Reinforced head gasket Nissan Patrol 4.8 TB48DE

The Nissan engines covered

The Nissan TB48DE petrol engine is a 4.8 litre inline six with 24 valves. It powers the Nissan Patrol GR (Y61), in Wagon and Pick-up form, and the Patrol VI (Y62) in the table below. With a single cylinder head, the gasket is sold individually: one is needed per engine.

The original gasket carries part numbers 11044-VC201 and 11044-VC202. Nissan publishes neither its bore, nor its thickness, nor its construction. It is sized for standard combustion pressure: when that rises, the clamping load drops, the head moves away from the block and coolant reaches a cylinder.

Reinforced cylinder head gaskets

The gasket does not seal on its own: the fasteners that pull the head down onto the block matter just as much. A composite gasket settles for good beyond 100 N/mm², whereas the 301 stainless steel of the MLS and MLX withstands 517, 5 times more, and regains its shape with every combustion. With the O-Ring, the stainless steel ring seals the combustion chamber by itself and the gasket body closes the water and oil circuits.

This page brings together the part numbers of two racing manufacturers, Athena and Cometic, in four constructions: the stainless-ring O-Ring and the multi-layer MLS from Athena, the multi-layer MLS and the chamber-stop MLX from Cometic. Gasket bores run from 100.5 to 102.5 mm and thicknesses from 0.686 to 3.556 mm, enough to tune the compression ratio without touching the pistons or the head. As a rule, the gasket bore chosen is at least 0.5 mm larger than the actual cylinder bore. Each part number is sold individually, one gasket per engine.

Technical specifications

A gasket's volume is the space it leaves free above each cylinder. It adds to the combustion chamber and lowers the compression ratio by the same amount. Only compare these volumes between gaskets of the same bore.

Preparation and fitting

Before assembly, check the flatness of the cylinder head and block with a straight edge, and have either one resurfaced if needed. Add no gasket sealant: Athena and Cometic supply their gaskets already coated.

Technical guide

The three constructions offered

	O-Ring / Cut Ring Athena A steel body lined with asbestos-free aramid fibre, with a stainless steel compression ring crimped around each cylinder. The ring brings the clamping load back onto a narrow band, where the seal is won, and a silicone bead protects the water and oil passages. It is the construction that copes with the highest combustion pressures in the range.
	Athena MLS A pile of two to five AISI 301 stainless steel sheets, laser cut, stamped and riveted. Around each cylinder, a folded sheet, the Gas Stopper, sends the clamping load back towards the combustion chamber, while raised beads isolate the water and oil circuits. The outer faces are coated: one layer withstands heat and fills small irregularities of the block and head, a silicone layer keeps the gasket from sticking at removal. It is Athena's all-steel solution, from the prepared naturally aspirated engine to moderate boost; beyond that, the O-Ring remains the construction that withstands the highest pressures.
	Cometic MLS Stamped stainless steel layers, stacked and riveted together. The outer layers carry active beads around each cylinder and each fluid passage. The seal comes from a moderate clamping load and limited bore distortion. It is the versatile choice, from the prepared naturally aspirated engine to light boost.
	MLX Cometic Embossed, riveted stainless steel sheets, including a central sheet folded into a stopper around the combustion chamber, under a high-temperature coating. The clamping load concentrates where it is needed without deforming the bore any further. It is the sturdiest all-steel gasket, for high boost; it is offered here in 100.5 mm, in a single thickness of 1.016 mm.

Choosing bore and thickness

Gasket bore. The Athena O-Ring comes in 101 mm, the Athena MLS in 100.5, 101.7 and 102.5 mm, and the Cometic MLS and MLX in 100.5 mm.

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

Since the manufacturer gives no original thickness, use a dial gauge to measure how far the pistons stand above the block's gasket face: this figure sets the clearance left between piston and head, especially with the thinnest gasket.

The two brands

	Athena S.p.A., an Italian company specialising in gaskets and engine parts, has its head office and main plant in Alonte, in the Veneto, and other sites in Spain, the United States, Brazil and India. Car makers fit its multi-layer gaskets as original equipment, and the whole competition range is designed and built in Italy.
	Cometic Gasket, Inc., an American maker of gaskets and sealing solutions for engines, was founded in 1989 in Concord, Ohio. Its speciality is the made-to-measure gasket, at the bore and thickness required, built entirely in the United States from American 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 bore of the gaskets offered (100.5 to 102.5 mm) 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-VC201, 11044-VC202.

Important: the gaskets on this page are listed for the Patrol GR (Y61), as Wagon and Pick-up, since 2000, and for the Patrol VI (Y62) since 2013. For any other vehicle, note the engine code before ordering.

Why switch to a reinforced gasket?

When the original gasket runs out of capacity, the reinforced gasket takes over: under higher combustion pressure it holds its shape and does not sag.

As soon as an engine gets a heavy tune, added forced induction or a higher compression ratio, the head gasket becomes the weak link of the top end. A reinforced gasket spares you the leak and the head removal that follows, a job far costlier than the part.