Trent W

Ok this has been driving me nuts for weeks now. A little back story, I have some pacesetter shorty headers on my truck. Insalled them with custom dual exaust. Was great for 2 months then the passenger side manifold started leaking. Pulled it off got a better set of gaskets, had to weld a pinhole leak on cylinder 8. The gasket disentigrated on cylinder 8 and was also leaking. Reinstalled and my truck purred like a kitten for a year or so. (very little use) it started acting up again i used my second (premium) gasket. Same issue cylinder 8 gasket leaking between the head and the header. Again put it back together and it sounded amazing again. Well moved to seattle. Towing a fully loaded trailer and from the drive from salt lake by time i got there... same thing! Im going to double check my torque on the bolts but am i missing something!? I kust dont want to do this again if its going to be the same result. Not only that its on the passengers side and if anyone has done this you know exactly how frustrating it is to change out a header on that side. So anyone have a idea? Maybe my exahust needs an extra hanger next to the cat on that side

Especial86

iTrader: (1)

I would try a different header.. Pacesetters are one of the crappiest sets of headers they make for these trucks.. It's not that they completely suck, they will work, but for a perfect fit and longer service life you should look to stainless works, dynatech or even the cheaper OBX for your final answer...... Long tubes will actually yield you some more power at the wheels, so I'd also advise you scrap the whole idea of shorties all together. Shorties do not yield much for power and efficiency gains.

Next time you pull that header off lay the cylinder head flange on a nice true and flat piece of granite. You will probably visually see that the header is slightly warped.

redveteran92

Next time you change the gaskets, before installing them, soak the gaskets in a bucket of water for awhile (or overnight ) and then install them while their still wet and tighten 'em down good. Should have no more leakage problems after that, unless the headers are in fact severely warped. Hope this helps.

Trent W

So thought about it and im leaning towards just getting some long tube, as far as cats go what should i get? And will i have enough room for them? Also how is that going to go together with my o2 sensors? Have you done this already on yours? Only reason i went the shorty route was i didnt want to have to deal with all of that. But now that ive pretty much done this 3 times and doimg it again will be no guarantee to work i moght as well just get the better parts.

Trent W

So I got around to messing with my truck and it turns out it was just loose bolts! now... I did everything right by the book when i did this. tightened from back to front alternating from top to bottom then did it again when warm then checked it 3 days later all good. Then somehow on the trip to Seattle came loose. I used anti seize on the bolts because of the Aluminum head they were screwing into. Should I be using lock tight instead? I just don't want the bolts to oxidize and be a permanent fixture of my engine block. Especially if im going to be getting LT's