are open headers harmful?
are open headers harmful? I installed my pacesetter ceramic coated long tubes a week ago. It has been open since then. It is loud, but i was pulled over a few days ago for my window tint and the cop didnt mention anything about the sound. I am pretty light on the throttle so i do not get a ticket for the sound.
It smells rich. I have heard that running rich burns the o2 sensors. how long are my o2's going to last? they are the bosch corvette PN 13111 sensors. I tried buying a foot long pipe extension for the collector to keep some of the open air away from the sensor.
Pretty much the only thing i am worried about is if this is harmful to the car? I will be getting TSP duals soon and a tune sometime after that.
It smells rich. I have heard that running rich burns the o2 sensors. how long are my o2's going to last? they are the bosch corvette PN 13111 sensors. I tried buying a foot long pipe extension for the collector to keep some of the open air away from the sensor.
Pretty much the only thing i am worried about is if this is harmful to the car? I will be getting TSP duals soon and a tune sometime after that.
Problem is the computer is miss reading the sensors because they are too close to the exit of the exhaust while your engine is firing its also sucking up small bits of air in the headers which is fooling the sensors. Take tubing and have that tube come off the open headers about one foot and you should be better. Also i would have the tube pointed down to sound better and to keep the heat, and fumes off the car.
EDIT: Sorry didn't read the hole thread - see that you have already tried that.
EDIT: Sorry didn't read the hole thread - see that you have already tried that.
ok is there anything i can do to fix it temporarily? why is it running rich and what do i need to do to fix it? a tune or my duals?
Problem is the computer is miss reading the sensors because they are too close to the exit of the exhaust while your engine is firing its also sucking up small bits of air in the headers which is fooling the sensors. Take tubing and have that tube come off the open headers about one foot and you should be better. Also i would have the tube pointed down to sound better and to keep the heat, and fumes off the car.
EDIT: Sorry didn't read the hole thread - see that you have already tried that.
EDIT: Sorry didn't read the hole thread - see that you have already tried that.
Putting exhaust on it (as long as they aren't burnt yet- you would know if they were) will keep it from fouling them. A tune is always recommended, up to you if you should do it now or wait for another mod or two.
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TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 522
Likes: 0
From: West Chester, PA
Not everybody has the O2 sensor problem, but the only thing you're really harming is the environment... But hey, if you were really that worried about it you would have bought a Prius 
Enjoy the noise! 
Enjoy the noise! im still a noob so bear with me. it seems to be running fine but it sounds so different compared to what it was before that all i can focus on during those RPM's is to keep my ears from bleeding. what exactly is that going to feel like in my car? A4 btw...
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 522
Likes: 0
From: West Chester, PA
To put it simple "Yes. They can be harmful." Long tubes are fine because they are far enough away that you wont harm your valves, shorties and mids are a completely different story. Like I said before, enjoy the noise lol
Like I said, you would know if your o2s were bad.
Yes, LTs are fine... If you want to replace 100$ worth of o2s every couple of weeks.
i ran open headers on my tahoe and my TA for 1 or 2 days each until the exaust shop opened up it made me grind my teeth every time i started it. its so loud i would never even run it that way at the track, i did have dual cut outs on my Y about a foot or so off the collector
Wow... you got pulled by a cop for window tint while running open headers, and they didn't even mention that your car was too loud?
You'd think it would have been the other way around, at least that would make sense to me...
You'd think it would have been the other way around, at least that would make sense to me...
i ran open headers on my tahoe and my TA for 1 or 2 days each until the exaust shop opened up it made me grind my teeth every time i started it. its so loud i would never even run it that way at the track, i did have dual cut outs on my Y about a foot or so off the collector
i know. when i started the car to leave, i thought he was going to get off his bike and come talk to me again. but i guess i lucked out. i cant aford a 10,000 ticket for no cats
It is almost like a backfire.. Just a gurgling kind of sound. It won't be a smooth pick up but more like cutting in and out. MPG will be complete **** and will run very rich.
Like I said, you would know if your o2s were bad.
Yes, LTs are fine... If you want to replace 100$ worth of o2s every couple of weeks.
Like I said, you would know if your o2s were bad.
Yes, LTs are fine... If you want to replace 100$ worth of o2s every couple of weeks.
It isn't going to hurt, I will tell you that.
I have hooker headers, ory and magna flow cat back im going to have put on in the future.