A couple weeks ago I installed a set of "Top Speed" shorty headers. I replaced the rest of the exhaust as well.... Magna-Flow Direct Fit Cat and Gibson Swept Side exhaust....

I did have to grind a little of the manifold suface to get them to clear the spark plugs (thanks for the heads up God Ram It).... I had to trim the gaskets as well.... other wise they dropped right in...

Only problem is I now have an exhaust "tick" or what sounds like a leak from the driver side while under a load ONLY. At idle there is nothing out of the ordinary...

Is this "tick" or pulse a normal result of headers?

I did get some Fel-Pro gaskets and will give them a shot to see if they help at all...

Am I just being to picky???

I have not gotten around to posting pitures and a write up on them yet... but I did notice power gains from 2500-5500... very happy with them other then this noise...

 

is is normal, Well kind of. Its common for headers to not seal properly. I didnt have a leak on my drivers side, but I had a leak on my passenger side on spark plug #6. I doubled the gasket on that side and it doesnt leak there anymore. I do have a leak on the same side on spark plug #2. But it goes away after it warms up, so I dont mess with it.

Also, I had a shorted spark plug wire arcing on the motor that made a ticking sound. I didnt notice it until after my header install. It drove me nuts because I thought I still had a leak. But after sticking my hand around the header to try andfind the leak I found the shorted wire. Ouch!
The easiest way to find a shorted wire is to start the truck up at night and open the hood enough to where the hood light doesnt come on and with a windex typ bottle spary some water on it. You should be able to see the arc. If it is bad enough you wont need the spray bottle.
You might want to rule this out before you take your header off.

 

Ok... I will check the wires before messing with the headers... good point!

The noise does not change when hot or cold.... it is constant when under a load... If it went away after it was warm then I would not touch them... haha....

I am going to mess around with them a little this afternoon and see what I can come up with...

I dont care if i have to replace gaskets... I am just hoping they are not cracked!!!

Thanks for your input!!!

 

if it isnt a plug wire than just double the gasket on that side.

the headers were a lot quieter than the stock manifolds, thats why I heard it and never did before.

 

Another thought is that once the headers have run and heated the gasket, you might just need to re-snug the bolts.

 

i had to do that... what chopper said. i retourq/tighten the hell out of my header bolts about onces every 2 to 3 weeks... every now and then one will be loose.. no matter how much thread lock i put on

 

if its under load could it be engine detonation?? could the headers and exhaust be making the engine warm up alittle to much to cause detonation?? mine only would under load till i ran 93 octane and a low temp stat

 

Thanks for the input guys....

I did think about detonation for a little but I don't think that is it. Only reason I say that is because my buddy had a 5.9 with a leaking plenum. I remember the noise or ping it would make under load (he broke his leg while we were skiing and I had to drive his truck for 3 hours home). I don't think it is that... I should be getting my Fastman soon and will check my plenum then.

As far as tightening the headers... that is something I have not done. Only because the headers did not come with bolts and the heads on ones I got from the hardware store are too big. They are a PITA to get a wrench on.

I got a set or ARP header bolts but they are too short for a .5 inch thick flange....
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

I should have ordered any of these....

http://store.summitracing.com/egnsea...115+4294789466

Instead I went to the hardware store again and got Allen head bolts. Hopefully they will be easier to get to and tighten.

I did not get a chance to replace the gaskets yesterday.... maybe tonight or next week....

 

the headers didnt come with the correct bolts? I thought the guys who make them send the bolts and gaskets with them

 

I got just what you see in the picture.... no flange bolts.....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dodge...spagenameZWD1V

Only bolts that came with it where for the collectors.... but I did not use them....