Reinforced head gasket Volkswagen 2.0 8V EA113 Golf IV Bora Polo

The Volkswagen engines covered

The 2.0-litre eight-valve petrol engines, inline fours of the EA113 family, power the Volkswagen Bora (1J2), Golf IV (1J1 and Variant 1J5), New Beetle (9C1 and 1C1) and Polo IV (9N, 9A, 9N2 and 9N4) in the compatibility table below. Each takes a single cylinder head gasket.

Two original gaskets are listed: 06A 103 383 AN for the AEG, APK, AQY, AVH, AZG, AZH, AZJ, BBW, BBX, BEH, BER, BEJ, BEV, BHP and CBPA engines, then 06G 103 383 A for the CFEA. Volkswagen gives out neither the bore, nor the construction, nor the thickness of these gaskets. They are sized for the standard combustion pressure: when it climbs, the clamping load relaxes, the cylinder head pulls away from the block and coolant creeps into a cylinder.

Reinforced cylinder head gaskets

The bolts or studs that press the head onto the block provide half of the sealing: the gasket alone is not enough. Above 100 N/mm², a composite gasket settles for good; the 301 stainless steel of MLS gaskets withstands up to 517 N/mm², 5 times more, and recovers its shape at every combustion.

This page offers one Cometic part number, an American maker of competition gaskets, in MLS construction. The bore is 84 mm and the thickness 1.02 mm. By convention, the gasket bore is at least 0.5 mm larger than the cylinder bore. The part number is sold individually: the engine, an inline four, takes a single gasket.

Technical specifications

Gasket volume is the space the gasket leaves free above each cylinder. It adds to the volume of the combustion chamber and therefore lowers the compression ratio; only compare gaskets that share the same bore.

Preparation and fitting

Before fitting, run a straight edge over the head and the block to check they are flat, and have them resurfaced if needed. The Cometic gasket arrives already coated: add no sealing paste.

Technical guide

The construction offered

Cometic MLS Embossed stainless steel sheets, stacked and then riveted. The outer sheets carry active beads around every cylinder and every fluid passage. Moderate clamping is enough to seal and the bore distorts little. A versatile gasket, from the tuned naturally aspirated engine to moderate forced induction.

Choosing bore and thickness

Gasket bore. The Cometic MLS gasket comes here only in 84 mm (C14124-040).

Thickness. Volkswagen publishes no thickness for the original gaskets. A thicker gasket enlarges the combustion chamber and lowers the compression ratio; a thinner one reduces it and raises the ratio.

Without a published original thickness, use a dial gauge to read how far the pistons stand proud of the block face, especially if the removed gasket is thinner than 1.02 mm: the reading gives the clearance left between piston and head.

The brand

Cometic Gasket, Inc. is an American maker of engine gaskets and sealing parts, based in Concord, Ohio since 1989. Its strength is the made-to-measure gasket, cut to the bore and thickness wanted and produced entirely in the United States from local raw materials.

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 84 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: 06A 103 383 AN and 06G 103 383 A.

Important: the part number on this page fits only the 2.0-litre eight-valve engines in the compatibility table: check your vehicle's engine code before ordering.

Why switch to a reinforced gasket?

When the original gasket reaches its limits, the reinforced gasket takes over: even under a stronger combustion pressure it does not settle and keeps its shape.

As soon as a turbo, a supercharger or a raised compression ratio joins this four-cylinder, the head gasket is the first link to give way. A reinforced gasket avoids the leak, then the head removal, which costs far more than the part.