Black08Chevy

iTrader: (2)

Have you double checked to make sure the header bolts all went throught the gasket and you didnt miss just one? May just barely have missed gasket but it will cause an annoying tick. Id get a friend or family member to listen while you put it in drive and hold the brake and rev to about 2k rpms. Maybe they can tell where its ticking.

budhayes3

iTrader: (19)

Do you see any traces of carbon? Look for black soot at all of the connections. If it's worse when cold you definitely have a leak that seals up as it heats up. +1 on what Joe said about not hearing it in neutral since there's no load.

hirdlej

iTrader: (31)

I doubt you'd see a carbon trail yet though if you just put the headers on. Jack the truck up or park a wheel on a rock and get under there. Do it before driving the truck anymore or you're going to ruin the lead donut gaskets that come with those headers for the collectors.

craigripley

I tightened up everything and it made it somewhat better, not sure if its leaking or not it was hard to tell.

Ran into a new problem though - took the truck out today to get dinner, drove fine on the way there but once parked it felt rough idling, and when I left I definitely knew there was a problem.

Felt like the truck was misfiring, and it kinda felt like the truck was surging, likely due to running to rough. As soon as it got above 50 kph my check engine light began to flash (it has been on since header install, I thought due to removal of cats).

I pulled over and popped the hood and made sure the wires were on the coils all the way, but couldnt check the other end due to headers being hot. Started the truck back up and it didnt fix the problem.

I felt down on power, ran very rough and backfired about 3 times on the way home. Stop lights were the worst as when I was almost at a stop the truck stuttered like crazy, and then taking off was very sluggish.

I'm going to try and get a code reader, but I'm just wondering - I replaced the plugs/wires at the same time as the headers, and had no issues until now. Is it possible for it to take this long for an ignition problem to appear? Or am I possibly looking at something else.

Also ,do the O2 sensors after the cats affect drivability if they detect a problem (they obviously are since theres no cats and I haven't tuned yet).

I'm hoping I just happened to have cracked a plug or not tightned it enough on the install, but I'm just wondering if it is possible to take a week for the problem to creep up?

Like I say I'm looking into getting a code reader, I'm just wondering whats possible.

rel3rd

iTrader: (42)

What did you use to insulate the plug wire (from excessive heat) at the "hump" pipe on driver's side?

The ticking may have not been an exhaust leak after all...it may have been a plug wire arcing out against the new headers, which is now causing the misfire.

A shorted plug wire can absolutely cause everything else to happen, that you have mentioned.

FWIW, I've never "permanently fixed" my plug wires since their October install and wrapping them with turbo wrap, but I haven't had a problem at all.

craigripley

I bought a set of wire protectors, thinking they would be enough but maybe they werent. I'm taking a look at it in a couple hours once I get home but I got thinking that most likely I've burned through the wire possibly now, which makes the most sense as to why it has taken this long to appear.

I'm going to pin them up using that aluminum strap method to hopefully solve the problem if this is infact the cause...I shouldnt have been so lazy to begin with, especially considering I work at a sheet metal shop.

I'll post back what I find this afternoon...going to take all the wires off and inspect them, and plugs too if I dont see any problems on the wires, but they're my bet now that you mention it and I think about it.

craigripley

Well, that was infact the problem. The protector sleeves werent enough obviously. Thats what I get for being lazy!

The one burned badly, the other one as you can see isnt as bad, and then on the passenger side the boot just barely touches and was melting very slightly, so I have to fix those 3 spots with either holding the wires away and I'm going to wrap the headers in those spots.

Edit: Read some reviews on here about header wrap and trapping moisture and that got me rethinking about wrapping them. I think I'll just grab some header wrap and just wrap the close wires extra thick with it, as well as hopefully pinning them away from the headers. Hopefully this will solve my problems!

rel3rd

iTrader: (42)

That will cure the problem Craig. Those sleeves aren't meant for direct contact, they are meant more for just a heat "deterrent" IMHO. The turbo/header wrap I used is meant to be right on the heat source, so it's much better suited for this job. Like I said, mine's been fine for about 7 months now...even without the metal brackets in place.

Glad you found it though. That crap can drive you crazy...

bluecajun5.3

iTrader: (31)

i went through the same thing with the wires. the sleeves weren't enough, had to use them in conjunction with some adel clamps. the ticking noise is normal, they will do that upon start up and once warmed, it will go away at idle.

SnakeOiler

iTrader: (6)

Verify none of your plugs are loose.

Also don't get the header bolts too tight. They only need 20-25lbs.