Patent ID: 8261702

Claim:
A multicylinder internal combustion engine, comprising: a cylinder block with at least one shared cylinder wall; a cylinder head mounted to said cylinder block; a gasket mounted between said cylinder block and said cylinder head; and a coolant passage extending through said cylinder block and laterally along an uppermost portion of said shared cylinder wall and then into said cylinder head, with said lateral portion of said passage being defined in part by said gasket with said gasket comprising: a bottom layer having an inlet port for admitting coolant flowing from said cylinder block into said coolant passage; a top layer having an outlet port permitting coolant to flow into said cylinder head from said coolant passage; and a middle layer having a slot extending along said shared cylinder wall and corresponding to said lateral portion of said coolant passage, with said slot being in fluid communication with said inlet port and said outlet port, wherein said bottom layer of said gasket has a slot which is at least partially coextensive with the slot within said middle layer, whereby coolant flowing through said coolant passage is allowed to contact the shared wall of the cylinder block.