Damage above exhaust port?

A

ACarter512

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Joined
Jul 20, 2023
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1
Location
PA
98 4.0l

In the process of replacing my exhaust manifold and found this above one of the ports.


IMG_20240615_184035939.jpg


IMG_20240615_184010253.jpg


At first it was actually a bump which was raised up off the surface quite a bit. I hit it with a wire wheel and smoothed it out. Looks like it might have been some RTV or something from a PO? By how big the bump was before I smoothed it out it was probably causing a bad seal with the gasket.


Should I be alright to install my new gasket over this or will I have issues with the seal?
 
Unless there is literally a raised area from a casting defect that looks fine from my experience. The pitted area I see is far enough away from where the gasket seal will be. Far as the PO using RTV, Ive used it many times on header gaskets as it was the only way to keep cheapo headers from spitting the gaskets out in a few hundred miles. I would not use rtv on OEM style gaskets though.
 
Wonder if that's an aftermarket head...

Doesn't look to bad to me.

Opinions are just that. I'm never arguing if it works.

-Mac
 
Looks like a casting flaw….
As MAC posted above; I wonder if that is an aftermarket head.
Can’t imagine Chrysler or the makers of the replacement 0331 head allowing that to go thru QA….
 
AS long as your gasket seals I wouldn't worry about it.

I've had really good luck using these Remflex exhaust gaskets. You might try one out.
 
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