the header is a must for anybody that doesn't want a turbo are just want something to hold them over, the header was a good buy except for some check engine lights and reworking the exhaust a little, but the construction is nice i like the gains driving is a hell of lot funnier, the moral is if you got the money buy it and have fun, also i would suggest the injen cai, b/c the engine bay gets hot.
PICS of header installed
- Thread starter upsman
- Start date
DooMer_MP3
Member
blackpro5 said:
I know its a typo, but it would be damn funny if people who installed a header started laughing whenever they drove somewhere
.Chris
Just an update.
The MIL eliminator worked like a charm to get rid of the CEL. Drove it the last 2 days and it has not come back since.
Still not happy with the fitment of the 2nd o2 sensor. It's just touching the oil pan. To me that is just pure crap.
I would also recommend people have a bit of tubing and connectors just in case the EGR tube did not fit like mine. It's sure a bummer to get everything apart, install the header to find that you cant get the EGR tube to match.
My only long-term question is going to be the heat from the header on the hood. It sure seems like a lot of heat in the engine compartment, and I wonder what it will be like in a 30C day idling in traffic.
The MIL eliminator worked like a charm to get rid of the CEL. Drove it the last 2 days and it has not come back since.
Still not happy with the fitment of the 2nd o2 sensor. It's just touching the oil pan. To me that is just pure crap.
I would also recommend people have a bit of tubing and connectors just in case the EGR tube did not fit like mine. It's sure a bummer to get everything apart, install the header to find that you cant get the EGR tube to match.
My only long-term question is going to be the heat from the header on the hood. It sure seems like a lot of heat in the engine compartment, and I wonder what it will be like in a 30C day idling in traffic.
AlbinoMuntjac
Member
Been reading for a while and finally decided to register/post. I'm really interested in getting this header and seems that it's about a 50/50 split as to the quality so far. I may just wait till a little later in the summer and then hopefully all the kinks will be worked out. As far as the engine bay heat, I'm just going to get the mild steel version and have it Jet-Hot coated. Good idea, no?
AlbinoMuntjac
Ron Tugnutt says,"I got a colon full of chili.....this thing could go off at any minute."
AlbinoMuntjac
Ron Tugnutt says,"I got a colon full of chili.....this thing could go off at any minute."
I've had Tony's header on for about 4-1/2 weeks now, and I have no complaints. There aren't any leaks (I used Coppercoat on the OEM gasket), the fit is better than some other pipes I've installed and still no CEL. I'm sure the CEL will come on sooner or later, knowing how OBDII works, but there is a cheap fix.
Go to radio shack and get a 1/4 watt, 1 meg-ohm resistor and a 1 micro-farad capacitor for all of about a buck and a half. Put the resistor inline with the 2nd O2 sensor's blue wire, and put the cap between the blue and white wire on the ECU side of the resistor.
Installing this pipe on a manual Protege5 wasn't bad either, and should have taken about 2-1/2 hours. All it took was the removal of the underbody plastic and the lower radiator hose. The clutch slave cylinder was still in the way, but a little force got past that.
The problem I did run into involved the EGR pipe nipple in the stock manifold. The nipple threaded out of the manifold instead of the flared tube nut coming off the nipple. No amount of penetrating oil would release it, and I removed the whole EGR tube from the car to get a better grip on it. My goal was to reuse the tube assembly, but the nut was so badly corroded to the nipple it was NFG.
I made a new assembly from 1/2" copper tube and everything was fine. From this effort I found that if you loosen the intake end of the EGR tube, its a whole lot easier to get it to line up with AWR header connection. The stock steel tube doesn't bend at all, and even a little mis-alignment would make connection nearly impossible without loosening the other end.
In the end it took me about 6 hours, 1 hour to locate a 26mm tube wrench (the intake manifold end of the tube is a b****), 2 hours to fab a new EGR tube and locate the right fittings and about 1/2 hour just to cuss my rotten luck. But none of this extra time can I blame on AWR.
Some low end performance was lost, which is the most noticable difference. But the car revs out much better now and I've changed how I drive and shift it. I shift about 1000 rpm higher now. Gas milage seems to have gotten much better, and I've now run several tanks thru just to be sure. Where I was getting an average of 30 mpg, I'm now getiing more like 35.
There is one minor nit with this pipe. The tail piece flange was touching the aluminum lower block on my test fit, so I ground it down. When I reinstalled it I had 3/8" clearance, but had failed to pull the mid pipe and grind it to match. So now the mid pipe forward flange is touching the lower engine block. Some day I'll have to fix that.
