question for those who have put on headers

[varanus]

To those who added headers to their viper, I am wondering if you noticed if the side sills got hotter , cooler, or stayed the same temperature after you put them on. If you could mention the brand of header, if it's coated at all, and if you also changed the rest of the exhaust too it would be helpfull.

On my 97 gts the sills were typically pretty warm. I added a corsa catback and random tech hi flo cats and the side sill temps dropped to almost the same temp as the rest of the body panels.

About a year later I added 1 &3/4 inch headers and the side sills got way hotter than they have ever been before. Anyone experience this or know a cure?

 

[Casey]

I put my Belanger headers, mopar 3 inch, roe hf on at the same time and noticed it was much cooler at the sills.
My Heffner blower was added later and heated those side sills right back up! I love the heat!!

 

[GTSnake]

I have Belangers with RT metal cats and a Borla cat back. My sill are much cooler than before. Maybe your AF mix is too lean now and the PCM didn't adjust to the new headers yet. Do you hear any popping when you let off the gas and coast?

 

[96 GTS]

I have B&B headers and B&B catback exhaust with NO cats. Sills get very warm but never hot.

 

[ACR Joe]

Belanger headers and full exhaust. Side sills are cool. With hi-flow cats installed, side sills are warm. OEM setup was unbearably hot!

 

[varanus]

I have Belangers with RT metal cats and a Borla cat back. My sill are much cooler than before. Maybe your AF mix is too lean now and the PCM didn't adjust to the new headers yet. Do you hear any popping when you let off the gas and coast?

The PCM has had a year to adjust so I think that isn't a factor. I do have popping, ever since the car had the corsa put on. With the blower there is more of it.

Is it possible the headers themselves are creating the heat?

 

[VPRVENM97]

Kevin,

How are things going my Blue & White brother? Did you smooth out all your issues with the S/C? Is your #10 still running rich? That might be the cause of your side sills running so hot.

I have the same headers you have and the Corsa Cat Back system. Where we're different is the cats. You have the R/T's and I have the modded factory cats. After I installed the headers and hi-flow cats, the sidesills were cooler then with stock manifolds and cats. They're still hot but not as hot as before.

 

[varanus]

Dave-are your headers coated? I got his first set and they were sprayed with a coating, but they are not the jet hot coating as originally promised. Which cats do you have? I have the gutted ones now and before that random techs. With the headers the only change made , sills got hot with random techs while they were cool with stock exhaust manifolds

 

[VPRVENM97]

Kevin,

No, mine are not jet-hot coated either. The cats I have are stock cats cut in half and opened up to 3" on both ends.

 

[varanus]

strange, you have an identical setup to mine. I wonder why my sill got hotter and yours cooler?

 

[GTS Bruce]

Only get luke warm.Coated cdi headers.No cats(3" stainless tube) 3" corsa.Lots of popping on decel. ruce

 

[Big Medicine]

I have B&B headers and B&B catback exhaust with NO cats. Sills get very warm but never hot.

I'd be interested to hear that set up; I'm considering the exact thing for a Christmas present to my self.

 

[VPRVENM97]

strange, you have an identical setup to mine. I wonder why my sill got hotter and yours cooler?

True, the exhaust setup is identical but I don't have a Supercharger or 70mm throttle bodies. Running rich might be your problem.

 

[99 R/T 10]

strange, you have an identical setup to mine. I wonder why my sill got hotter and yours cooler?

True, the exhaust setup is identical but I don't have a Supercharger or 70mm throttle bodies. Running rich might be your problem.

What?! Dave, I thought you got you S/C? What up with dat?

Mike

 

[varanus]

strange, you have an identical setup to mine. I wonder why my sill got hotter and yours cooler?

True, the exhaust setup is identical but I don't have a Supercharger or 70mm throttle bodies. Running rich might be your problem.

Dave, The car didn't have a sc or throttle bodies on it for 7 months after the headers went on. so in fact my setup was just like yours for those 7 months. The first 15 minutes upon leaving the shop after installing the headers only (my corsa and random techs had been on for car for nearly a year runing with very cool side sills)the sills got hotter than they ever had before.

While the sc and other mods certainly don't help, the hot side sills were already that way before the sc went on.

I can only suspect the headers, but supposedly your's are the same as mine

 

[99 R/T 10]

Wouldn't this be an indication of a cat falure? I don't think headers would cause the temp to go up, my $.02.

 

[varanus]

That would be a possibility, but it seems then the only answer would be that upon starting the car up with the newly installed headers the cats were instantly destroyed since the car had cool side sills when taken in originally . No other engine mods were done, just the header install. As i said in 15 minutes the sills were hot.

Since then the random techs have been replaced with factory semi gutted cats. They too are hot.

 

[99 R/T 10]

I would say go with no cats, but I see you live in Kalifornia. That blows. Could just take them off until inspection time though.

 

[VPRVENM97]

What?! Dave, I thought you got you S/C? What up with dat?

Mike

Mike,

Working on the house has taken up my time and left little or no time for Vipering so the S/C was sitting in the box. Someone wanted it for an upcoming event so I sold it. Maybe next spring I'll get another one. You get your GTS S/C'd yet?

Kevin,

I think your heat problems have to do more with engine or cats then with headers. But what do I know.....

 

[Sean Roe]

Hi Kevin,

I wonder if it might have something to do with ignition timing at idle. I can tell you we have seen quite a variation of ignition timing between different Vipers (apparently factory production tolerances between sensors and mounting locations). Once you have the VEC2 software, try advancing the timing at idle. You can probably add 8 degrees of advance to it. I'll try a test here soon and see if it changes the manifold temps.

I agree that the Supercharger certainly didn't help the heat problem, but there had to be some reason it was hot before. Send me the pictures of the inside of your sills. Let's take a look and see if the right factory shielding is in place.

Regards,
Sean