Hello, I was wondering if gaskets and o-rings fail over time due to the material breaking down? I have a extra car on hand that came with a full headgasket rebuild kit with new head gasket, valve cover gaskets, o-rings for the fuel injectors, etc when I bought it. It has low mileage, (70,000) 35 years old and is leaking a lil oil from valve cover gasket. I know the process on how to dissesemble and reassemble the engine correctly and have the time/tools/space to do so. Should I go ahead and swap it all out since I have the kit already?
Of course. Nothing last forever. Least of all soft squishy rubber.
However! ... I would never change a head gasket "just because". If it's sealing fine then don't touch it.
Besides .... isn't it composite material?
Can you elaborate a little more? Like the reason why you wouldn't touch it? Is it the risk of messing something up or something else? Just trying to gather all opinions before I make a decision.
Yes, it's partly that. And head gaskets aren't like timing belts ... they don't fail suddenly and catastrophically.
It's just not done. Nobody ever says "you're due for a head gasket change"
But ... if this isn't your daily driver, and you have time to kill and feel like tinkering on an engine ... have at 'er I guess.