Ok so I have been away from the forums for a bit. I had always heard bad things as to the vr gaskets.
While searching ebay for deals I noticed a picture of the Black Diamond head gaskets. They look identical to the oem gaskets other then the color of the sealant. I didnt know Black Diamond and Black Onyx were even a different product. Had there been any confirmed Black Diamond failures that actually were the Hg fault? I know the fully coated black onyx ones fail like 100%. But these are two different animals here.
Sorry if this has been argued to death. But I just now noticed they are different products.

 

Have you tried a search for "Black Diamond Head Gaskets" to see if there are many posts on them? I watch a lot of forums and quite frankly have not seen any posts on Black Diamond failures. That being said, it is not worth the risk IMO! I do appreciate learning though (especially if others are taking the risk - lol).

There is no doubt that the makers of the Black Onyx gaskets have seen the discussions on their failure rates. Even if they have learned and come out with an improved product, the trust factor is a difficult thing (much like Dorman oil coolers).

Good question though - anxious to see the answers. Have you posted this question on any of the other forums?

 

Maybe Anthony can do a test of then for us. Lol!

Sent from my Telegraph using IB AutoGroup

 

I did read a 11 page thread on powerstroke nation last night. Quite a few guys reported good luck with them. One guy reported a failure but it was immediately after reassemble. I think he had a cracked head or something else went wrong. He also seemed pretty closed minded towards VR. I understand that, but somtimes new innovative ideas fail (black onyx, ipr upgraded oil cooler, green oil cooler gaskets <~~~lol). But I feel VR makes a good product and just had a stinker wit the BO. In the same thread one if the guys compared the black diamond to the oem gaskets. He found everything about them is identical other then the color of the sealant. In the same thread a few guys claim they had confirmation that vr produces oem gaskets on the same line as black diamond. But the blue was fords trademark and they couldn't make theirs blue because of that. At least they are not green :-). That being said every dorman product ive used has failed. Ive used vr gaskets before and had no problems.

 

All I can say is I wouldnt try them. When I blew my headgaskets on my 6.4 I was trying to order some oem from a company, I guess I wont mention. Anyway got the studs and headgaskets. The headgaskets I could tell were not oem. I called them and they said oh they are oem came straight from ford. I said your full sh** because they had a label in the box that said victor reinz. They said oh must of sent you the wrong ones. Sent some more. Same number on the hg. I was so pissed. Anyway called them they said they are the same and they are good gaskets. I said im sending them back and going to ford. Anyway all the research ive done says they suck period. There may be a few out there with no problems but there is more out there that are smacking their for head and wishing they went oem. Not worth the little savings because in the end you have a good possibility of spending way more.

 

What research have you done? Theres a guy on another forum that compared them and they are identical in everything other then sealant color. They both have the same layers of stainless steel, measure exactly the same down to a thousands of a inch. Even the rivets are identical and in exactly the same place. I know the oem are proven. But I just dont want to overpay $200 for blue colored sealant. If there is another gasket of the same quality. I have been doing research across all the forums. I have found 100's of installs with them and only one Instance of a failure. And it was bad right out of the shop, not 5k later. I feel we should at least open up some dialog on these. After all ford made mistakes on the 6.0 and we all have been able to overlook them and we still love our trucks. Why not cut VR enough slack to at least consider them? They at least offered free black diamond headgaskets to those who purchased Black Onyx headgaskets.

 

Same as you via the internet. Do I believe everything I read? No. But of all the positive people that are for the vr hg they are usually selling them. When black onyx came out it was a big flop. Alot of people spent untold amount of money on them and were very disappointed. Did VR back the hg. No. They said oh will send new ones but what about the labor cost as well as all the other gaskets and heads checked/milling and all that goes into the job. They are supposed to be a new design. Am I going to try them? Not in a million years. Are other people going to try them? Sure. Thats their choice. All I can say is go for it and report back. If they blow dont belly ache about it because there is BIG ??'s about them.

 

And just to add. When people put on VR hg they are usually using arp studs. Hmm. And they still fail. I would like to see someone put on VR hg and use the factory tty bolts. See how long they last then. Probably be lucky to get out of the parking lot before it starts smoking. Bottom line. It sounds as if you are just about like everyone else, including me, money is tight. If I have to do a rebuild that is going to cost me 1000-1500. Me personally am not going to cut corners to save 100 bucks to chance it.

 

But im saying the only failure of the black diamond ive read about was one. And it was failed to start with. Ive also read some storys of using oem gaskets and arps and seeing failures. Its usually because the heads were cracked or not prepped right. Also the one from blackwater engines creators engine. That guys whole engine is screwed up not just his headgaskets. He said there was all kinds of slop in it.I also read another story about a blackwater engine that had the roller bearing went through the lpop at 17k. They are not doing it right, im betting they are not prepping heads correctly either. But im just saying you cant look at one failure and give them a blanket rating (vr). Instead like blackwater engines are proven bad.

 

Ive read of all kinds of failures. I really dont know where you are getting just one unless you are referring to powerstroke.org andy custom diesel. Oh he sells them.

 

Sure the black onyx were failing like crazy. But I have only read of one black diamond failure which is different. While I read andys post, I disregared it because he is trying to sell them. Ive been reading every googled thread I can find about black diamond hgs. I have found only one failure that wasn't related to blackwater engines. There are plenty of failures with arps and oems gaskets. You cant say its the gasket 100% of all failures if a known good combo has some failure rates too. Again its chalked up to bad head prep.

 

Im not selling anything. I only would like to see discussion. Not misinformation or bad feelings about a certain manufacturer due to one bad product.

This seems to be the best discussion so far about them.
http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/6-0...d-gaskets.html

RCD comparison picture compares oem to the new black diamond.
http://www.rivercitydiesel.com/compo...375246ae80.JPG

Black onyx pictures <~~~~ these are the failures and are discontinued. Also they were thinner and were almost fully coated in black rubber.
http://rebeldieselperformance.com/images/F44096230.jpg

 

I will let others chime in then.

 

Also I found the oem 6.4 look identical to the 6.0 black diamond. Both have the black sealant , and the black diamond 6.4 hg's are blue lol.

 

Well........I used black diamond on a customers engine rebuild,it's still running 25,000 no problems yet,and it was because the budget started getting tight.It was his decision not mine.Only time will tell,and they almost look the same as stock but some parts were different,but nothing to write about