<hr style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" size="1"> <!-- / icon and title --> <!-- message --> My friend had his exhaust checked out and they found that his header is leaking. He wanted to know whether or not he should go with a Ford replacement or some suggestions on aftermarket headers?

Any help is much appreciated

Bruno

 

If it's the 4.6 or the 5.4, I'd recommend the headers. I've had experience with both modular small blocks, and the old pushrod varieties.

There are gobs of low end torque to be scavenged by quality LONG TUBE headers. Don't waste time or money on shorties. I'd recommend a new Y-pipe setup from a reputable exhaust shop. Shouldn't cost much for them to bend and weld a Y for your friend.

Whether you go with an OEM manifold or an aftermarket header, I'd highly recommend high performance copper gasket sets. Once they seal properly, you will never have gasket failing problems down the road.

Good Luck,
Mike

 

Sorry, i forgot to say that it is a 2003 Ford f250 5.4L with about 80,000. It has a dual exhaust on it right now, and than he started hearing loud noises coming from the enigne, they tested for leaks and found the header was leaking. he wanted to know if he should go with aftermarket or stick to the oem from ford, and if aftermarket, what makes are good

thanks for all the help

bruno

 

Dual exhaust seems to mean different things for different folks. You say its dual exhaust, but with stock manifolds. My notion of dual exhaust means dual from the manifold back.

Does that mean the stock y pipe is removed? Or do you really mean he has a cat back muffler with one inlet and two exits?

Regardless, his OEM manifolds will require removal and installation. If it were my truck, I'd upgrade to a set of Gibson (or other reputable brand) aftermarket manifolds.

Regardless of which way you go, replace the gaskets with a high quality COPPER gasket. They take a while to seal, but NEVER leak if properly seated.

Hope this helps....

Mike

 

it is a cat back exhaust, so it has dual exits, one in each side. i see some pace setter headers and was wondering if i should spend teh extra money for gibson or another brand

and is it also possible to have an oncrease in noise from a cracked manifold?

thanks again bruno

 

Yep. An obnoxious "pit-pat" at idle and a raspy bark under load. Should sound pretty poor with a leak on the manifold.

 

It probably has a couple of broken studs in the head. I would replace these and save the money on the headers.

 

Somebody is probably gonna get mad at this idea, but an old racer that I bought some long tube headers from, told me to not even use gaskets, but instead put some hi-temp silicone on the headers, let it cure for an hour, then bolt them straight on, and according to him, it will seal better than gaskets, and it doesn't get so pricey when you have to replace them every year.

I tried it on my 302 headers, and so far it doesn't leak a bit.

 

The OEM MLS(multi layer steel) gaskets do not leak either,unless one uses crappy quality aftermarket headers with untrue flanges.
JL

 

With all due respect, they OEM won't leak during the first year, but after that, its leak city. I personally know of 4 people with headers on trucks, and every single one of them said that after a year or so, they started to leak.

 

That's because the heat created from towing warps the flanges.
I've got headers on my Tbird, and it doesn't leak with the OEM gaskets,and these gaskets have been reused a few times too over the last 5-7 years.
JL

 

With all due respect I take you don't drive your Tbird hard? Alls I know is that I have never heard of a set of gaskets (excpet yours) that didn't leak after a year or so. Then again the only vehicles I have been around that have headers are trucks and circle track cars.

 

With all due respect, I have two trucks with headers installed. One truck has had the long tubes on for 8+ years now. Another is going on its 3rd year with headers.

Spend the money on a good quality copper gasket (I prefer the flanged Mr. Gasket variety), have the flanges machined straight and the headers will never leak. They take a long time to seat, unlike the other gaskets, but once seated they are bulletproof.

Oh yes, I drive the hell out of both of those trucks.

Do it right the first time, and you won't have to replace gaskets.

Mike

 

That Tbird is a high compression,7000+ RPM street-strip car with ported heads, aftermarket cams, etc,etc...
It runs 12-teens at 110+mph in the 1/4 mile and weighs 3600+ lbs. N/A and with an automatic....You seem to know so much-you do the math as to whether it gets driven hard or not.Proper installation is key to keeping a modular header sealed.It's just like this horrible "defect" of the cylinder heads on modulars puking plugs....it all falls down to the guy at the end of the wrench. Crappy installation=crappy results later.
JL