Gasket sealant.

[10 inch Terror]

Hi guys, whats the preferred choice of gasket sealant these days? I've holed another piston due to an air leak caused by an unknown sealant failing on my cylinder/head joint. Any recommendations very much appreciated thanks in advance Pete.

[cezeta]

clear domestic silicone, clean the sufaces with brake cleaner first to remove oil

make sure the two surfaces are flat first though

[camel]

i personally would not use silicone for the head,i do use it on the base gasket area where the pressures are a lot less,a locktite threadlocker or retainer is what ive been using,i havnt got the specific numbers of the product at hand,a degrease and a slight smear is all thats required anymore it will run into your bore and glue your rings(as ive done in the past)..i know there are specific products aswell but as ive never had failings with locktite and its free from work so ive STUCK with it.in sticky,s book it also gives a reference to using it and the type used

[Fux]

I also use loktite threadlocker, think its the green one. Can`t remember the number off the top of my head.

[hydra]

I use Hylomar Blue, which is resistant to fuel. Silicone is not

[Donnie]

I use an actual gasket

[cezeta]

I use an actual gasket

to get the squish correct sometimes you cant use one

[cezeta]

I use Hylomar Blue, which is resistant to fuel. Silicone is not

Silicone has been used by triumph owners for years, its where i picked it up from. i pulled a head off of a 175 to fit a gt186 kit at the weekend and not even a stain of leakage after 6 years of use. worse part of Silicone is seperating the head from the barrel as automotive products factor this in.

the kit went back on using hylomar red though as thats what the guy whos scooter it was had but this is a setting Silicone like the domestic clear where as blue is a non setting Silicone which is what seems to make the differance.

its like two stroke oil though, they all work and everyone has their prefered type and they are all baed on the same stuff with a few addatives being the main differance.

my personal choice of proper automotive Silicone is the wurth black or red high temp if im being posh.

[coaster]

Hylomar Red has been around for decades and sets hard, Hylomar Blue is the non-setting version developed I think for Rolls Royce. Neither are silicones though. I believe silicone was developed as part of the space shuttle development and both Hylomar products have been around longer than that. Hylomar do make silicone sealants though such as Hylomar 310 which is a high temp silicone.

I use Loctite High Performance Silicone which is black and works well on exhaust slip joints too.

....its like two stroke oil though, they all work....

Totally agree with that

[Donnie]

I use an actual gasket

to get the squish correct sometimes you cant use one

I have yet to come accross such a situation to be honest