I had a small exhaust leak come up one day that I was at the local drag-strip about a month ago or so.

There weren't very many people there that night so I got to make probably 6-7 runs all within about an hour or so. There was probably a pair or two that were back to back, giving the 2 minutes or so that it takes to come down the return road, get in line and hit the burn-out box.


So, that night I noticed an exhaust leak.
Last week I finally got under the car, with it on jack-stands, and checked all over with the engine running and a string on the throttle-body/accelerator.

I came to the conclusion that the leak is either AT the exhaust header flange, or in a header weld. Now I need to undo all that crap and get the header off of there.

Anyone have some logical guess as to what I will find?
I'm not expecting the main gasket to have blown through, it's spring steel and was replaced when the headers went on.
Also, it doesn't sound like it's coming from the catalytic gasket either.

I fear a warped flange, or a broken weld. If it's a weld, I'm wondering how JB Weld will work on JetHot coating!

.

 

ouch. good luck. this is unfortunately one of the risks with aftermarket headers.

 

Not good. I would suggest calling Loren at S&S. The flanges are 3/8" steel so should not easily warp. If they are they could be surface ground smooth an reinstalled. If a weld has somehow failed I would request S&S to repair.

Please keep us posted.

 

I noticed the S & S headers are only welded on the inside of the flange but not on the outside. It would of been nice to have the outside of the flange welded as well.

Hope it's not a cracked weld. S & S could take care of it, but the labor time is a pain whether you do it yourself and worse if you have to pay to have it done.

 

well, tonight I got my upper side stuff out of the way. Full air box, intake stuff and that other funny black box on the left. What is that, a charcoal container? P/S container moved out of the way too.

Underneath, I've got the 6 point brace removed, steering rack lowered and all bolts for the Cat. removed, the forward O2 is also disconnected at the wiring harness.

All that is left is the actual 8 header bolts at the head. Shouldn't be but another hour or two of work there.


I looked HARD for carbon tracking and there is one spot that looks suspicious. I tried to take pictures of it for everyone while things are installed but my camcorder just couldn't get a good picture.
The welds all looked good, that I could see. The suspicious spot is the bottem of the 3rd cylinder back, where the pipe goes through the flange. All other pipes are clean and shiny, but that 3rd pipe has a slight, dark spot there.

I'll get good pictures tomorrow night when it comes off. It will be interesting to see the 'head' side of things for that spot.


Thanks for the interest and support guys.

 

How did you detect your leak? was it loud and obvious or just a slight hiss,compression type leak only when you accelerated?
Did you reuse your stock header gasket when you did you install.
I hope the problem is a simple fix but it still sucks to have to take everything off again

 

it's definitely audible under acceleration. It's more like the compression type leak and you can hear the 'poof, poof, poof' when you're on the gas.

the gasket is new. no bolts are loose.

 

I've spoken with Betty at S&S and they are working with me to get this replaced and to address the cause. Good on 'em!

 

Shot #2. The other side, 180 degrees.

 

Wow, this looks pretty intresting.........
I feel sorry for you, labor-wise tho

Hopefully everything will turn out well for you, i have tons of respect for you and your GS, being able to squize 14sec. at 1/4 mile, thats nice-very nice

Oh, almost forgot....i think RMM did some extra welding on his headers to avoid exactly what happend to you

Anyway, good luck on quick fix

 

daayum. that would do it. they should send you a replacement right away.

 

Ouch!!, now i'm a lil bit scare. (knock on wood)..... btw what batch and # is your headers?

 

WOW, very interesting, I hope this is just a fluke, and not a major flaw w/ most of the headers. I guess we'll know in a year or so.
I know S&S sold a lot of them 30-40 maybe??? but how many are actually installed is the question

 

My headers were in the 1st batch, either #15 or #16 I believe. They've been on for 9 months now, this car is my daily driver.

 

That is definitely an unusual failure and is not what I expected from the construction and the initial report. I left a voice mail for Loren at S&S requesting a return call and of course hope that this is an isolated occurance.

I can say that every effort was made to create a strong reliable header. Anyone who has seen one of these 1st hand can attest that the materials and design look very strong. There has been some worries about the way the primary pipes are welded to the head flange but this is a common and proven header construction procedure. The person that had their headers re-welded prior to installation (can't remember who off the top of my head) actually was concerned about the catalyst flange on the redesigned header. This flange was originally welded 360 degrees on the outside but thanks to BA the design was changed for catalyst insert lip clearance. With this change the same joint is now welded 360 degrees on the inside.

BA, I feel for you. You have made a big contribution in this header journey and it just doesn't seem fair for you to be the one. Thanks for all you have done.