OBX Exhaust Header Manifold FITS 97 98 99 00 01 Explorer Mountaineer 5.0L V8

[MuscleJunkie]

Yes please. Would love to read some actual experiences (with photos) about these headers.

 

[juggar]

Im getting my explorer back tomorrow ill try and post some pictures and my experience.

The shop was backed up and one of the 3 employees was leaving and they were getting a new guy in so they just got to my explorer last friday.

bad news is my timing cover is leaking coolant(every ~300 miles or so the reservoir tank is empty) and its totally not worth fixing($900 quote, spent $1k for truck with clean title in hand) so I guess i'll just keep dumping coolant in.

 

[1997XLTRollover]

Im getting my explorer back tomorrow ill try and post some pictures and my experience.

The shop was backed up and one of the 3 employees was leaving and they were getting a new guy in so they just got to my explorer last friday.

bad news is my timing cover is leaking coolant(every ~300 miles or so the reservoir tank is empty) and its totally not worth fixing($900 quote, spent $1k for truck with clean title in hand) so I guess i'll just keep dumping coolant in.

I would have fixed the timing cover before doing headers haha that's a lot of coolant to be losing in 300 miles. I would try that stop leak crap. The name of the good one is evading me at the moment. Small blue bottle, everyone says it actually works really well. If you're scrapping the truck and don't care about it I'd dump that stuff in there.

 

[juggar]

I would have fixed the timing cover before doing headers haha that's a lot of coolant to be losing in 300 miles. I would try that stop leak crap. The name of the good one is evading me at the moment. Small blue bottle, everyone says it actually works really well. If you're scraping the truck and don't care about it I'd dump that stuff in there.

I wanted to fix it, but at $900 it hardly makes sense financially on an engine with 217k miles(not to mention I had other unexpected expenses come up so I literally could not afford it). I may try the stop leak stuff but gunking up the engine doesn't seem like a good idea to me if I want this thing to last.

Im content to keep adding coolant, but maybe i'll try some of that stop leak stuff.

The shop said they had to cut some of the header bolts off because of how stuck they were. I can tell the bill will already be $500 at least based on the labor involved so far(thank god only $65 an hour). These damn headers better be worth it, in any case I wont have a cracked and leaking drivers side header anymore.

 

[juggar]

Update, ill have it back tomorrow at 10 AM. They got the headers on and are just putting things back together the rest of today and tomorrow morning.

They worked all day Friday and today on it and will some more tomorrow morning but they said they obviously wouldn't charge me for those 16+ hours.

Basically everything that could go wrong did go wrong... bill should be about $600 not too bad considering.

 

[1997XLTRollover]

I wanted to fix it, but at $900 it hardly makes sense financially on an engine with 217k miles(not to mention I had other unexpected expenses come up so I literally could not afford it). I may try the stop leak stuff but gunking up the engine doesn't seem like a good idea to me if I want this thing to last.

Im content to keep adding coolant, but maybe i'll try some of that stop leak stuff.

The shop said they had to cut some of the header bolts off because of how stuck they were. I can tell the bill will already be $500 at least based on the labor involved so far(thank god only $65 an hour). These damn headers better be worth it, in any case I wont have a cracked and leaking drivers side header anymore.

I feel the same way but this stuff apparently doesn't ever get all gunky. I've never used it myself but heard nothing but good things about it. Because believe me I agree, I would never put that kinda crap in my engine. I would just fix the issue. But in your case it probably makes sense. Although that leak is so severe it may not even work.

Here's the stuff I'm talking about. K-Seal. that was driving me nuts that I couldn't remember the name. Lots on guys with land rovers use it when they crack the cylinder walls in those pieces of ****. Apparently it fixes that so you may have a chance of it fixing your leak too.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...kJgShcOM9ZLhv-ZJga0ItdpgxUF4IcEB_KhoC9XDw_wcB

 

[juggar]

I feel the same way but this stuff apparently doesn't ever get all gunky. I've never used it myself but heard nothing but good things about it. Because believe me I agree, I would never put that kinda crap in my engine. I would just fix the issue. But in your case it probably makes sense. Although that leak is so severe it may not even work.

Here's the stuff I'm talking about. K-Seal. that was driving me nuts that I couldn't remember the name. Lots on guys with land rovers use it when they crack the cylinder walls in those pieces of ****. Apparently it fixes that so you may have a chance of it fixing your leak too.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...kJgShcOM9ZLhv-ZJga0ItdpgxUF4IcEB_KhoC9XDw_wcB

Thanks, ill certainly try it.

I think the leak is moderate at best, I can easily go a month without adding coolant as thats when its all gone from the reservoir tank.

I blame my roommate, it used to be his truck and before he sold it to me he rear ended and totaled a recent camry and that's when the leak started.

