About 5,000 miles ago I had headers installed. The mechanic mentioned Bring the car back in a week and I will torque all the bolts. I am a procrastinator, and did not return the car. Big mistake.

Sunday I was drag racing, and after the last run noticed how loud the exhaust was. A leak? Cracked catalytic converter? Bad gasket?

Today I took the car to the shop (different from the original). The header bolts had worked themselves loose, and the header - block seal was leaking. The shop had to remove and install the studs and bolts. This time with heat resistant LockTite. Cost: $200.

So to those installing headers. Buy a $10 bottle of LockTite and save yourself a big headache (and expense).

 

That sucks david. Good info though.

Is there a difference between heat resistant loctite and regular? I have seen various kinds at the hardware store (red, blue, etc) and I always get confused

Also, in the lab, we have a few screws that get up to 600 degC. We always use high temp anti-seize on these screws to prevent corrosion. Although these screws are not weight bearing like bolts for headers, and I'm not sure if it would be a good idea to use anti-seize on exhaust parts. So my question is, is loctite good for preventing corrosion due to high temp oxidation?

 

I don't know. The work order says Heat Resistant LockTite - $10 so I don't know what it is. I just hope that it works. BTW the exhaust is much more quiet now that the leak is fixed.

 

I believe the reason behine the heat resistant part is that I think normal locktite will contract under heat and since it is hard will therefore crack. Kinda like mudd drying if you will. I believe the heat resistance either adds some flew to it or it just flat out keeps the molocules from contracting tighter therefore preventing it from cracking apart.

 

David you should have called Rob up and told him what happened. I bet he would have retorqued the bolts for free.

I hope mine dont work loose too. I had him check a few the other month and he said they were still tight...

 

Did you throw a CEL?

 

I could have, but it was a matter of convenience. The car was in the shop here in Baltimore. A trip to and from PA would have been a day off work and a 4 hour drive. I am not at all upset with Pro Tune. As I mentioned in my OP, I should have had the install checked 4,000 miles ago.

 

No. A header - block leak is before the first oxygen sensor, so no problem with emissions.