don't know whether the previous mech guessed. Measure it with dial then rave tells you thickness dependant upon protrusion

 

[jamesmartin]

I am replacing the head gasket. The one that came out was a composite, but had no markings. Do I now need to measur the piston rise to work out what gasket I need, or is there a 'standard' one?

are you sure there were no hole in the tab on the gasket as in grey part in pic below

 

[Rorie]

No tab at all! And i did have a good look before touching the engine. It is one of the composite gaskets.
Looking at paddocks, i can see they have a 1, 2, 3 and 'no dot' gasket.

I've checked my cylinder head last night for warping, all is really good and level, no warping, except right between the middle two cylinders. Not got my feeler gauges onto it yet, but it looks poor in a very local area.

I know the textbook says the cylinder head is a write off if more than 0.08mm warping, but i'm wondering if there is an acceptable bodge that will give me a good X miles more out of the cylinder head prior to replacement? I.e. high temp gasket sealer below the composite gasket in this one area?

 

[Al2O3]

No tab at all! And i did have a good look before touching the engine. It is one of the composite gaskets.
Looking at paddocks, i can see they have a 1, 2, 3 and 'no dot' gasket.

I've checked my cylinder head last night for warping, all is really good and level, no warping, except right between the middle two cylinders. Not got my feeler gauges onto it yet, but it looks poor in a very local area.

I know the textbook says the cylinder head is a write off if more than 0.08mm warping, but i'm wondering if there is an acceptable bodge that will give me a good X miles more out of the cylinder head prior to replacement? I.e. high temp gasket sealer below the composite gasket in this one area?

Did your previous gasket fail?
If you did not see any ID holes on previous gasket you will need to do what resto said and accurately measure the piston upstand.with a dial.
Or, you could use a no hole, which is the thickest you can get.
Trying a bodge is a gamble because you risk carping the whole engine