I just replaced my head gasket and realized I didn’t put the dowels back on the cylinder head. I used the head bolts to hang the gasket off of when putting the heads on and they seemed to go on right. Am I good to go or should I bite the bullet and replace the gasket again?
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Without the dowels the head gasket may be misaligned and can shift over time. It’s even more critical if you have an overhead cam engine with guides that bolt to both the head and block. If those holes are misaligned it can put them in a bind and cause them to fail.
I would replace the gasket. There is not a lot of margin for error with head gasket alignment.
The dowel pins are part of the assembly for a reason. Use them, you will be glad you did the job correctly.
Depends on what type of gasket it is, MLS gaskets are a lot less forgiving than older composite gaskets. Take the head back off and inspect the gasket for damage. Either way I wouldn’t run the engine with no dowels, even slight misalignments can cause excessive cam/crankshaft wear or premature timing failure, etc, etc.
You’ll have engine threatening oil leaks fairly quickly without them. Improve work habits
I’m a Saturday mechanic this isn’t my job lol, I just do it for fun. I appreciate the info though