I recently bought a high mileage 07 QC that needs a lot of help. I've put new tires on it, hubs, rotors and brakes. And this is where I ran into a problem. I have a exhaust leak on #6 between the head and manifold. I pulled it apart and found a concave area on the head's mating surface. The exhaust manifold looks ok. It had 4 stainless steel gaskets stacked together, I'm assuming this is original. The manifold bolts where tighten to god knows what. I had to use a breaker bar on all of them, but they were especially tight toward the rear #6. I know the real fix is to pull the head and have the ports surface. What are my alternatives if any for a temporary fix? Are there any gaskets that do better than others?
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Thanks


07 Ram 2500 QC 5.9L 6spd 3:73 gear

 

when ever you do pull the head to get it fixed, make sure you get the maniflod resurfaced since it could be warped.

 

Absolutely, Thanks....

 

This depends on how deep the concave well or gouge is on the head...

If its not too deep, you might try a thick, 1 piece aluminum soft gasket. Similar to used on headers for gas engines.
Something that's 1/8 to 1/4" thick.






Since the factory exhaust manifold is 1 piece, you will have to machine the flange on the #6 exhaust port on it to avoid stressing it when you tighten it down.

Stacking multiple factory gaskets will not work IMO.

 

When I machine the exhaust port I intend to do the whole side.


Thanks,

 

What I meant was to machine the #6 port on the exhaust manifold to account for a thicker gasket at that one port.

If you don't, the 1 piece ex manifold will be in stress when you tighten it down. This could cause cracking.

 

Gotcha, yesterday I ended up using Felpro gaskets (a little thicker) and two of the SS gaskets in a combination on all the ports to keep it the same.

 

Took the advice of using a thicker gasket and ordered a set MLS gaskets from Cometic. Cometic as far as I know makes the best gasket available.


Thanks,

 

Like I mentioned, using multiple factory MLS gaskets on all the ports was not recommended.

The MLS gaskets are not really forgiving for surface imperfections but hopefully the Cometic MLS gaskets will work.

There is a ton of exhaust pressure and heat in there even on a stock Cummins.

 

Do you have a link to Mr Gaskets THICK exhaust gaskets? I looked yesterday and came up empty.
Thanks..