Does anyone bother carrying a spare head gasket for their main engine? Are head gasket failures likely on a diesel?

Bill Balme

Hi Bill,
We carry a head gasket. They were not very pricey, took little room and we were often in very out of the way places. It is not hard to have what I am now calling a “senior moment” and allow the engine to overheat, which I believe to be a pretty common method of needing a new head gasket.
A very simple alarm (http://www.borelmfg.com/products_alarm.htm) which I recommend to all engines (and gensets) is a raw water failure alarm which straps onto your hose after the exhaust elbow and pretty much guarantees that you will get an alarm before you do damage to the engine in the event that raw water fails to get to the engine from a clog, forgetting the seacock etc. The idea is that the hose will overheat pretty much just after deprived of raw water and the alarm will sound way before engine damage.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

Dick
Thanks for the link. I just ordered a dual alarm for engine and generator.
Simon