I know that some people have trouble with headers leaking, I found this spray that shows leaks with a color change dye. Thought you guys might want to see.

I dont have this problem but some may.

Thanks

 

Options for potential cause:
1. over/undertorque of any of the bolts can warp the metal
2. bad weld (hole)
3. torn/damaged gasket
4. bent flange - (bad manufacture, dropped on the floor, overtorqued, misaligned when fastened)

In any case, you usually hear a "tick" (burst of air) and over time you will see soot (black dust) develop around the hole.

You might also smell it, particularly when the car is cold or idling gas coming out prior to the cats smells (some people get nostalgic when they smell it, some people think it stinks, others just fall asleep and die).

It is _possible_ that you might get a light with a really big leak screwing up O2 readings/temps, but they can leak without messing anything up (either sensors or engine behavior).

Sound was always the first symptom I ran into - but then I did not have injectors clacking away

 

Cekim-- Man you always have some good info! I mean always man. You should be a moderator or something.

 

Thanks, but I suspect I am too much of a smart *** for that job

Info comes from growing up under a car - father got me started early and I never stopped - now I have twin girls and we spend our weekends in the garage appreciating the stangs and pondering the next wash/wax/upgrade...

Depending on the size of the leak, if you had one, I would suspect that you could see the soot build up after a few weeks - if the car is well tuned and spends most of its time at ideal A/F then it will take longer...

As for hearing the noise - I find driving past concrete barriers on the highway to be a wonderful method for gathering audible info on your car...

Find one, get right next to it with the window open, floor it and enjoy... Under load, if there is a leak of any size, you should hear it.

I would not worry too much about it - particuarly if you had a good shop install your headers, it should be a no-brainer for them to get it right...

 

Wow- I got twins too! I got 4 girls total, Ages are 3, 11(twins) and 12. They would never mess with cars though. They are to prissy acting. lol .

 

Reloading your existing tune won't do anything. After all, it's the same tune. I would contact the shop that you got your tuner from, and tell them that you are adding headers. They should be able to supply you with an updated tune file over Email. Download it onto your tuner, and then load that NEW tune into your car. A Dyno tune would be nice (as it always is) but it isn't strictly needed.

Oh, and Cekim is right--your chance of having header leaks is slim. A competent mechanic should be able to install the headers with zero leaks, no problem.

 

They may grow out of it, but for now, they really enjoy handing me tools and asking me what various parts of the car/engine are for and how they work... Pretty cool...

As for the tune - see Al's response, your existing tune should still be there won't do anything to reload it. As for a new tune, I have not done LTs on this car/engine, so your search is as good as mine, but generally speaking LTs seem to lean things out a little and you can squeeze some more out of them owing to reduced backpressure and temp in the cylinder. So, can't hurt to put it on a dyno, but it is not as urgent as a CAI would be.

 

Ok- Someone else said to reload it but no big deal, I was just checking. I will get a Dyno after the install.

 

I think I am having this problem...When I accelerate somewhat heavily I am getting what sounds like a burst of air. Kind of a SHHHHHH. I don't have aftermarket headers, but I do have an aftermarket axle-back. A leak in that would produce similar symptoms I would think?

 

Exhaust leaks make pulsed/periodic sounds speeding up and slowing with RPM owing to the pulse form the cylnder.

So, "shhhhh" isn't how I would describe it. More like tck,tck,tck or sh,sh,sh,sh depending on where it is...

Hard to put this in words, but any sustained "whoosh" noise is likely something else (read some auto-trans drivers complaining whooshing noise coming from the trans).