Athena cutring head gasket PROBLEM

[Jspc_dhx]

I bought a N54 cylinder head gasket at "5150", I also put in ARP cylinder head bolts and it was machined. The engine runs perfectly (Yesterday after some pulls around 25 psi I noticed this .... CR cylinder head gasket installed 100 km ago . In one part of intake side it manages to generate a small accumulation of oil. Will this stop? Is it normal? What do I.

*I could live with it, it's not a daily car . Would it be dangerous for the engine ?

*Assemble the engine following the manual step by step ( Torqued and re torqued to 95 lbs . some tell me to retorque to 100 lbs i only have ns300l on all 4 corners )

Thanks!

 

[jlsvandaika12]

If it's just a small oil accumulation, it might be okay for now, especially if it's not a daily driver. Keep an eye on it, though.
You could try using a head gasket fix liquide to fix the minor leak without tearing the engine down again Retorquing to 100 lbs could help, but be careful not to overdo it_95 lbs should be fine if you followed the manual.
As long as the leak doesn’t get worse or mix with coolant, it's probably not dangerous. Just keep monitoring it, and you should be good!

 

[Racetune]

It's a BMW - oil leaks are common and imho their anti rust feature.

You could spray with brake clean, wipe with a bendy tool and try to spray this in there with a wd40 type straw or similar and hope it works.

If your oil pressure is good and it's just weeping from the gallery, I'd say it's ok.

 

[Jo&Po]

Hi. I had same problem with Athena
cutring gasket. Leaking oil intake side. First not much but start coming more. Now orm gasket start leaking coolant out from 6 cylinder. Not mixed with oil. Next i put again Athena cutring and i think put some sealant glue too. I think then no leaking.

 

[ps2n54]

these are pretty reputable head gaskets. there should be no leaks. if bolted in correct pattern and torque, other culprits could be mating surfaces not machined right, or more common there was debris or oil between your mating surfaces during installation and its creating a wicking affect.

i wouldn't use any leak-stop additives, especially on a built motor....

 

[Jo&Po]

these are pretty reputable head gaskets. there should be no leaks. if bolted in correct pattern and torque, other culprits could be mating surfaces not machined right, or more common there was debris or oil between your mating surfaces during installation and its creating a wicking affect.

i wouldn't use any leak-stop additives, especially on a built motor....

Thank you for your opinion. Yes Athena should be very good. But not only me who have leaks with this gasket. And not only bmw others brands same problem.

 

[SLOWESTN54]

and we're sure this isn't user error? I ran a Athena cut ring in my car that i purchased through VAC and had zero issues. My Car saw good amount of hard use and lived.

 

[Xclutch62]

Fwiw: i just removed my 2nd Athena gasket in less than 100 miles... I have the 'tism when it comes to cleaning and prepping mating surfaces. First one i didn't use any extra precautions just clean, install, torque. Going over torque sequence probably 15-20 times to make sure everything was proper.
Intake side ended up weeping, same as yours.
2nd round i tried using hylomar...and picture attached is what came of it.
Honestly I believe the factory MLS is the go-to head gasket on these engines. It's what I plan on using this round at least...
Horsepower "shouldn't" be a factor but who knows.
->750+ hp/tq and ARP Everything<-

 

[Hoobie]

Fwiw: i just removed my 2nd Athena gasket in less than 100 miles... I have the 'tism when it comes to cleaning and prepping mating surfaces. First one i didn't use any extra precautions just clean, install, torque. Going over torque sequence probably 15-20 times to make sure everything was proper.
Intake side ended up weeping, same as yours.
2nd round i tried using hylomar...and picture attached is what came of it.
Honestly I believe the factory MLS is the go-to head gasket on these engines. It's what I plan on using this round at least...
Horsepower "shouldn't" be a factor but who knows.
->750+ hp/tq and ARP Everything<-

When you pulled the gaskets off was there an obvious spot it wasn't sealing?

 

[Traf]

It's pretty common knowledge that these head gaskets are crap, stick to MLS.

 

[Xclutch62]

When you pulled the gaskets off was there an obvious spot it wasn't sealing?

No, it was uniform all throughout

 

[Jo&Po]

No, it was uniform all throughout

Same here.

 

[JohnDaviz]

It's pretty common knowledge that these head gaskets are crap, stick to MLS.

Oh Sam. That is so not true

 

[Traf]

Oh Sam. That is so not true

Which part, that they are shitty or that people know about it ?

 

[JohnDaviz]

Which part, that they are shitty or that people know about it ?

Pretty much both.

Even Billiam Mason says it is the go to gasket for 1k hp N54 builds. Not so much on B58 as it seems. I really think he knows what he is talking about.

 

[Xclutch62]

Pretty much both.

Even Billiam Mason says it is the go to gasket for 1k hp N54 builds. Not so much on B58 as it seems. I really think he knows what he is talking about.

As far as sealing in cylinder pressure, they are great. No doubt about it! But the fact that they "weep" is a bit absurd. Unless 90% of us who install them are missing a key element in achieving a perfect seal, not sure how else to feel about the product

 

[Traf]

Pretty much both.

Even Billiam Mason says it is the go to gasket for 1k hp N54 builds. Not so much on B58 as it seems. I really think he knows what he is talking about.

Don't much care what people say, i've seen these gaskets fails for a lot of people on very moderate power levels. And most of the time the failure was exactly what is described by OP. So, go try them if you have so much confidence in these, but if i recall correctly you are running a MLS gasket.

 

[JohnDaviz]

As far as sealing in cylinder pressure, they are great. No doubt about it! But the fact that they "weep" is a bit absurd. Unless 90% of us who install them are missing a key element in achieving a perfect seal, not sure how else to feel about the product

Not sure if this really is a design issue or ppl do something wrong. Not going to judge. I have one installed for nearly 4k miles and it even once overheated severly because of a ground issue. It is all good and the ARP studs haven´t even been retorqued yet.

Luckily the fix is pretty easy as you "just" can add sealant onto both sides of the gaskets.