Installing LT headers tips

[PaddyPrix]

yea, so this was spot on. not quite finished, have to get it done later today after work. my friend has zero experience, and this is the first decent sized job for me on an S550. should have had him take it to a shop lol. that passenger side is a pain. took awhile to find and get to the final motor mount bolt, and those header nuts on the studs are very hard to get to. i see what you mean about getting 1 or 2 clicks. to add insult, my friend put two nuts on the header studs that did not belong. easy enough mistake, ive done that kind of thing myself. but one on drivers side, one on passenger. and then with the header snugged up to the head, there was no longer room to get the nut off without removing ALL the other bolts to move the header away from the head a bit. so i was thrilled at that.

today, have to snug up all the motor mount bolts/studs, put the starter back, and connect the header/O2's. fvck this lol. not sure if this makes me want to get headers for mine and do it, or say hell no, i dont need the extra 30 hp lol. and working around the jack holding the engine up was definitely a pain in the ass as well.

someone mentioned removing the battery tray- if i do this again in the future, i will probably do that next time.

That said, I'd totally do it again, just remove the A/C and get a cherry picker to get much better access. That, or I'd disconnect the K, raise the body, and just go straight at them which would probably take just a couple of hours. The Longtubes are pretty much my only mod (p/w restricted class), and with e85, you're taking down nearly everybody with a sub 6 figure car, and plenty more above it... best bang/buck mod there is if you went with cheapo ones.

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[331GT]

That said, I'd totally do it again, just remove the A/C and get a cherry picker to get much better access. That, or I'd disconnect the K, raise the body, and just go straight at them which would probably take just a couple of hours. The Longtubes are pretty much my only mod (p/w restricted class), and with e85, you're taking down nearly everybody with a sub 6 figure car, and plenty more above it... best bang/buck mod there is if you went with cheapo ones.

I would actually really love to do it on mine now after doing it on his. job would probably take one half to two thirds the time it took this first time around, now that i know what to look for, what to expect, what order to do stuff in, etc. plus, all this work and effort isnt even for my car, so i dont get the added fun that comes after a long weekend project, ha.

im hesitant for mine due to emissions. im in IL, so emissions isnt the worst i dont think, but it's still there, unlike some states. I was just reading a different thread on here about some catted long tube headers still not passing emissions. im not looking to have to do swaps every time emissions comes up, unless it was say 1 hour or so to swap a mid pipe every year or two. if i could find a way around the emissions issue, i would strongly consider a set of long tubes for mine.

 

[331GT]

Cold start, first start with the headers on. Was late when we finished, so no daytime videos yet but you get the idea sound wise. I was honestly shocked at first how loud it was. I wondered if i forgot to tighten something completely but it settled to a normal idle once it warmed up and I didn't hear any leaks.

 

[331GT]

one thing worth noting for anyone else-the Texas Speed headers fit on rather well. i was concerned from other's experiences with the primaries contacting the AC lines. we did not encounter this at all.

the header flanges were also open on the bottom 4 holes, meaning you can slip them over the stud instead of needing to have the flange completely off the stud. this may have helped a little, worst case is if they're not open, you may have to remove any other remaining studs from the head.

also-i forgot just how much more it smells with no cats. my other car has been out of commission since 2016 (i know, shame on me) so i am not used to the smell. all my clothes need to be washed simply from standing behind the car for a few minutes.

 

[Strokerswild]

Man, Coyotes sound like ass with open headers....

 

[331GT]

My buddy has active exhaust and says he's getting a message saying "exhaust mode selection not available." i did unplug the active exhaust electrical connectors while dropping the mufflers, but i did reconnect them, and they did work the first night and through yesterday afternoon. yesterday evening he said he first received this message. i told him check the connections, make sure theyre still tight, but then he said they started working again. then subsequently stopped, again.

any ideas on this? the intermittent nature of this makes me think it's more with the connections as opposed to anything done with the headers, but open to any ideas. either way, i probably wont have a chance to take a look at his car until next week at the earliest. trying to see if anyone has suggestions i can pass along to him to look at.

for reference, the only thing changed was the headers/mid pipes. he already had an x pipe in place welded to his stock/factory mufflers. all i did with the mufflers was disconnect the wires, drop the hangers, and then reinstall everything once done.

 

[LOL WUT]

My buddy has active exhaust and says he's getting a message saying "exhaust mode selection not available." i did unplug the active exhaust electrical connectors while dropping the mufflers, but i did reconnect them, and they did work the first night and through yesterday afternoon. yesterday evening he said he first received this message. i told him check the connections, make sure theyre still tight, but then he said they started working again. then subsequently stopped, again.

any ideas on this? the intermittent nature of this makes me think it's more with the connections as opposed to anything done with the headers, but open to any ideas. either way, i probably wont have a chance to take a look at his car until next week at the earliest. trying to see if anyone has suggestions i can pass along to him to look at.

for reference, the only thing changed was the headers/mid pipes. he already had an x pipe in place welded to his stock/factory mufflers. all i did with the mufflers was disconnect the wires, drop the hangers, and then reinstall everything once done.

