Headers cracking?

SCREW IT! I'M MOVING TO CALIFORNIA!

 

Some folks put a spot of oil on top of the oil filter to catch any header insulation material in order to see there is a leak. The engine will lean out if there is a leak, but if this may be due to other factors such as O2 sensor, MAF, leaking donut seals between header and cats, etc. Only other way to really verify is to scope and smoke test the headers.

 

I know this is a hard question to answer, but am looking for a really rough estimate. How long will factory headers last? Is there a certain number of miles these can typically go?

 

Did they put new units on during your service, or still on your first set?

It totally depends on how you use the car, really.
It's related to the heat of course.

Answer above is correct, test them....

They basically should be considered a "wear item" like tires.
As mentioned you look for the insulation to start blowing out as a powder, from the wrapping....

 

Mine has 31k miles on the original headers.


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I would check and clean the contacts for the sensor connectors (MAFs, O2 Sensors, etc). It will help to eliminate some gremlins. You may want to pull codes to see what the car thinks is a problem. Long term solution to electrical gremlins is Helms Gold Connector Kit. It is on my list of things to do. Cleaning the contacts did resolve some of the gremlins.

I had an intermittent 5-8 CEL that seemed previous owners of my car saw as well. Turned out that one of the female pins in the ECU MAF connector was off center and not making a good contact with the male MAF connector. After pushing the metal contacts into place, I haven't had the pesky intermittent 5-8 light since.

 

By the way, sorry for hijacking the thread. I figured it was question directly related to the topic.

Mine were replaced about 2500 miles ago (at 44,000) during the last major

 

When I had my engine out for service, I dropped in Tubi headers and forget about it. Even got back 900 for the old headers that were still good. So my total for tubis came to 4500. I figured, why use a broom handle when for a little more I could buy a Louisville slugger.

 

Tubi only provides a one year warranty. No way I'm paying that kind of money when the company won't even stand behind their product for more than one year

Dave helms told me in a personal conversation that he would only use the new OEM headers period at this point if necessary.

Save your nickels up

 

Strange because Dave said only a couple of years ago that tubi was the only alternative. Maybe tubi offers only a 1 year warranty but they will last as long as the car and that's what really matters.

 

This was a conversation I had a couple months ago. I think they changed their warranty policy which changed his mind.

 

Take it to your tech and have them use their smoke machine to test the manifolds for leaks. It will be very obvious. If you have a good ear..you should be able to hear it as well.

 

I've wondered about the headers as well since mine are still original with 34k miles on them.

I'd like to know more about this drive in August?

 

A bore scope will work as well. But would require some disassembly. But just the cats.

 

It is very tough to tell when a failure is imminent because of the factory heat shields that block your view. The best advise I can give is to replace them sooner rather than later to prevent failure. Going to PM you more info.

 

I had the same chat with Dave. He said the OEM headers are far better than any aftermarket in respect to design flow. As many know, Dave feels the issue with headers is related to excess fuel being burned...

 

I was told that you can hear when the headers fail, with no confusion.

 

It's good to know there are many cars with 30k and 40k miles on them with OEM headers. Out of curiosity, it would be interesting to have people respond with their current mileage if they're still running on original headers. Likewise, it would be interesting for people to post at what mileage their headers failed, if applicable. It would be interesting to plot the data from a statistical perspective to see if there are any patterns. You'd need quite a bit sample to get anything meaningful out of it, so it may not be anything more than anecdotal, and driving still and other factors tend to contribute to the failure (or lack thereof)... but nonetheless interesting to see.

 

do you generally have to seal the tailpipes and run the smoke up one of them or if you run smoke up the tailpipe and lots bleeds out the other tailpipes the smoke still finds its way to the manifolds?

 

My 97 355 Spider at 19K miles still has the OEM headers. (In fact, it's completely OEM, no mods)

Just had an engine-out done. I asked my tech whether to replace the headers, and he said if they don't have issues, just leave them alone.

 

My OEM original headers failed at about 26-27K miles. Fabspeed since then (and a top end rebuild with lower refresh) and now have 44,700 miles and it runs perfectly.

 

In some cases, yes. When a crack has already developed you should be able to hear it. However, while the metal is weakening and beginning to fail but has not fully created a crack that would be audible it could be tough. The point is to try to address it before it becomes an issue potentially leading to catastrophic engine failure. Someone had mentioned smoke, which could also work very well.

 

I have always wondered how the smoke test is done with the headers still fitted to the car.
Anybody prepared to enlighten me?