I just installed the Hooker LT headers with no other exhaust setup ..On ORY pipe will be forth coming. Anyway,I started the car to hear the new sound, and now the car backfires. I installed NGK TR55 plugs, with a gap of .055. All connections seem secure. Is this normal for the engine to backfire due to perhaps it is now running rich??? ALSO, the car does not have power... Your insights are needed. Thanks

Mike

 

I just did that with mine last night too. But no backfiring. Is it possible you have a miss? like from a spark plug wire not on all the way? or possibly a broken spark plug that you may not have seen/inspected?

Chris

 

I just rechecked the tightness of the spark plugs, they were okay. Along with the header install I did put in all new plugs. I also checked to be sure the wires were secure on the plugs and coils. They were okay. I am still at a loss. Again, under power, the car is very slugginsh, only when I let off the gas is when the backfiring occurs.

 

Sounds like a lean condition, do you have access to ATAP?

Doug
00 Pontiac

 

I dont htink you are talking about a back fire, sounds like an afterfire to me. backfire is throught he intake, if its coming through the exaust its an afterfire THe more open your exaust is the more tendency it has to do that. so headers will make it do it.I assume since you said no other exaust setup you have open header right now, running open header will do it big time.

also I bet your lack of power (or percieved lack of power) is also due to running open. you will lose some low end without exaust, someone here (I belive it was nineball) said he got slower when he uncapped his headers, through cutouts I think. also I notice with me, the louder the car is the slower it feels, I think its because Im used to the car accelerating at a certain rate when its this loud, then it gets louder but Im going the same my mind tricks me into thinking Im going slower. maybe it was a combination of lower off idle torque and your mind playing tricks, of course I dont know how sluggish it is, as your definition may vary from mine.

I definetly felt like my car was slower when I put my headers on and ran them open, untill i got used to it.

if you still dont think thats the problem, make absolutely sure that all the wires for your O2s are OK, and didnt get burned by the headers. And make sure you didnt get anti sieze on the sensor part.

<small>[ May 01, 2002, 05:36 PM: Message edited by: Freak ]</small>

 

Yeah these engines need back presure. You could lose power by leaving the headers open. And afterfire sounds about right. I would just wait to get the rest of the exhaust on and see what happens. The worst thing that happens is you're running lean and have to reprogram. I got a question for you though. Did you have that problem with the collectors aiming toward the floor panels that someone else was expressing a couple of weeks ago with the Hookers?? I want these headers but don't want any problems with them it's bad enough already that I have to have a custom Ypipe made and that they haven't made them year specific so I have to buy all new AIR tubes and EGR pipe.

Thanks
Joe <img border="0" alt="[Camaro]" title="" src="graemlins/camaro.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[guns]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_guns.gif" />

 

It for sure is an afterfire. I had my son check if the exhaust was getting warm yet on the driver side coming out of the collector, sure enough, it shot out a flame and burnt the hair on his arm.It seems the warmer the engine gets, at idle, the more it will afterfire. And, about every 30 - 40 seconds, the engine acts as though it wants to cut out, just for a brief moment. I hope all this is due to the need of backpressure. I need to also get rid of the SES lite too.

If I do need to reprogram the car, are you talking about the $450 - $500.00 programming? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="images/icons/confused.gif" />

The collectors, with my set of Hookers, do not aim upward towards the floorboard, they aim straight back.

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by boeing727:
<strong>The collectors, with my set of Hookers, do not aim upward towards the floorboard, they aim straight back.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">DAMN. mine aim off to the side a bit. guess i need to heat them up and move them over a bit.

Chris

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by boeing727:
<strong> I need to also get rid of the SES lite too.

</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">do you have O2 simms? if not thats probalby causign your SES light

 

Yes, I have the O2 simms. I checked the connections, they were good. Also, I verified that no wires were touching the headers. The SES lite came on when the first backfire (afterfire) occured.

I did disconnect the negative cable to the battery for about 10 minutes, following instructions from a previous post, reconnected it, and the SES lite remained on. I do not know how to open the fuse boxes under the hood to try to reset the lite by pulling the PCM BATT and PCM Ignition fuses.

