HEADERS BURNED THROUGH ON 99 355.DAMMIT!!

NO!

there are two things that happen to these manifolds.

Firstly the welds break at the point the aux air pipes enter the manifolds. ferrari changed the design from a sort of v confoguration to a straight one in 96 but that did not help the problem.

Secondly, they breay at the joins or more likely, due to a poor manufacturing process they 'burn through' at the bends. If you see how the tubi manifolds are made, they are seam welded. In the case of the ferrari ones where the bends are formed the outside of the bend is very thin causing the heat generated to burn through in time

 

Hmmm... sounds to me like there needs to be a proper recall of a known issue. Am sure some lawyers here can easily handle it.

 

While that may be one the reasons they crack, as someone else pointed out it's not the only reason and I would argue not the main reason.

My Challenge car had no cats and in fact used the "loud" Challenge exhaust which weighs practically nothing.

My headers cracked multiple times and in general most headers on 355 Challenge cars were toast after one or two seasons. Other than Lime Rock, the Challenge cars all ran the loud Challenge exhaust at all other tracks.

According to FOW and Tubi, the stock headers are too thin and poorly made for hard driving.

Regards,

Jon P. Kofod
www.flatoutracing.net

 

I wonder if this has anything to do with covering the headers with a metal heat shield that keeps more 'metal crystalizing' heat inside the header and not allowing the heat to escape into the engine bay.

A) header pipes have too thin a wall thickness
B) header heat shield agravates the issue
C) header pipes could be made of different alloy
D) street use is very low stress compared to race track use

 

I replaced mine with Tubi headers after one of mine cracked, Tubi is the only way to go.

Chris

 

Has anyone with the Tubi headers have any problems with the lack of heat shielding causing other problems?

If I recall, didn't Jon have a problem with cooking the alternator of his car?

 

I would sue the dealer and FNA for violation of the Maguson-Moss Act. See www.drdetailshop.com/magnuson_moss_act.htm and www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/15/ch50.html . That act prohibits a manufacturer from denying a warranty claim on a car with aftermarket parts unless it can prove the aftermarket part caused the failure. Since many other 355 headers have failed without Tubi mufflers, I doub't they could prove your Tubi muffler caused your header failure.

 

This would be a wonderfully easy win in court (provided the science works out)

Assuming the TUBI is lighter, we're left with the factory asserting the extra flow from the TUBI caused the exhaust to go lean, heat up and cause the metal on the manifolds to go brittle.

Does anyone have any before and after exhaust temp readings? A pyrometer installed for some before and after exhaust temp readings should settle some stomachs here and maybe get TUBI a few more sales.

I'll bet the injectors flow MORE than enough at redline to run with open headers, much less a less-restrictive exhaust. They wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

One little pet peeve...

The dealer loves to paint the factory as the bad guy; The dealer is an agent of the factory and made a substantial amount of money from your purchase; they're just as much the bad guy here.

-Jeff

 

Pino,

yes you are correct. I had to add a naca duct in the under track and also add a heat shield near the alternator. The Tubi's create an immense amount of heat near the alternator wiring harness and the alternator itself.

Regards,

Jon

 

the tubi manifolds i have do in fcat have heat shielding. No more heat than standard

 

Time to call Larry H Parker. Are the headers easy to install if you were going to do it yourself?

 

well as you look at ythe engine the left side is easy its the right side that is a bit more difficult as the oil tank takes up the clearance.

Actually, you can get away with not removing the tank, just remove the lower oil pipe then loosen the engine mountings and you can 'tilt' the engine just enough to remove the manifold.

Actually its a little more tricky putting on the tubi one on that side as the tubis are a little bit bigger but it can be done!

 

Tubi exhaust is not a warranty breaker. My friend Tim went through hell with issues in his 355. However, his blown header was covered by FNA.
I believe the warranty is in effect due to EPA emission regulations.
Keep pressing, don't take no for an answer!

 

Contact FNA directly. They have covered cars with Tubis before. Your service rep may not be puishing hard enough. If you need a contact person contact me PM.

Scottie