I have a leak at the diver's side collector where it meets the Y-pipe. (95 car with SLP single cat headers) It seems that the pipe and the header are a bit misaligned. When you look at the joint, the gap on one side is wider than the other side. The driver side is the problem child. The passenger side works just fine.

I had an exhaust shop replace the gaskets with these hard, blue, fibrous gaskets that the guy said were better than the ones that came with the headers.

Of course it only took about two days for the leak to come back. Since the O2 sensor is just below the joint, it's causing the car to run rich. It's amazing what a leak like this can do to the driveability of the car.

Any ideas on how to get this thing fixed? Are there any better gaskets out there? I have heard of using copper gaskets. Where would I find them?

 

Update:

I talked to someone at SLP about this. They wanted more specifics on the problem, but said that any fix would require taking the header and Y-pipe off and sending it to them. NOT!

Is there any way to weld a different flange on there? Any way to get the @#@# thing to seal with what's there now?

I was thinking of having my muffler shop cut the end of the Y-pipe off and install it separately on the flange, so that it lines up right. Then, they could weld the thing back together. That would make it line up better, I think.

Any ideas?

 

Actually, that sounds like a good idea. That way you don't mess up the header flange or have to remove it.

Should be the best/cheapest way to go.

Just be sure that the muffler shop people know what they are doing and don't have to do any special shimming or gasket mods or burn a hole in your floor panel.JMHO

 

I had that exact same problem when I first installed my SLP single cats. My y was off by a good 3/4 of an inch from the driver side header collector, there was no way it was sealing up even with the donut gasket. I ended up having to cut the y-pipe about a foot from where the driver side of the y met that header. I then mounted that piece and the other side of the Y and used an extra stainless borla clamp I had and cut it down and had it welded around to seal it. Everything fit perfect then and has worked fine ever since. I was really pissed when I found it was off that much, I could have sent it back to SLP but didnt feel like dealing with them anymore at the time and figured I'd just fix it myself. I wondered if it had anything to do with me installing them on a 97 car since the heads were cast a little different than earlier years but not sure.

 

Sounds like I will be headed back to the exhaust shop. I got a response from SLP that said:

"Not sure how you want to proceed, SLP will gladly look at the header and
y-pipe if you want to send them back."

Let's see should I spend the time to remove it and then reinstall it (serious PITA), and be without the car for a couple weeks while they decide what to do? ahhhh NO.

Thanks for the replies.

BRAD

 

LOL i had the same problems.... They are good headers, but where the collector meets the y-pipe is garbage.

 

same problem here, except I installed the drivers side first so my fitment issues was on the passengers side. I'm probably gonna have a shop cut/weld it back up soon, but I did get it to fit with a small leak on that side.

 

This must be a really common thing... I just happen to have little gaps at the y-pipe. Go figure...

I bought some new donut gaskets (felpro) they are solid steel looking ones so they shouldnt burn out.. I'd hate to have to cut and re weld something or let a muffler shop do it.. They are idiots around here...

Can someone post a write-up on how to fix this annoying AND common problem ?


Could be why I have a rough idle but drives 100% fine otherwise ??

 

Do you have a part number for the Fel-Pro gaskets? I used their header flange gasket and (knock on wood) have not had any problems with leaks at the flanges. Maybe that's because they're too busy leaking at the collector .

BRAD

 

Well, when I first put mine on the Ypipe was off like you guys are describing. It's a real bitch but it will fit. I went down to the local autoparts store and bought the softest donut gasket I could. I believe the application was an 88-98 truck w/ a big block. It's a 2.5" donut. Anyhoo, I have even reused the donuts a few times and they still seal. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the info. Now to get this thing fixed...

BRAD

 

Send me a PM to remind me, I have them out in the car but its 1030pm here, I'll get the part # for you in the am.. Just pm me and remind me...


Keith

 

Thanks for the number. I'm off to Pep Boys to see what I can find. Then my exhaust guy is going to fix it for free, since the last go round didn't hold.

BRAD

 

Sorry to hear about that, mine weren;t off by much, but I developed a leak around one of those doughnut gaskets and I replaced mine with "scintered steel" doughnut gaskets that are used on a 454 chevy truck and haven't had a problem since.

-Tony