rfuller07

I've installed kooks 1 7/8 longtubes on my '01 Camaro M6
The car has basic bolt ons and poly trans and motor mount.
Before i did the trans mount the exhaust would tap on a cold start but after the poly trans mount went in it stopped.

Now i have an exhaust leak thats coming from under the car and I've tightened all the clamps and everything from the I-pipe and back is welded. The car has a CME set up. Header bolts are tight. Used the gaskets that came with the headers unfortunately..

When I'm accelerating right around 2100 rpm's to about 3000 (lol) its rattling something fierce when i give it any more than half throttle. But only does this under load. Just revving up will not mimic the problem car has to be moving.

Any help would be much appreciated. It almost feels like these headers have been nothing but problems! But once all the bugs are worked i'm sure ill be pleased.

ItzFox69

did you change the motor mounts?

rfuller07

Yessir.
I did the motor & trans mount (poly)
plug wires & plugs
headers y pipe
LS7 clutch kit
Sub frame connectors
Has a lid and those are the only mods really done.

ItzFox69

im gonna take a wild guess and say did you check your collectors at the end of the headers themselves? where all four pipes merge i mean, it is possibe there could be a slight leak coming from there like something wasnt fully welded properly. just a wild guess if all your clams and gaskets are good, and what kinda gaskests came with the headers cause i hear alot of people have problems with anything else aside from metal ones. that the non metal ones leak like a sum bitch.

rfuller07

the gaskets that came with the headers where a multi layer metal gasket with a slight cup on the one side. and i was planning on putting the car up and taking a listen. but just trying to get some feedback as to where i should look

TransWS6Am

iTrader: (41)

make sure one of the primarys is not hitting the k-member on the passenger side, I had to grind the k-member alittle bit on the passenger side with my kooks 1 7/8.

rfuller07

the clearance for the primaries is good. i can fit a finger in between the k member and the primary. i slightly creased the exhaust to give it a little more space to save taking the header off. time was kinda an issue.
Before you ground it down would it rattle or tap around the 2100 to 3000 rpm range?

TransWS6Am

iTrader: (41)

the gaskets that come with the kooks headers are known to be garbage, I ordered a set of GM gaskets with my headers.

TransWS6Am

iTrader: (41)

I never ran the engine with the primary that close, I installed the header, I saw how close it was to the k-member, I removed the header and ground down the k-member.

rfuller07

Damn... Hahaha.
Well i guess the headers coming off!
Ok so grind down the k member only on the passenger side?
When i was installing them someone gave me the same advice lol but that shows how laziness pays off.

rfuller07

And about how much would you say you took off?

TransWS6Am

iTrader: (41)

Not a whole lot, I'd just grind until your satisfied, I mean that k-member is so thick and strong, your going to have a hard time hurting it by grinding on to much.

rfuller07

Sounds good man.
Well I appreciate the input and i will let you know how the outcome is.
Thanks.

TransWS6Am

iTrader: (41)

tape those exhaust ports up! That **** flys everywhere when grinding in that tight space! Let us know how it works out for you.

rfuller07

Hahaha definitely bro. Ill be sure too.

TImmy_Jones

iTrader: (4)

Is the noise coming from the front, middle, or back of the car??

rfuller07

well when the cars accelerating it almost sounds like its coming from the Y-pipe region but its kinda hard to tell..
everything echos quite a bit.

But the exhaust leak sounds like its coming from the collector almost.
If i put my ear in the front tire well on the passenger side its a lot more of a defined sound.

spy2520

iTrader: (3)

I had to replace the clamps on my kooks' headers/dual exhaust. Everything was tight but you could actually see the leaks because of a trail of soot. Mine were leaking where the pipes connected.