Ok, so when I did my head gaskets I didn't think anything of this now a friend has me thinking. This truck was a two owner truck and bought, serviced, traded in all at the same dealership. The guy I bought it from said he never did the head gaskets and he bought this truck with 27k on it. Well the gaskets I removed were not copper and a buddy now tells me the original leaky ones were copper gaskets. Is this true? Is it possible this truck had it's head gaskets done in the first 27k of it's life? Just curious.

 

I belive your original head gaskets are composit. Not copper.

 

I had the same question on mine as, not only did it have composite gaskets but I also found a socket, bolt and nut buried deep down the back side of the head. My truck had over 50k when I bought it and I didn't get any history so it's quite possible in my case.

BTW, when reassembling I re-deposited a new socket (complete with 1 inch extension), nut(2) and bolt back into that black hole. Spent nearly two hours looking for them - not a trace.

 

Lol, mine has a socket and a 3/8 to 1/4 reducer in the frame now. It popped off the ratchet and I watched it fall ever so perfect through one of the small holes in top of the frame. Couldn't of done that in a million years if I was aiming for it.

 

At one point during the final assembly, while looking for the lost 10mm socket I actually dropped a 3 inch long LED flashlight down there and damn near couldn't get it back out! I thought I was gonna have to remove the plenum again. If it weren't for the fact that the darn thing was lit and I could see it I might have had to. Had to use mechanical fingers to grab hold of the lanyard.

One other lesson I learned and this is NOT in the Rave manual. After getting all the stuff bolted back on top I noticed this plug on a bracket hanging off the left rear side. So I'm thinking WTF? Turns out to be the crank position sensor and it's the third thing that bolts to the aft end of the driver's side head. But where is the other end of the harness that plugs into it? You guessed it, WAY the heck down behind the engine where I can just barely see a little bit of it. My manual now has a handwritten notation - ENSURE THAT CPK HARNESS IS ROUTED TO LEFT SIDE OF ENGINE BEFORE INSTALLING HEAD

Back to mechanical fingers and half an hour of contortions trying to get a grip on that plug but in the end I prevailed - yeehaw!

 

I just did my 2000 with 84k miles and it had composites in it.

 

Rovers never used copper head gaskets, if you have them, they are wrong.
If you are needing a good gasket set along with t/stat, wires, new head bolts coolant cap and a belt, contact Will listed in my signature section for a great price.

 

Well he said copper, I think he meant the general tin type metalish ones ;-) Mine actually looked really nice, no leaking in the cylinders. Just a water jacket leak. I thought I might of set a record or something for head gaskets. lol