TBIformula91

Since putting on some new Hedman Hedders and Y-pipe, I have got one hell of an exhaust leak. Anyone know what the best sealant is for this situation? Thanks for any replies.

Will

spartyon

i havent tried this yet but i bought a book of 1001 high performance tech tips by wayne scraba? it said before installing header or exhaust gaskets to soak them in water for around 20 mins. cant remember why off hand. also make sure u have the bolts and everything as tight as they can go.

TBIformula91

I will have to try that tip with the soaking in water. I have tightened them down as much as can be done.

IROC57TPI

I have heard many times that Hedmans are prone to leakage. Its the crappy collectors..

darbleinad

ultra-copper RTV is a high temp sealant. try it. i have even had good luck with regular red high temp rtv before. some good soft-aluminum gaskets will work real well and they are resuable. you can also get reusble aluminum collector gaskets.

Marc 85Z28

iTrader: (3)

I'll second that. I've used several different gasket types (regular, copper, dead soft aluminum) and spent nearly $100 in doing so. They ALL leaked! I finally bought a tube of Permatex Ultra-Copper and have never had a problem since.

strokedtpi

did you ever use the permatex between the flange and the heads or just the collectors?

darbleinad

i have never used it between the header flange and heads but i have heard of people doing it. i have always used the the reusuable soft aluminum gaskets there. they work very well. i have just used the RTV on the collectors.

Marc 85Z28

iTrader: (3)

All the headers I've used were ball flange type collectors. I used the Ultra Copper on the header flange/head.

MrDude_1

is the leak from below the engine?


the y pipe needs to be welded on all the way around. that slip fit is ment to be welded.


take it to a shop, have them tack weld it then unbolt the y pipe and have it welded all the way around.


as for teh header gaskets, the ones that it comes with will work great once retorqued once. if you remove the headers they will tear and leak. if you remove the headers, get some nice copper header and collector gaskets... i got mine from summit... they can be reused about 4 or 5 times... and dont leak. they should not require re torquing either.




btw NEVER use RTV on exhaust. even "high temp" copper stuff... and dont bother with thoes exhaust puddys either.. or any of that other cr-ap. if you're going to bother fixing somthing, atleast fix it correctly.

PS i know for a fact that JB weld melts and smokes on exhaust pipes. regardless of what anyone tells you, do NOT use it. it is NOT a replacement for a real weld.

rezinn

Sealant? You don't use sealant for exhaust leaks. You fix them by replacing the gaskets, tightning things, or welding.

Air_Adam

Are the collector bolt-flanges on your headers welded on or are they the kind that can be moved around? If they are welded onto the collector, as some are, you may want to check to see if they are bent. If they are bent, then you may have to pull them out to starighten them. I'm not sure if this is as important for the movable flanges though.

SSC

A good trick when replacing gaskets is to use vortec exhaust manifold gaskets. They are just like headder gaskets and seal better then cheapo Mr Gasket even better then the felpro headder gaskets, they dont break or wear as quickly either and I need to mention $8

wyclefsirocz

they best stuff i have found to date, but i kinda stopped looking once i found this stuff, it will work

Beast5spdGTA

I have the ultra copper sealant on my cat-y-pipe seam, it's been there for a month or so now, hasn't burned off and is still soft even. I think they say it's good to 700+*F.

JB weld is just an epoxy with metal powder in it.