You cant even tell the explorer hit someone other than a slightly bent front bumper and cracked grill (which I replaced).

just found out that the included EGR tube doesnt fit, they are having to heat it up to make it fit. Installing these headers is not turning out to be easy.

 

[VR4]

The timing cover is gravy. I had mine off in about 90 minutes including removing the grille and bumper since I was doing the cam.

 

[juggar]

They got the headers installed, its obvious that it's got more low end grunt. Definitely surprised when I just tap the pedal a little. I'll need to let the computer learn the new air flow, it's hardly been driven.

Im going to load a 93 octane SCT tune and see how that does since I can get pure 93 octane gas. SCT says 11 HP gain with SCT 93 tune I think and these headers add like 17 HP and 40 ft/lbs of torque if I remember correctly.

Cost me $500(labor), not too bad since they had to really work hard on this for a few days, including heating up the EGR tube and getting that put into place.

Ill add pics when I can later today.

 

[JCat]

Just ordered mine . . . with gasket and manifold studs too.
.
Unfortunately . . .
I just ordered and received stock exhaust manifolds. I guess I'll sell those once I successfully install these headers.

 

[YTF0rd]

[MENTION=11028]JCat[/MENTION] did you get yours on ebay too?

 

[JCat]

^ Yes. I placed my order 11/18/2015 in the morning

 

[juggar]

Heres the pictures, I'm sure ill need to wrap some more foil stuff around the spark plugs and wires.

The inner flap of plastic on both wheel wells is gone, one was gone when I got the truck and the other is gone now but thats a non issue, they also are getting me a new oil dipstick.

Later, whens its not raining I'm going to go out and really go over everything and make sure its all in order. Im still getting that "ticking noise" from the drivers side but it sounds very different now, not really a tick anymore. not sure what that is but it is what it is at this point.

 

[firefly1246]

[MENTION=288085]juggar[/MENTION]
You stated anything that could go wrong with the install did. Anything that had to do with the quality of the headers, or other nonassociated issues?

 

[juggar]

[MENTION=288085]juggar[/MENTION]
You stated anything that could go wrong with the install did. Anything that had to do with the quality of the headers, or other nonassociated issues?

Well, the EGR tube will need to be heated and bent into position. I also read that others had this issue so be prepared for that.

As you can see they somehow managed to break the oil dipstick handle off.

Some of the pre existing exhaust header bolts that were on the stock headers were stuck tight and some had to be cut off, this took a lot of time to deal with I'm told. And this does seem to be the norm with high mileage explorers.

They tried getting in the driver side header one way and couldn't get it in so they had to figure out another way. I think the passenger side header was easiest (excepting the ERG tube) because its easier to get to and it had already been replaced once three years ago.

They had to take the spark plugs out and move some other stuff around nearby, they also had the new guy work on it so he took a bit longer than they normally would.

He mentioned some other stuff that I forgot but I don't think any of it was major. He mentioned having to cut something, said something about runners I think.

Basically its an extremely tight fit and overall just a major PITA. You'll need more than a basic set of tools to accomplish it which is why I let them do it. They've got a lift and far better tools than I plus more experience.

 

[carlover]

On either side do the headers come over the top of the frame? im trying to see pics to see if they will fit on my highly modified frame.

 

[juggar]

On either side do the headers come over the top of the frame? im trying to see pics to see if they will fit on my highly modified frame.

Im not sure, but ill take more/better pics tomorrow when its not raining.

 

[carlover]

just to give an idea, here is what im working with. Need to see if they will fit inside the engine cage area.

 

[juggar]

just to give an idea, here is what im working with. Need to see if they will fit inside the engine cage area.

Hmm, off the top of my head I want to say they will fit but ill post some more pics when I have the chance.

 

[1997XLTRollover]

Heres the pictures, I'm sure ill need to wrap some more foil stuff around the spark plugs and wires.

The inner flap of plastic on both wheel wells is gone, one was gone when I got the truck and the other is gone now but thats a non issue, they also are getting me a new oil dipstick.

Later, whens its not raining I'm going to go out and really go over everything and make sure its all in order. Im still getting that "ticking noise" from the drivers side but it sounds very different now, not really a tick anymore. not sure what that is but it is what it is at this point.

Those things actually look to be a decent build quality. The chrome finish will probably come off pretty quick but the welds look good. But definitely definitely fix that plug wire. That's going to melt laying right on the headers like that. I ran mine way around the headers and zip tied it away from the pipes.

Far as problems, broken bolts, broken dipstick and the pain they went through is all very normal. I've broken every dipstick but 1 I've taken out of an engine 10+ years old. I just had a NOS Ford dipstick too. I gave it away when I sold my 99. There might be some on eBay still. If not let me know and I can text the guy I sold my truck to and maybe he'll sell it to you if you can't find one.