While traveling to the Smokey Mountains 2 weeks ago, my 7.5L exhaust "tick" returned. I had the Banks headers installed back in September 2015 by a local exhaust shop. I thought that the headers would solve the heat issue with the stock manifolds and that's why I chose to pay for the Banks Powerpack system for my 1997 F350. After taking it back to the exhaust shop and having them do a smoke test, they said they could not find the leak. Well, I kinda feel like they found it but didn't want to deal with it. Clearly, you could hear it.

A couple of days later, I reversed the hose on my shop vac and stuck it in the tailpipe to create air pressure in the exhaust system. I then sprayed soapy water on where I thought the leak was coming from. Here's what I found:




Here's the bubble it created when I sprayed it:




I'm not as much of a Banks fan as I used to be. I love the performance I get with the headers but for the cost, I expected more than this. The header has a 5 year warranty, but that doesn't include the cost of replacing the header or the shipping cost to send it to me.

Since then, I have read a lot about this happening to Jeeps with Banks headers but I have not read anything about this happening on a 7.5L. I also read that it might be possible to repair it but the best way is to TIG weld a plate over the crack. I don't want to repair it if Banks will replace it but I hate having to pull the other one off and install the new one. You have to raise the motor to get the headers in and out on the passenger side where this crack is located near the #3 cylinder. I paid someone else to install the headers because of the risk of broken studs.

Anyone else have this problem with a 7.5L?

 

It is hard to tell, is it cracked at a joint? Where they connected two tubes together? Or at the flange of the head?

I would bet the tubes are in a bind of such(made that way or installed that way) and the vibration of running has caused the failure at the weakest point.

A better picture might help or try to highlight the crack so you can see it in the picture.

Is it an easily accessible point, to weld? If you can't get them off and returned, then I would just fix them. Of course if they are bound up then it will crack again, somewhere.

Bound up, meaning they have no place to grow. The pipes expand/extend and they will crack. I doubt it is from being "loose" and wiggling which would also create a crack.

 

Here's where the crack is:



I took the photo under the wheel well with the wheel on. If you took the wheel off, you could touch the crack with your hand. It is right above the frame and to the left of the shock. It's pretty easy to get to.

 

I would be inclined to get it welded locally rather than spend the money on shipping and having to remove and install both sides.

 

As much as I despise poor quality and warranty terms your best bet is find someone to weld that crack shut. Too bad you took a wallet biopsy to end up with another cracked "manifold".

Personally I have always thought Banks products were over priced but their quality used to be (past tense) top notch. Perhaps times, they are a changin'....

Sucks majorly.

 

I don't have any personal experience with Banks, but have you tried talking with them?

Explain the situation and the cost involved. They may not even be aware of the poor quality that was so evident, given that you said this is also apparent on the keeps.

If you were to do anything weld wise for them, that may be a disappointment, as they may not honor the warranty and pay for shipping and install, since its going to be expensive due to poor quality.

Just saying I would try asking before calling it quits and going a different route.

 

I got mine installed without lifting the motor- it was a pain but we got it done. 7.5 - same system.

 

I called Banks today and they are going to ship me a new header free although I will have to pay the shipping cost and the installation cost. They were very accommodating and had no problems honoring the 5 year warranty. All I had to do was send them a photo of the cracked header along with my purchase receipt and they are going to send me a replacement.

They said that once they file the warranty claim, I can take it and have it welded to get me by until I receive the replacement and can schedule an appointment to have it replaced. I do not have to send them the bad header but I had to send them a photo of the crack before I had any repair done on it or it would have voided the warranty. Still, I have the shipping cost and the installation cost to pay so I am still not very happy. But, at least I don't have to pay for a new header.

My fear is that the replacement will do the same thing. They only warranty from the original purchase date, not the date the replacement was shipped so I have 5 years worth of header replacing to consider. I hope that I just got a bad one and the replacement will not be subject to the same failure.

I am wondering why this happened. The guys I paid to install the headers put gaskets on the headers. The gaskets were included with the Banks kit and the instructions say to only use the gaskets if the heads were damaged by a previous manifold leak. Otherwise, no gaskets are needed. No 7.5L EVER had manifold gaskets from the factory so I don't know why the installers used the gaskets, maybe because they were included and they thought that they had to use them. I have read that the header manifold and the heads need to be touching each other so that they can heat and cool at the same rate and a gasket could interfere with that temperature exchange. If either surface cools down at a faster rate than the other, it can cause things to get in a bind and stuff can break. I'll find out the condition of the head surface when I have the replacement installed and make a decision about using a new gasket or not. Personally, if I removed a manifold and that manifold did not have gaskets, I would likely not install gaskets on the headers. I think they were doing some CYA and didn't want any problems.

 

Was yours an F350 or F250? Have you had any problems with the headers since you installed them? Did you use gaskets?

 

I have had my banks headers since..........2002 with absolutely Zero issues.

That "crack" you show looks more like scratch

 

Well, Banks disagrees with your assessment and that's all that matters. Trust me, it's a crack and the bubble proves it. The ticking is getting louder. Also, that crack was covered in white dust from where the exhaust shop did a smoke test before wiped it off. I can't believe they couldn't see it. I guess some people only see what they want to see.

 

If the guys at your exhaust shop didn't notice that crack I think they were smoking something!

Ford recommends manifold installation with graphite grease.
I don't have Bank$ headers, but I doubt using a gasket caused the crack.

 

If it was a crap, the exhaust gas would blow the "white dust" off

 

Yeah, just like the exhaust gas blows the carbon off the manifold when it leaks.

I'm not saying that Banks headers are crap, it could be that my installer damaged them during the install (although it did not leak until 3 months later) or they could have put the header pipe in a bind and during the heating and cooling process it stressed the part until it yielded.

Either way, the pipe is leaking and it didn't leak until 2 weeks ago. I drove it all that time and loved it.

 

I can't see this as an installation issue.
Banks boasts about the thickness of their header flanges and the crack looks like it's on the inside of a bend (mostly)

Maybe a lack of backpurge left sugar inside.
Maybe just a bad bend.
Maybe it was a lack of stress relief after welding.

Things happen, even if you have good QC.
They are standing up to the letter of their warranty.