Reinforced head gasket Nissan 2.0 SR20VE SR20VET

The Nissan engines covered

The 2.0 litre sixteen-valve petrol engines SR20VE and SR20VET are fitted to the Bluebird, Primera, Wingroad and X-Trail models listed below.

Two original gaskets exist: the 11044-8H600 (SR20VET and second-generation SR20VE) and the 11044-1N500 (first-generation SR20VE). Nissan publishes neither their bore, nor their construction, nor their thickness. They are sized for standard combustion pressure: as it climbs, the clamping load weakens, the cylinder head lifts and coolant seeps into a cylinder.

Reinforced cylinder head gaskets

The gasket does not seal alone: the seal also depends on the bolts or studs that clamp the cylinder head to the block. With the O-Ring the tasks are shared: the stainless ring closes the combustion chamber on its own, the body looks after the water and oil passages, and the block needs no machining.

This page presents the part number from Athena, an Italian maker of racing gaskets, in a single construction: the O-Ring, a steel sheet faced with aramid fibre and ringed with stainless steel. Its bore is 87 mm and its thickness 1.30 mm. Handy benchmark: take a gasket bore at least 0.5 mm larger than the cylinders. The part number is sold individually, one gasket per engine.

Technical specifications

The volume of a gasket is the space it leaves open above each cylinder. Added to the combustion chamber, it pulls the compression ratio down; only gaskets with the same bore are comparable.

Preparation and fitting

Before laying the gasket, check the flatness of the cylinder head and block with a straight edge, and have the faces machined if needed. Athena supplies it ready to fit: apply no sealing paste.

Technical guide

The construction offered

Athena O-Ring A steel plate dressed in asbestos-free aramid fibre, where each cylinder is surrounded by a stainless steel compression ring. The ring concentrates the clamping force on a narrow band, where the seal is won or lost, while a silicone bead isolates the water and oil passages. Across the whole range, it is the construction that best resists high pressures.

Choosing bore and thickness

Gasket bore. The Athena O-Ring comes in 87 mm (330143R), in that bore only.

Thickness. Nissan does not give the thickness of the original gaskets. A thicker gasket enlarges the combustion chamber and lowers the compression ratio; a thinner one reduces it and raises the ratio.

As the original thickness is not published, read with a dial gauge how far the pistons stand proud of the block, above all if the removed gasket is thicker than 1.30 mm: that figure decides the clearance left between piston and head.

The brand

Athena S.p.A., an Italian maker of gaskets and engine parts, has its registered office and largest plant in Alonte, in the Veneto. The group also has sites in Spain, the United States, Brazil and India. Its multi-layer gaskets are fitted as original equipment by car makers, and its competition range is entirely drawn and produced in Italy.

Advantages over the original gasket

When a reinforced gasket becomes necessary

• Adding forced induction, or raising boost on an already turbocharged engine
• Cylinder rebored beyond what the 87 mm bore of the gasket offered covers
• Looking for a compression ratio different from standard, higher or lower
• Engine that has already lost its gasket, or is consuming coolant
• Competition use, where the gasket goes through repeated temperature rises

Vehicle compatibility

OEM part number: 11044-8H600 and 11044-1N500.

Important: the part number on this page fits only the SR20VE and SR20VET engines: check your vehicle's engine code before ordering.

Why switch to a reinforced gasket?

When the original gasket reaches the end of its capacity, the reinforced gasket carries on: under higher combustion pressure it keeps its geometry and does not settle.

As soon as a bigger turbo goes on, the tune is pushed or the compression is raised, the head gasket is the first link of the top end to give. A reinforced gasket rules out the leak, and the cylinder head removal it would bring.