Head Gasket Question

[Crozet Steve]

Hello from Virginia. I’m a longtime owner of a 1994 RT/10 which is approaching 20k miles. I keep reading about 1st Gen head gasket/cylinder sleeve design problems with failure occurring in for cars with over 20k plus mileage. My car is fine and has never had work done on it except for expected maintenance items. Is it the general consensus that the head gasket WILL go soon? As a preemptive maintenance precaution, should I get it replaced now? Am I fine to keep driving my car 1000 miles a year?

Secondly, my local Dodge dealer had a trained Viper mechanic on staff. When the dealership changed ownership 8 years ago, the maintenance staff was let go. Any known Viper mechanics near Central Virginia?

Thanks in advance for sharing your wisdom!

 

[Viper Specialty]

General consensus is to do the gaskets before they fail, and they *ALL* will.

Finding someone local will be difficult. Better to drive or ship as far as needed to not get a botched job.

When we brought these gaskets to market, they were designed as a permanent fix, especially when done as a full package. Just shoot me an email, and we can get you set up so nothing is missed.

 

[TEALLIFE]

Drive it up to Havik, make a long trip out of it if they can schedule the work with you...drive it back.

 

[TEALLIFE]

no one will be able to tell you it'll be fine or not. It may be, it may not. Is it worth the risk if youre going to keep the car?

 

[white out]

Ship to a Viper shop.

Get other stuff done while heads are off (porting?, 1.7 rockers, cam?, M&M headers, motor mounts, injectors cleaned, plugs, wires, etc.)

 

[Viperrick]

I would say why would you want to mess around with the car when its fine? The head gasket will simply start weeping leaving a spot on your garage floor. Once you see that happening start by getting it up in the air. With a good flashlight you should see a tiny stream down the side of the block and pan. When the gasket fails it is not a catastrophic failure with white smoke billowing out of the exhaust. My 93 started to dribble back in the day with maybe 15K on the clock. I had an extended warranty and Roanoke pulled it and Dodge sent a crate for the dealer to send it to Arrow for a rebuild. Now I have 40K and never noticed an issue since.

 

[Viper Specialty]

I would say why would you want to mess around with the car when its fine? The head gasket will simply start weeping leaving a spot on your garage floor. Once you see that happening start by getting it up in the air. With a good flashlight you should see a tiny stream down the side of the block and pan. When the gasket fails it is not a catastrophic failure with white smoke billowing out of the exhaust. My 93 started to dribble back in the day with maybe 15K on the clock. I had an extended warranty and Roanoke pulled it and Dodge sent a crate for the dealer to send it to Arrow for a rebuild. Now I have 40K and never noticed an issue since.

Simply put, many reasons:

1. Non-MLS gaskets promote head and deck corrosion. The longer the are installed, the harder it is to fix. Eventually, it will require welding and/or head replacement, rather than a good cleaning.

2. The slow seepage often results in low coolant levels. If unnoticed, eventually an overheating event. Quick way to turn a simple gasket job into a full rebuild.

3. There are more gaskets involved here than head gaskets. ALL the gaskets in our kits are upgraded, and paper gaskets are no longer used. Water port, intake manifold, throttle body, timing cover, rear man seal cover, oil pan... all known failure points.

The job, done right, is a one-and-done situation. Piece of mind on a car made of unobtanium parts has value.