What are the indications of a car running lean vs running rich?

Thanks

 

You most likely are running rich if you are sending unburned fuel through the exhaust to be burned outside the combustion chamber. Are you doing this with an aftermarket cam.

Give us a list of the mods you have that might help.

BTW my car no cracks when I let of the gas now if I rev the motor before it warms up after start-up which just means it's running rich early in the start up cycle.

Bret

 

The only mods on the car are, a lid, and a cutout. However, with the Y pipe removed till I get one made up,it is running open headers.

With the car in the garage running at idle, the backfiring (afterfire) occurs approx every 45 seconds or so. The SES lite is on, and approximately every 30 seconds the engine seems to miss, just for a moment.

Help is greatly appreciated.

Mike

 

Im running hooker LTs into 3" dynomax bullets. I dont get any 'afterfire' and my car runs like a bat out of hell. I dont feel any powerloss running them open. Its not exactly open headers but its about 2 feet of pipe and muffler combined. A dynomax bullet isnt known for its ability to create back pressure. I havent been to the track yet due to clutch problems but ill let ya know when I do.

 

I just tried to back the car out of the garage...it backfired, stumbled, and quit. After about 30 seconds, or so, I tried to start the car again. It backfired more, however; I could park it in the driveway.

I don't know what to look for anymore. I, again, checked the plugs for tightness, plug wires to verify they are snug on the coil packs and plugs. I am wandering if I may have a coil pack switched...I just don"t know anymore.

I need your help.....

 

Did you remove the coil packs?? why??

 

much easier to get to the bolts with no coils.

BTW switching coil packs frm side to side would have no affect on the way the car runs...

 

The backfire/afterfire occurs only on the driver side. I used anti sieze on the spark plug threads, if I got some onto the spark end of the plug, could this cause the problem I am having, or would that have burned off by now?

Also, I noticed some "soot" around the flange where the header bolts to the head. I used the stock bolts to bolt the headers into place, if the bolts bottomed out, and there is not a tight seal at the head and header flange, could this contribute to the problem too?

 

Yes and Yes

anti sieze has metal in it, so if it gets on the electrode of hte plug it can ground it out, I dont know if it woudl cause the problem you are having but it could cause a problem, its worth looking into considering the small amount of time it takes.

If the header flange is leaking at the head, then you could be getting air in there, which causes the O2 sensor to read lean, which causes the computer to compensate by adding fuel, but a little air will show readings that are way off, and the computer will have to dump tons of fuel, which would cause problems. again, worth the time and energy to check IMO

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Freak:
<strong>Yes and Yes

anti sieze has metal in it, so if it gets on the electrode of hte plug it can ground it out, I dont know if it woudl cause the problem you are having but it could cause a problem, its worth looking into considering the small amount of time it takes.

If the header flange is leaking at the head, then you could be getting air in there, which causes the O2 sensor to read lean, which causes the computer to compensate by adding fuel, but a little air will show readings that are way off, and the computer will have to dump tons of fuel, which would cause problems. again, worth the time and energy to check IMO</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Both of these conditions will cause your flame thrower exh.

If this is happening in the same cylinder or bank then this compounds the problem. First the grounded plug does not fire and then the computer is adding extra fuel, so now there is a abundance of unburned fuel in the exh, therefore you can get the flames and miss you are talking about.

BTW never put anti-seize on anything that requires TQing. I've seen people put anti-seize on wheel bolts/studs and it scared the **** out of me. The reason for TQing the bolts is to get them to hold he wheels on with a certain stretcha nd friction. When you put anti-sieze on them it just makes them come loose because they mess up the TQ process. Since the spark plugs only need 11 lbs ft on TQing, why would you put anti-seize on them? I would never want to introduce anti-sieze into the combustion chamber.

 

I got the car back into the garage and will check the plugs for anti sieze, and use the bolts which came with the Hookers (they are shorter) in the event my stock bolts bottomed out preventing the tight fit of the header flange against the motor.

Thanks, again, for you input guys.