So in April of 2004, I was shopping for a nice exhaust. Decided to not cheap out, and spend the extra money on a set of Kooks 1 3/4'' headers, and a 3'' Kooks Y-Pipe. The bill came to $1,300, but once they were installed, I wasn't looking back. Thanks Rapid Motorsports.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago.

Driving the car, I made a pull and the A.I.R. emissions tube on the passenger side of the vehicle flew clear off. I mean, nothing left, just a hole in my header. I take a snap shot, e-mail Kooks, and get no response. So today I call up, and they tell me the guy I need to talk to is out to lunch, and to await a phone call back. They call me back, and tell me to send them a copy of the receipt, wait for their response, then pull the header out and mail it to them so they can repair it. I ask how they are going to "repair" it before I spend a few hours in my garage pulling the thing out, and leaving the car sit for a few weeks while they do whatever it is they plan to do. So I get transferred, and the guy I speak with tells me they will weld the hole shut. Now, granted they'd do it for free. But for $20 my buddy can use his welder, and fix the hole while the header is still on the car since it's easily accessible, without going through all this trouble. So I ask what else they can do, since now I'm going to have to park the car for a few weeks, tear my knuckles up in 20 degree PA weather just to pull the header out for someone to weld the hole closed.

Needless to say, that's all they can do. For $1,000 I expect at the very least they can mail me a new set, or at least one new header. I take great pride in my engine bay, and the last thing I want is to wait 5 weeks to have a hacked up looking header hanging off a $2,300 set of heads.

Now I'm thinking about pulling them both out, selling them, and spending my money elsewhere on another brand header, maybe one that I can count on lasting more then three Summers worth of driving.

So LS1Tech, am I in the wrong, or do you like wasting money too?

 

Most automobile manufacturers will only give you a 3 year warranty on an entire car.. The fact that Kooks is willing to repair your header after three years of service says something about them if you ask me.. Three years in Pa is hard on a car... While I feel your pain, things do happen and it seems Kooks is willing to repair your header. I honestly see no reason they should replace your three year old headers with brand new ones because of an air fitting (Very fragile to begin with) sperated.

Have a buddy weld it back on or just put a 1" piece of stainless in its place and weld it in. You will never notice it and your Kooks will still perform like they did new.

Goodluck either way

 

3 years is tough in PA, when the car is daily driven throughout the seasons. It comes out on weekends when it is sunny, and gets stored over winter.

Thank you though sir.

 

We have heard this occurs when the tubes AIR tubes are blocked off and it cause extreme heat.

I have seen Hooker and Kooks do it on a very rare occasion. These are race oriented parts and it could be an ignition box, tire, whatever...**** happens. They offered to fix it and as said above what more can you ask for ? Kooks are a quality product which we use a bunch of.

I know you are frustrated and I would be too, but modding a car will always bring you unexpected issues.

I would just pull them off and have them both welded "IF" the AIR is deleted on your car.

good luck man

 

Whats Kooks normal warranty? I checked their website but couldnt see how long. I would assume its 1 year at the most.

Any company that is willing to warranty a part AFTER the warranty as expired in my opinion is a company going above and beyond the call of duty. To ask them to send you a new header to replace your three year old header is unreasonable.

 

You asked Kooks to repair an item that is out of
warranty and they are doing it.
As pointed out most new cars only come with a 3 year warranty and its limited after the first year as it is - why did you expect new parts for free? Who told you that
could ever be the case?

Welcome to the world of owning a vehicle.
Any kind of vehicle.

 

Anytime block off plates are used for the air tubes on the headers, the tube can weaken and fail do to the block off creating a hot spot, as Larry at Speed Inc mentioned. We have had various brands of headers end up with the same problem. Bob

 

If your buddy can weld a cap on there...why not just do it? If you pay him $25 or whatever, it is way less than the personal effort it takes to get header off and send it to get fixed whether it is under warranty or now. While you can force the warranty hand, in this case, you are just making yourself work harder for basically the same outcome. As for replacing your header...that makes no sense. If you window motor breaks, the dealer does not replace the door, or the whole car.