Mistake? Black Onyx

mikelee · Jun 30, 2015

Well I have Recently purchased ARP studs and Victor black onyx head gaskets. Figured I had done enough research on them but maybe I haven't.....

Read a couple of places where people say the Black Onyx gaskets are equal to or better than OEM. The victor gaskets are also multi-layered. Then ive heard horror stories. Most of the post ive read were from 2011 or older.

Any chance the gaskets have been improved? Why would performance companies even sell them if theres a high failure rate?

My cylinder heads have been machined and everything checked out ok. Machined, hot tanked, checked for cracks, valves vacuum tested.

drunk on diesel · Jun 30, 2015

I wouldn't run them

Derkperk · Jun 30, 2015

There was nothing wrong with the stock gaskets design so most guys used them, as did I. I believe the BO gaskets are cheaper. I too have read plenty of stories but remember, most everyone will bich when they have a failure.
I'd guess since you have done the proper head and deck prep, you'll be OK.

Luke@MillerPerformance · Jun 30, 2015

mikelee said:
Well I have Recently purchased ARP studs and Victor black onyx head gaskets. Figured I had done enough research on them but maybe I haven't.....

Read a couple of places where people say the Black Onyx gaskets are equal to or better than OEM. The victor gaskets are also multi-layered. Then ive heard horror stories. Most of the post ive read were from 2011 or older.

Any chance the gaskets have been improved? Why would performance companies even sell them if theres a high failure rate?

My cylinder heads have been machined and everything checked out ok. Machined, hot tanked, checked for cracks, valves vacuum tested.

Depends on which gaskets they are. If they look just like the Ford gaskets but with black instead of blue they are fine. If they whole gasket has a black coating, then it's the only style that people have problems with.

I also recommend you get the heads o-ringed as well.

mikelee · Jun 30, 2015

ok ill have to check them when they come in. Hopefully they are like the ford but black. Also yes im a huge believer that surface prep is everything. I spent most the day cleaning the engine deck and ill go over it again just before I install the heads.

Extended Power · Jun 30, 2015

I ran them for a year with a single turbo, and A-1 studs.
When I installed compounds....they lasted 3 days.

Switched to factory Ford gaskets, and have changed turbo sizes more than my underwear, and the headgaskets are still holding after 2+years.

ford_muscle1 · Jul 1, 2015

The ones in my truck currently are the black ones that look like the ford ones and I have not had any issues. I put them in a year and a half ago and put 30,000 miles on them with no issues.

Once again goes back to people will talk crap about what fails so opinions get biased. I at one point was going to ditch ford and buy a cummins but then I saw the problems my buddies had with their cummins and duramax's and said nope I'll keep the ford.

mikelee · Jul 1, 2015

Any more torque put on the ARP studs with the black onyx??

drunk on diesel · Jul 1, 2015

don't waste your time on the black onyx or anything other than OEM

JGman141 · Jul 2, 2015

mikelee said:
Any more torque put on the ARP studs with the black onyx??

Nope

Extended Power · Jul 2, 2015

ford_muscle1 said:
The ones in my truck currently are the black ones that look like the ford ones and I have not had any issues. I put them in a year and a half ago and put 30,000 miles on them with no issues.

Once again goes back to people will talk crap about what fails so opinions get biased. I at one point was going to ditch ford and buy a cummins but then I saw the problems my buddies had with their cummins and duramax's and said nope I'll keep the ford.

If you aimed this at me, I can tell you...the BO are crap.
There a reason they are dirt cheap.
Seems every time I try to save a bit of money, it bites me in the ass every damn time.

Like I said, I had them in for whatever amount of time, and they held....but when I switched to compound turbos, they only lasted three days.

I switched back to factory ford, and have had a 66 over 80, 63 over 80, 63 over 82, 63 over 84, 66 over 84, and now a 66 over 94....head gaskets still holding.

JGman141 · Jul 2, 2015

My BO only lasted 5k on a mild build

mikelee · Jul 4, 2015

Well I installed the black onyx. Looked like the Ford ones only black instead of blue.

I'll be running a barder stage 2 turbo with 175 30% injectors so we will see. Hope for the best