I have been working on replacing the head gasket on my 96 XJ I6 with the 0630 head. I ordered the Felpro gasket set (this one). Partsgeek confirms part was correct for my model. Napa guys confirm as well.

I'm still a little leery, however. When looking at the top of the block from the front of the engine, there are a bunch of water jacket ports on the right side, between the cylinders and the right edge. The old, failed gasket covered some of these up but not others. The new gasket covers them ALL up. See pics. The only water jacket ports not covered are at both ends of the block/head and on the left side, near lifters/pushrods.

Did I get the wrong gasket set? Everything else matches up perfectly, including the gasket holding posts on the block. Is covering all these ports up bad or nothing to worry about?

Thanks.

Bonus Question: 5 of my 6 piston heads have black carbon crap all over the top. I'm a rookie, but this does not seem great. Do I need to address this issue? Jeep was running well enough before the head gasket failed.

 

Flip the gasket over.

That clean piston has probably been washed off with oil or fuel. Bad rings or leaky fuel injector.

 

I wish it was that simple. Gasket dowels make it impossible to flip or rotate gasket left/right. Also, "TOP" is on top, meaning it's not flipped end over end.

 

If you have any doubts about the gasket don't use it. Get an OEM gasket from the dealer.

I used a Victor Reinz gasket and it was perfect. Got it from Rockauto but you may not want to wait a few days to get it.

Edit: Here's the Victor Reinz head gasket that you can compare the Felpro to.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/more...508&cc=1180314

 

I should have posted these the first time. Here they are, for clarification.

 

CCKen, that link is helpful. Looks exactly like my Felpro gasket. Talked to the Napa guys, the guys at the local 4x4 shop and now Victor Reinz backs up the Felpro design. I guess I will just stop worrying about this.

 

I believe those are casting holes in the block, not coolant ports. Coolant flow is front to back in the block, then up into the rear of the head and flowing to the front.

 

Every head gasket iI looked up is identical to yours ?

 

Hey DJB. Check out the Specific Gravity table for coolant I found. I put it with the diagrams in my signature.

OP, maybe that one piston got "steam cleaned" with the head gasket leaking.

 

I found Mopar, VR match exactly with my Felpro. That fact, and the responses here, have officially promoted this issue to "solved" in my mind.

I was assuming the one clean piston head was the "normal" one. Sounds like that is not the case. The others 5 are pretty gross (see pic) but I guess this is normal and I don't really need to do anything? I hope that is the case, I want to get jeep running again.

 

You did send the head out and check correct ?

 

It happens. I've seen them clean like that before. People do it on purpose!

 

Yes indeed. In fact, the machine shop just called a few minutes ago, it is ready for pick up. Warpage check, hone bottom surface, pressure test, hot tank and valve job (only needed stem seals, of course, and one new valve, everything just needed lapping/cleaning) for the low, low price of $118. Most highly recommended machine shop in my small town. Can't complain about the price.

I have never been so excited about having a big chunk of iron serviced.

 

People do all kinds of crazy stuff on purpose. I just need to make sure I am not neglecting an important repair before I slap the head back on and reassemble everything.

"Important" is relative, of course. If all I am doing is making something dirty, or burning a little oil that gets past my rings, fine. If this is an indication that something is about to grenade, I want to know, so I can sell, I mean fix, it.

 

Haha. Believe it or not that's for real! It's been done for years, "old school" trick, works better than Seafoam. (I don't blame you for feeling dubious)

A little "authentication" here> https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/pre...failed-190924/