blacksambo
06/04/2009, 07:56 PM
Well the light has gone out, finally, and it has never run better, quite frankly.
I've now relplaced both the top and bottom common chamber gaskets. I know this 171 code thing has been a bother to many here on the board. My take is the quality of the gaskets is the key. The bottom gaskets I removed had rivets on the far ends of the gasket. The Fel-Pro set I just inserted had rivets in the middle section, thus making over torquing less of a problem. My guess is that some VX's came with broken gaskets from the factory, that became eventually worse over time. Then the knee-jerk reaction is to over torque to try to correct, so that made matters only worse. Bottom line, these gaskets merely sit in position (13lbs torque), and need to remain stable yet they are largely made of brittle plastic. One other thought, could ethanol have a deliterious effect on plastic? Stay tuned.
I've now relplaced both the top and bottom common chamber gaskets. I know this 171 code thing has been a bother to many here on the board. My take is the quality of the gaskets is the key. The bottom gaskets I removed had rivets on the far ends of the gasket. The Fel-Pro set I just inserted had rivets in the middle section, thus making over torquing less of a problem. My guess is that some VX's came with broken gaskets from the factory, that became eventually worse over time. Then the knee-jerk reaction is to over torque to try to correct, so that made matters only worse. Bottom line, these gaskets merely sit in position (13lbs torque), and need to remain stable yet they are largely made of brittle plastic. One other thought, could ethanol have a deliterious effect on plastic? Stay tuned.