if this thread will get locked. It is a technical thread, but it seems the mods in this forum are on high alert?

Heres the tech part:

What is better? Stock manifolds or headers? How much power increase can one expect from installing headers on a V6? Will the ECM richen the mixture to compensate?

Heres the rest:
Anyone that wants headers email me and I'll give you the answers

 

Headers are of course better because they increase flow........but i have no idea how the computer copensates for them.

 

I'm just along for the ride on this one!

 

Well if it increases flow, wouldn't the injectors have to work harder, possibly spray more to accomidate, which that would make the ecm change it, to a point. Basically, the limits of the ecm.

 

Yeah, but the ecm never gets the mixture right. Headers make an LS1 run rich, as I and many others can attest to. I'd assume with the less complex ecms of an older car, that it would be even more likely. Althought sometimes the older, more simple ecms respond better to certain mods than the new OBDII versions. So, I dunno, but I'd suspect headers would throw off the ecm, so plan on getting some sort of tuning device, wether it be a fuel pressure regulator, or a MAF tuner, or something along those lines.

 

I'm not getting headers for camaro engine, but now my s10, OF COURSE

 

ok so what if anything can be done about this?

 

Any headers application I have ever witnessed always makes a motor run leaner. I think you have things backwards.

 

Not with LS1s...read thru too many Autotap logs myself to prove it and had sooty tailpipes. Though I suspect it probably does make the car leaner, but the ecm overcorrects and dumps too much gas in thereby being too rich.

 

Plus depending on your climate and the distance from the oxy sensor to the engine, you might need a 3-wire heated oxy sensor. Headers don't hold their heat too well compared to thick cast-iron, and if the oxy sensor is too far from the primaries, it might not heat up enough to work properly. Oxy sensors don't work until they warm up; when they're cold, they send a single non-changing value to the ECM. As soon as they warm up, they send a fluctuating voltage back, and the ECM says "Hey, the oxy sensor's ready!" and starts using it.

 

As Tom said, the heated O2 is a good idea... for any vehicle running aftermarket exhaust. If you increase exhaust flow you lose exhaust gas temp.

 

ok so how would i hook up a heated O2 sensor.....

 

The hardest part is wiring a switch into the system. The Heated oxy sensor's got three wires; one is the signal wire for the computer, the other two are for the heating element. Both are usually colored black. Hook one black wire (doesn't matter which) to ground, hook another one through a heavy duty switch to the battery's positive terminal- and don't forget to turn the switch off!!

Better idea for a switch- a relay. Let the relay contacts handle the "switch" end. Control the relay's magnet (magnet on = pulls relay contacts together = closes relay switch) by wiring one end into ground, the other end thru a fuse into a circuit that comes on when the car is turned on. (Ex, the accessory fuse.) This is the absolute best way to wire it up, for at least two reasons.

First is that the relay handles the current of the heating element. Second is that the relay uses a thin, low-amperage, fused wire into the passenger compartment. These two reasons concern -safety- , keeps your car from catching on fire!