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General Tech Gaskets—Head/Oil Pump

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KVH

KVH

Obi Wan
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I have a nice composite head gasket I ordered from Maas. I plan to install it without any form of gasket sealer. Is that Okay?

Also, I installed my oil pump last night and applied a thin coat of gasket sealer on each side of that gasket. I realize it is in the sump, but since the kit included a gasket I felt gasket sealer couldn’t hurt. Any thoughts there?
 
For the oil pump, I decided to use a new oil pump gasket with no sealer. I see no sealer recommended and I suppose I could cause issues with drive rod clearance or even gumming up the pump.
 
In general...gaskets should not need any sealant. That said, they do depend on good contact surfaces. As our engines age and accumulate rebuilds, the surfaces are not always that good. If you have any doubt about the sealing surface condition, then a gasket sealant is good insurance to bridge any imperfections.
 
I've never understood the need for a gasket where the oil pump bolts to the engine block. There can't possibly be enough leakage at that joint to affect oil pressure, and any leakage just flows back into the sump. Still, because it's there, I used one. No other reason.
 
I used a copper spray sealer on the head gasket. I used a Payen copper gasket, and I’m not sure if a composite gasket needs an additional sealer.
 
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