Gen 1 gasket question

[ohiotj]

I am taking my car in to have the gaskets replaced this week. Does anyone know which ones are the best to go with? I see there are aftermarket ones and also mopar gaskets. Any advantage of one over the other? I know price is more for mopar but they will come with a warranty. Any advice is useful.

Ryan

 

[VardaMan]

The head gaskets must be made of a MLS (multi layer steel) construction. No paper.
Pat

 

[VardaMan]

You must also use new head bolts.
Pat

 

[ohiotj]

Thanks pat for the info.

 

[V10 PWRD]

You can use the headbolts over one time for this job. If heads come off again new ones would be necessary. Multi-layer steel headgaskets along with a new thermostat a must.

 

[Steve-Indy]

I sure HOPE that the person you picked to do this job has done many Vipers...AND, that you take the time to determine the extent of the WHOLE gasket packet necessary BEFORE you go to said shop.

I would suggest that you make a call to Dan Lesser or Chuck tator SOON.

By the way, last year I noted that a Gen I head gasket was indeed being sold at by Dodge through dealer parts...touted as an upgrade, but was NOT a MLS (currently supplied by Cometic).

I would suggest that you read the following thread:

http://forums.viperclub.org/threads...-Gasket-Replacement-on-a-96?highlight=cometic

Good luck.

 

[Nickel]

I bought a 1994 at the first of this year with 4K original miles. Ive shown the head gaskets to a "Viper Mechanic" at a Dodge dealer. He says he cant really tell if they have been changed. A small Dodge dealer owned my Viper for many years. (Had it stored) Wouldn't they have changed the gaskets? Same as original OP...Wasn't his covered under warranty at some point many years ago?

 

[Viper Specialty]

If anyone has any questions about this and associated service work, they can contact us directly. We were the vendor that had these gaskets produced for the aftermarket, and we also have our own line of gasket variations for Heads, and also the rest of the Gen-1/2 engines at this point, completely eliminating Paper and Composite construction. We stock virtually all Viper gaskets at all times, and have sold or installed nearly 500 Gen-1 head gasket pairs and counting, without one single failure. We are quite literally the Viper gasket specialists... among other things

Make sure you contact us before purchasing anything. We offer far superior options for ALL Gen-1/2/3/4/5 engines where there are improvements to be made... dont be suckered into using all of the OE paper gaskets or composite variants- there are much better options available at this time.

 

[Viper Specialty]

I bought a 1994 at the first of this year with 4K original miles. Ive shown the head gaskets to a "Viper Mechanic" at a Dodge dealer. He says he cant really tell if they have been changed. A small Dodge dealer owned my Viper for many years. (Had it stored) Wouldn't they have changed the gaskets? Same as original OP...Wasn't his covered under warranty at some point many years ago?

It is quite easy to tell them apart. All we need is a picture of where the gasket sticks out between the head/block underneath the exhaust manifolds. You can view this from under the car. Highly unlikely they would have been changed unless they leaked very early- and many cars had the bad gaskets put right back into place, as it was before MLS became an option.

 

[Nickel]

It is quite easy to tell them apart. All we need is a picture of where the gasket sticks out between the head block underneath the exhaust manifolds. You can view this from under the car. Highly unlikely they would have been changed unless they leaked very early- and many cars had the bad gaskets put right back into place, as it was before MLS became an option.

Thank you Dan! I will try to make a pic soon. Funny thing... The "Viper mechanic" never got under my car. Just looked with the hood open. Can you tell gasket type by just looking with the hood open?

 

[Viper Specialty]

Thank you Dan! I will try to make a pic soon. Funny thing... The "Viper mechanic" never got under my car. Just looked with the hood open. Can you tell gasket type by just looking with the hood open?

Very difficult to see with the heat shields in place and the engine assembled. Perhaps with a mirror if you knew exactly what you were looking for and where... but thats far more hassle and sometimes inconclusive by comparison.

I hate to say it, but very few Viper Mechanics [at dealers] have any idea what they are doing or looking at, and even less of an idea of why they are doing it. I have worked with many... and usually the first time they get beyond the oil drain plug and oil filter of a Viper is here. Engineering and design philosophy, running change reasoning, and modes of failure are not something that a Dealership Training Course spends much time on, haha.

 

[ohiotj]

Thanks for the info. I have been referencing this site pretty good here the last few days. The shop is one referred to me by another member here. They seem competent over the phone but I will make sure to look more into them.

 

[RedEnuf93]

Thank you Dan! I will try to make a pic soon. Funny thing... The "Viper mechanic" never got under my car. Just looked with the hood open. Can you tell gasket type by just looking with the hood open?

Right... I would be at this point a bit more concerned. It is VERY easy to see if original gaskets are there or not. You may not have a VIPER MECHANIC. (you may have a Dodge Mechanic...)
And that spells trouble with GEN 1.

 

[Viper Specialty]

If it helps or makes you more comfortable, we can handle the work from your doorstep and back. We can pencil you in for service, and send a truck for your car, repair, and return it to you in Ohio. Generally a Head Gasket change is a "full service" stop, ie all gasket updates, oil, filter, coolant, plugs, wires, thermostat, trans and diff service, etc.

 

[jdeft1]

I've done four (so far) in my garage. It's an easy weekend project job. Materials are about $700 +/- . It's a simple engine to work on. I love the gen 1 Viper and drive mine often! Don't blow away thousands of $s on such a simple job......

Cheers!

 

[impalassed]

hmmm.... I need this done. I'm a fairly good weekend warrior er.... wrench... granted having specialists like Dan, Chuck and several others we all know as top Viper Techs do the work would be great and all... but... y'all are not near me least I know where I can get parts, advice and help if I need it!

 

[ront/10]

If it helps or makes you more comfortable, we can handle the work from your doorstep and back. We can pencil you in for service, and send a truck for your car, repair, and return it to you in Ohio. Generally a Head Gasket change is a "full service" stop, ie all gasket updates, oil, filter, coolant, plugs, wires, thermostat, trans and diff service, etc.

This is exactly what I did with my 94'. Dan took care of my baby like it was his own. I highly recommend going this route!

 

[SEASNAKE]

It's really not that bad of a job to do. 8 hours if you are good with tools. Just get someone to help you take the hood off and the rest is pretty easy for one person. Drop in a 170 deg thermostat while you are there ...$700 to $800 in parts is about right.

 

[Viper Specialty]

It's really not that bad of a job to do. 8 hours if you are good with tools. Just get someone to help you take the hood off and the rest is pretty easy for one person. Drop in a 170 deg thermostat while you are there ...$700 to $800 in parts is about right.

I must slightly disagree. If you really take the time to clean everything up in the engine bay like we do, you can easily have 2-4 hours alone in cleaning. Also, if you plan to do the full gasket upgrade and not just the heads, you will have substantially more time in front disassembly and cleaning. Of course everything is relative and on a car-by-car basis, but we generally have substantially more time into these because we make sure to undo what every leaky gasket has done to the car since it was built, and we also take extra time to check for everything from belt and bearing wear to low A/C charge while we are in there.

 

[Viper Specialty]

This is exactly what I did with my 94'. Dan took care of my baby like it was his own. I highly recommend going this route!

Thanks Ron!

PS- check out the car show in Ellicottville later this month- trying to get everyone down there!

 

[CS14]

I have just done it on my car, ordered the needed parts from Dan together with instructions about torque. Took me (1st time) from start to end 19-20 h with cleaning, new paint on headers and new thermostat, oil, filter etc.

It is a simple job if you have some knowledge and know what to think about, but if not, let an experienced mechanic do the job.