OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Victa Two Stroke Engines Blown Head Gasket

Hi everyone this is my first post and engine rebuid so bear with me please. I pulled down and reassembled a 160 powertorque and every thing was ok,it started easy enough and I was going through the throttle range(so impressed with my success) and went to turn it off then decided to keep it running, it backfired and blew the headgasket.It was a new gasket and me not having a torque wrench just tightend the bolts diagonaly 1 grunt.Is 1 grunt enough or to much, or do I have another problem?Thanks for your time

Did you replace the gasket dry or did you oil it first? One grunt is generally enough, but not too much, 1/2 a grunt is generally enough. Make sure you oil the new gasket, rub a little oil on both sides so it's moist.

I don't think your supposed to put anything on the head gasket. You probably didn't torque it enough. Now is a good time to invest in a decent 3/8" torque wrench or borrow a friend's, if they'll let you.

I always thought the gasket and mated machined surfaces had to be dry and completely free of contaminate including dirt, old gasket material, grease and any oil. Can anyone else clarify this point? Going to reassemble a 3hp Briggs shorlty and this info will come in handy.

I did put the gasket on dry.A torque wrench is a bit out of my budget at the moment might skip the weet bix and try again.
I can see Victa shares are going to rise,I might go through a few gaskets before it get sorted.

I have the head back on now,dry gasket,same torque setting (give or take)but this time I surfaced the head by grabbing an old sheet of glass and some 400 wet&dry.Makes sense having a nice new surface to mate to.So far all seems good.Thanks for your advice guys.