issue u should know about

I have come across something spectacularly stupid! the head gaskets for b2k and b2200 are missing coolant passeges. one of witch actually goes into the head. my old b2k gasket was missing them, so was the gasket that came on my 2.2 and so was the new gasket I installed and now already have to replace.
the blue circle indicates where there should be a coolant passage in the gasket. both 2.0 and 2.2 blocks, 2.0 and 2.2 heads have the passages where as the gasket doesn't, blocks them off. I guess if I cant find the right gasket im going to have to drill this passage out when I get my new gasket, this may be y I had so much pressure. if u are changing a head gasket, look and make sure that it has this passage (mine don't) if not, see if its ok to punch or drill a hole out other wise coolant wont get through. this is based on my felpro gasket and what ever other gaskets my 2.0 and 2.2 came with, they all had the same issue and were the same gasket. (other than the oil restrictors.)



theres two more coolant passages that come out of the block by the oil feed and return passages, the gasket is missing these passages, BUT neither head has these passages anyway, so they are basically blocked off where the head and block come together. being both my blocks/heads are like this I guess they are supposed to be that way for what ever reason. I put 50,000 miles on my other truck this way so this shouldn't be a problem but It is alarming to discover and almost scared me into putting my 2.2 head back on instead of the 2.0 head. but the 2.2 head is missing them too so that was a sigh of relief and I guess its irrelevant. just incase anyone ever notices these two and think they have the wrong head or gasket, it should be ok. green circles indicate the two passages that the block has and head/head gasket doesn't.



this is not saying a 2.0 head wont work on a 2.2. at first I thought this was the case, but they both have the same coolant passages. its the GASKET u need to double check. I had 3 gaskets. 2 from a b2000 and one for a b2200 and they were all missing the passage. so maybe advance had them in the computer wrong, maybe the gaskets were all for a different f series motor and the computer pulled them up for my truck. but either way, 3 of them were wrong including the one that was on my truck b4 I got it. the blue circle will probly need to be drilled, the green circles, idk y but they are cut off at the head, scary to see but this shouldn't be a problem, just thought id share this cause ive never seen or heard of this issue.

Don't fiddle with the gaskets, of you'll be asking for trouble!
Engineers design those gaskets with coolant passages blocked off, according to the needs of the particular applications.
If you open up some passages that are blocked, you may deny the extra needed coolant flow to hot spot areas.

i know what your saying, if they are blocked off at the head leave them.. its blocking off a coolant hole that is there on both sides, if the head and block have a coolant hole there, chances are, coolant is supposed to go through there. the pressure builds up and that's why my gasket keeps going, as stated, the other two will remain blocked off as u say, they are supposed to be. also there is residue where coolant once traveled through the passages that are now blocked off, if u look closely u can see coolant clearly needs to go through as it does between every other cylinder. maybe im wrong but imo if each cylinder has 8 coolant holes, y would i block one off for cylinder # 3 when the coolant passages are there. the two green circles would remain blocked as the head has no passages for any fluids to flow through. i should have snapped a pic of the head.

i guess your right, all the gaskets i pulled up of google, even the f2t gasket look that way. damn, i feel dumb, but still after replacing your head gasket for the third damn time u start looking for stupid shit. i took a water hose after the head swap last time and (with motor running and lower rad hose undone to drain to bucket) and sprayed water down the upper rad hose and it seemed to have decent flow. had to take the thermostad out to do so.

The key to longevity of your head gasket is to properly re-torque it after 500 miles.
That means don't loosen the bolts.
It would be a good idea to do this again, after a few oil changes too.

I had to re torque them every 100 miles, I didn't loosen them till I took the head off

head bolts stretched? Maybe try it with a new set of head bolts and see if that helps.