Preferred brands of head gasket sets for '03 V70?

[jrschwit]

I am preparing to remove the head to investigate/repair a leaking head gasket. FCP and IPD list a number of head gasket sets from $120 to $317. Are any particular brands considered superior and any that should be avoided? Also, both sites list head gaskets separately which are said to be "multi-layered steel". Is that distinctly different or superior to those supplied with the sets? For me, price is secondary to known and consistent good quality. Are there suppliers other than FCP and IPD that are superior to deal with?

I just bought this car, an '03 V70 base model with 200K mi. for about the value of the tires on it. The previous owner had it diagnosed by a reputable indie as having a leaking head gasket. I verified that with a compression test and through the symptoms; 196, 205, 198, 270, 212 psi. 270 psi cylinder sprayed a bit of coolant during the test and dipping a clean stick down to the piston showed a bit of standing coolant. Additionally, when driven on and off the tow dolly, the coolant system pressurized more than is usual. There is little discernible sign of coolant in the engine oil and the PO said the car was parked very quickly after symptoms developed. He was very clear that the car had never overheated since he was the only driver. I won't know until disassembly whether there will be surprises beyond "simple" head gasket failure.

I'll likely be back with questions upon disassembly since I'm new to the internals of these Volvo engines (but not to engines in general since I've been working on Alfas since my late teens and more recently marine diesels). I've also read about all I can find about P2 head gasket issues on this and other sites.

Any comments based on experience are very welcome.
Jim

[volvolugnut]

see this post:
viewtopic.php?p=531316&hilit=head+gasket+brand#p531316
volvolugnut

[dikidera]

Which engine is this? The NA engines don't go over 180-190 psi. 270 psi is massive. I used an Elring head gasket. Also check for block warpage with a straight edge. Additionally if you did a compression test with some coolant inside aka standing coolant....I am wondering if you didn't bend a rod there.