Header leak?
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 845
Likes: 9
From: Eastern Ma/ PSL florida
Header leak? Ok so Ive been doing some researching around and getting advice as to what the hell the noise Ive been hearing is. I posted this a little while back and alot of people said that it could be a rocker, lifter, spun bearing etc etc. So I pulled the whole top end apart. The rockers, pushrods, lifters all checked out fine. Ive got the heads off and the tops of the pistons look good too. No damage that I can see. I did not have any metal in the oil or filter and no coolant in the oil. The only thing that I noticed was when taking the passenger header off which is where the noise was coming from that the very back header bolt was extreamly loose and when I pulled the head off the exhaust port was all charred looking from the leak. Also when I pulled the mid pipe off the exhaust it had a decent amount of water in it, would a exhaust leak of that size cause condensation to get into the exhaust? Ive heard a couple people state that a bad enough leak combind with the metal gaskets will make a similar noise.
Here is the video I took before I tore it down. Dont mind the screeching belt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-B4f3251PA
here is a video i foun on youtube of a sound similar to mine and if you read the comments he said it ended up being a header leak.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5IyWXL8dc
Here is the video I took before I tore it down. Dont mind the screeching belt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-B4f3251PA
here is a video i foun on youtube of a sound similar to mine and if you read the comments he said it ended up being a header leak.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5IyWXL8dc
12 Second Club
iTrader: (4)
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,712
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From: Between Bowling Green/Owensboro
Best bet would be to buy a cheap automotive stethescope(pardon my spelling, im from KY and narrowing it down. I have no exhaust leaks and out of my cutout after a cold startup it poors water BTW.. but if it turns out to the exhaust
Ive had good luck out of felpro gaskets as they compress really well if installed correctly. I would start by replacing the gasket and tightning the bolts from the center out. I had issues with the last passengerside bolt as well but I guess I was lucky. Clean the header flange well and check for trueness. That would be a start
Ive had good luck out of felpro gaskets as they compress really well if installed correctly. I would start by replacing the gasket and tightning the bolts from the center out. I had issues with the last passengerside bolt as well but I guess I was lucky. Clean the header flange well and check for trueness. That would be a start
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 845
Likes: 9
From: Eastern Ma/ PSL florida
Thanks. Thats what Iam thinking. I would rather spend 100 bucks on gaskets and bolts and then that way Ill know for sure if its the motor or a leak. Just wanted some other opinions....
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Sounds like an exhaust leak to me. I always had trouble getting my third gen headers to seal and not make noise. Kinda why I haven't gotten headers for my 99 yet (and $$$). Seems like not as many people have this problem though.
Good luck!
Good luck!
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Sounds like a header leak to me also. LS's sound like a sewing machine with headers anyway. The leak will actually suck air in the exhaust because of a venturi effect. Might be why you found water in the mid pipe. I wound up milling the header flanges flat and using ARP studs to get mine to stop leaking.
