Okay, something has gone afoul with my header installation, so please bear
with me here as I really need some help.
The manifolds came off and the headers went on without a hitch. The problem
was when I got around to trying to hook them up to the Y-pipe.
First of all, I absolutely could NOT get them to fit using those rings that
came with the headers. I tried for an hour just to get one side to go on,
prying, beating, banging, and it wasn't happening. It looked like it mated
up pretty well without the rings -- and the manifolds don't have rings -- so
I thought, "well, I'll put 'em on without the rings and see what happens."
I got everything reassembled, started the truck up, and it ran like crap. On
my 8 mile drive home from my friend's driveway, here's the symptoms I got:
1) Runs very rough (seemed to get a tad smoother as I drove longer)
2) No power
3) Backfiring on acceleration from stop and deceleration near stop
(deceleration backfiring maybe got less over the course of the drive)
4) Check engine light came on twice. I did the code-pulling thing and got:
P0351, P0300, P0304, P0306. I tried looking up trouble codes on the web, but
all I found were 2-digit codes, so I don't know what these mean.
Are these problems all common to an exhaust leak, or does it sound like
something else might be amiss? Are you supposed to use those rings without
fail (I bought the headers used, so I had no instructions and JBA is closed
on weekends).
Some thoughts: I did goop up the collectors with hi-temp gasket. It was cold
out (45) so it might have solidified too much before I got it assembled, and
I'm thinking this could be a recipe for an instant leak. Could the problem
be as simple as this?
Also, I'm 99% sure I got the plug wires back the way they were supposed to
go, but if I switched a couple would that account for these symptoms (my
thoughts say yes). I'm positive at least one joint is leaking, but would
that account for the engine being rough and shaky?
Sorry for the long post and my ignorance, but my truck is practically
non-driveable and I need to know what to do. The worst part was when I
stopped at a gas station and some guy in a shiny new (and CLEAN) Toyota
Tacoma looked at my dirty, backfiring Dak like it was a disgusting piece of
junk. I guess it was, though... sigh.
Thanks for any suggestions!!!
- Alex
'00 RC SLT V6 5-Speed
Profile: http://www.twistedbits.net/WWWProfile/dakota/SxokV7hSrtCVk
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 11:58:30 EDT