After traveling from Texas to Orlando while pulling our travel trailer, my Expedition stalled as we pulled up to the "Welcome to Walt Disney World" gate. We waited a about 10 minutes, started it up and it ran just fine all the way to our campsite, except now there was a sort of ticking sound coming from the right wheel well area. I wasn't sure what it was at first. When it would sit overnight, it would tick loudly at startup and go away after about 15 seconds. We used it that way for the 2 weeks we were there never having another problem until we were on our way home where it stalled again once for about ten minutes.

Later I figured out that the passenger side exhaust manifold was warped. This was causing the exhaust to leak, which caused the under hood temperature to get so hot that it was boiling the fuel in the fuel rails (similar to "vapor lock" in old carbureted cars). That's why it would run okay after cooling off for a few minutes. After much research, I decided to replace both of the warp prone cast iron manifolds with stainless steel, ceramic coated Gibson headers (model GP218S-C). I picked it up today and the leak is gone and it's running better than ever. I'm not expecting a big difference in performance or MPG's, but any improvement will be welcome.





Almost there...





All set up





Passenger side header





Driver side header

 

Damn that looks sharp!

 

You won't see huge gains, but you've improved the efficiency of the 5.4L "air pump" so you'll notice something. Would imagine little extra punch across the board, mainly b/c going from only stock collector to 1 per cylinder. Def. looks good for sure though.

 

Interesting.

My '07 Navi makes a little noise that seems to go away when it warms up.

I'm thinking it's exhaust manifold related and seals itself as something warms up and expands.

How was the labor on the header install?

 

He charged me about $750 just for labor, which is the same as it would of been to replace both manifolds. I may of been able to get it done cheaper, but I trust my mechanic and he always stands behind his work. I've been using him for over 20 years.

 

how is the noise level with the headers now both around town and then freeway cruising?

 

I still have the stock exhaust, it's not any louder at all. I was actually a little disappointed about that.

 

Thanks! I thought this might be a little more involved than throwing a set onto an old Mustang... that just took a few wrenches and a few beers!

 

I'm glad I don't have your issue, but I would love to make that trip to WDW in a trailer. I envy my dad for being a school principal and having a long summer vacation to do those trips...