There have been several instances on the forum where after installing headers or mid pipes the wires for the active exhaust valves get out of place, rest on the exhaust and burn through causing codes and intermittent functionality. I’d have him check the wires coming off the connections on the mufflers.

 

[331GT]

There have been several instances on the forum where after installing headers or mid pipes the wires for the active exhaust valves get out of place, rest on the exhaust and burn through causing codes and intermittent functionality. I’d have him check the wires coming off the connections on the mufflers.

ill tell him again, hopefully he'll get under it. at least you can get under enough to see without lifting the car.

 

[Jhonda]

I have put headers in every vehicle I have owned myself except this one. I paid 450.00 to get them put on well worth it I think

 

[NGOT8R]

The side that creates a problem is the right or passenger side wiring harness. I believe it rubs against a pinch welded section of the body, my car is currently showing the same message and has thrown some codes. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to address mine until I get back into a house with a garage and have access to my tools and jack stands. My plan of attack to fix the issue permanently is; to buy a new harness, remove the right side axle back section, use a Dremel to neatly cut out the pinch weld area and give the harness plenty of room to avoid any possibility of chaffing in the future, touch up the area with some black Rustoleum primer/paint and reinstall the axle back. It really is an issue that Ford had to know about and could have corrected it. Instead, they chose to leave it to the customer to fix.

 

[331GT]

The side that creates a problem is the right or passenger side wiring harness. I believe it rubs against a pinch welded section of the body, my car is currently showing the same message and has thrown some codes. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to address mine until I get back into a house with a garage and have access to my tools and jack stands. My plan of attack to fix the issue permanently is; to buy a new harness, remove the right side axle back section, use a Dremel to neatly cut out the pinch weld area and give the harness plenty of room to avoid any possibility of chaffing in the future, touch up the area with some black Rustoleum primer/paint and reinstall the axle back. It really is an issue that Ford had to know about and could have corrected it. Instead, they chose to leave it to the customer to fix.

so you're saying that the issue is at the wiring at the muffler itself, correct? only other wiring we did anything with/messed with was the one connection to the air intake up top to remove the factor air box, and the O2 sensors. and we used zip-ties with the O2 wiring to ensure it was away from heat sources and anything moving. i think we did pretty well with those. im surprised we did enough messing around with the active exhaust wiring to cause any issues but maybe we did?


what a pain in the balls

 

[331GT]

i saw how the wiring for the active exhaust had plastic "snap pins" (not sure of correct term) to keep them in place on the rear bumper. i did not remove these from the rear bumper. we simply disconnected the wiring connector from the vehicle to the muffler valves. we put ramps under the mufflers to keep them from hanging, and thus not allowing the weight of the mufflers and tips to pull on the wiring itself as we moved the catback around to allow adequate room to maneuver the rest of the exhaust system forward onto the header collectors. maybe all this was enough to disrupt the wiring though?

 

[NGOT8R]

The issue appears to be the wiring rubs on the pinch weld area of the body, right behind where it plugs into the active exhaust valve. If you look under there, you will see that there is a tight bend in the wiring harness about 1” to 1 1/2” behind the connector which plugs into the active exhaust valve connector and there is just not enough space to prevent the wiring harness from rubbing against the pinch weld. When this happens, it either creates a break in the wiring inside the coating on the wiring which you won’t see, or in more severe cases, it wears through the coating on the wiring and shorts out. This can also cause a blown active exhaust fuse. This is not an issue on the driver’s side because the plug for the harness is on the front side of the active exhaust valive.

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...-2018-mustag-gt-active-exhaust-system.107214/

 

[331GT]

The issue appears to be the wiring rubs on the pinch weld area of the body, right behind where it plugs into the active exhaust valve. If you look under there, you will see that there is a tight bend in the wiring harness about 1” to 1 1/2” behind the connector which plugs into the active exhaust valve connector and there is just not enough space to prevent the wiring harness from rubbing against the pinch weld. When this happens, it either creates a break in the wiring inside the coating on the wiring which you won’t see, or in more severe cases, it wears through the coating on the wiring and shorts out. This can also cause a blown active exhaust fuse. This is not an issue on the driver’s side because the plug for the harness is on the front side of the active exhaust valive.

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...-2018-mustag-gt-active-exhaust-system.107214/

damn. well that sucks. im glad to know it's not something i screwed up by not paying attention or something. i had no idea this was an issue. ill pass this on to my buddy and see if he's still having the issue and go from there i guess. thanks for the info and the link!

im guessing since his issue is intermittent his fuse is fine, maybe it's just the wiring inside that cannot be seen while looking at everything just from sticking your head under the car.

 

[NGOT8R]

Please update us on your buddy’s findings.

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