Cylinder Heads 126 results

Cylinder Heads Protect and Seal your Engine Block

An internal combustion engine relies on a series of ongoing explosions that occur inside the engine's cylinders to help deliver power. Cylinder heads, which are attached to main engine blocks and joined with a head gasket, are responsible for sealing in the intense pressure produced during the combustion process, thus turning cylinders into combustion chambers. Older engines and some smaller engines, such as the engines in lawnmowers, use a single removable cylinder head as a protective cover, with the valve train and camshaft located in the cylinder block. Most modern vehicle engines use overhead valve (OHV) or overhead cam (OHC) engine configurations, in which the valve train and OHC camshafts are housed within the cylinder head itself.

For an OHV configuration, the camshaft regulates the valve train, located in the cylinder head, from inside the engine block. The valve train in an OHV engine typically consists of poppet valves, rocker arms and pushrods. The cylinder head also houses the spark plugs, fuel injectors and passageways for air intake and exhaust. The OHC design is similar, except that the camshaft lives in the cylinder head directly above the intake and exhaust valves, which eliminates the need for rocker arms and pushrods. These modern configurations allow for improved airflow and better engine performance.

The cylinder head and block are tightly sealed together with a head gasket and the entire thing is anchored down with engine fasteners. Choosing the right head gasket for your engine is critical, and Sears stocks hundreds of gaskets from leading automotive manufacturers. Browse our wide inventory of head gaskets from top brands, including Fel-Pro, Victor Reinz, Cosmetic Gasket, Elring Dichtung, EDELBROCK and more. Discover head gaskets marked down by 20% or more, as well as cylinder heads and cylinder head parts that either ship to you for free or are available for a convenient in-store pick-up.

Allow Sears to help provide you with the engine parts you need to finish up your automotive project and get back to cruising life's highways.