Go to radio shack and get a 1/4 watt, 1 meg-ohm resistor and a 1 micro-farad capacitor for all of about a buck and a half. Put the resistor inline with the 2nd O2 sensor's blue wire, and put the cap between the blue and white wire on the ECU side of the resistor.
Installing this pipe on a manual Protege5 wasn't bad either, and should have taken about 2-1/2 hours. All it took was the removal of the underbody plastic and the lower radiator hose. The clutch slave cylinder was still in the way, but a little force got past that.
The problem I did run into involved the EGR pipe nipple in the stock manifold. The nipple threaded out of the manifold instead of the flared tube nut coming off the nipple. No amount of penetrating oil would release it, and I removed the whole EGR tube from the car to get a better grip on it. My goal was to reuse the tube assembly, but the nut was so badly corroded to the nipple it was NFG.
I made a new assembly from 1/2" copper tube and everything was fine. From this effort I found that if you loosen the intake end of the EGR tube, its a whole lot easier to get it to line up with AWR header connection. The stock steel tube doesn't bend at all, and even a little mis-alignment would make connection nearly impossible without loosening the other end.
In the end it took me about 6 hours, 1 hour to locate a 26mm tube wrench (the intake manifold end of the tube is a b****), 2 hours to fab a new EGR tube and locate the right fittings and about 1/2 hour just to cuss my rotten luck. But none of this extra time can I blame on AWR.
Some low end performance was lost, which is the most noticable difference. But the car revs out much better now and I've changed how I drive and shift it. I shift about 1000 rpm higher now. Gas milage seems to have gotten much better, and I've now run several tanks thru just to be sure. Where I was getting an average of 30 mpg, I'm now getiing more like 35.
There is one minor nit with this pipe. The tail piece flange was touching the aluminum lower block on my test fit, so I ground it down. When I reinstalled it I had 3/8" clearance, but had failed to pull the mid pipe and grind it to match. So now the mid pipe forward flange is touching the lower engine block. Some day I'll have to fix that.
AlbinoMuntjac
Member
(rant) (argh) CRAP!!!! Well, there goes that thought out the window. I guess I should have contacted them about the mild steel version before I decided that's what I wanted. (hand) Well, I think I'm still gonna get this S.O.B. Jet-Hotted because that seems to me to be the best way to keep the engine bay nice and cool.
AlbinoMuntjac
Ron Tugnutt says,"Ever wake up naked someplace strange and wonder to yourself why you're naked and covered in melted Velveeta cheese and cupcake sprinkles???.......Oh, me neither...."
I ended up using a exhaust wrap on the header to keep the temp down, and it seems to have worked. Drove 1000K over this weekend in hot weather and no overheated power steering or peeling hood paint 
.
MIL eliminator has worked like a charm, no more CEL light since I installed it.
After these 2 weeks of having the awr header installed I am happy with the power gains, upset with the poor 2nd o2 fitment hitting the oil pan, and unsure what to think about the noise. In the city it's ok, but in the highway it sure is LOUD with the bosal exhaust. My only advice to someone is if you also want a cat-back, maybe get something quieter like the racing beat.
. MIL eliminator has worked like a charm, no more CEL light since I installed it.
After these 2 weeks of having the awr header installed I am happy with the power gains, upset with the poor 2nd o2 fitment hitting the oil pan, and unsure what to think about the noise. In the city it's ok, but in the highway it sure is LOUD with the bosal exhaust. My only advice to someone is if you also want a cat-back, maybe get something quieter like the racing beat.
Protege5 Online
Member
tester, why dont you check into getting the Bosal silencer. If you really think the Bosal/Header setup is too loud this would fix that. It may make it quiter than you want though so you've just got to decide if you would be happier with loud or quite. Or decide if you want to change to a different cat back (the Bosal is the loudest on the market right now)
Protege5 Online said:
I did buy it. From you
When I just had just the bosal exhaust it was acceptable in the city, and too loud in the highway. When I bough the silencer it made highway driving acceptable. The cams seemed to make things noisier, and now with the header, it's REALLY loud. On the highway it's undrivable without the silencer, and with, it's just barely acceptable. Of course in the city it's no big deal.
Yes you are right about changing the exhaust. I need to find a buyer locally and then buy the racing beat, or I will end up removing something
. Removing the header is out of the question, too much fun..The things a person does for a bit of power....
