Christopher Johnson
Member
- Joined
- April 16, 2000
- Messages
- 37
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Oklahoma City, OK
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '95 Explorer "Expedition"
I recently encountered a problem that ended up costing me $140.00 with these headers. It was mostly labor and what not.
The threads where the O2 sensors screw into on the Y pipe also have the ceramic coating on them. What ended up happening was when I went to replace the O2 sensors that they were seized completely. The sensors had plenty of anti-seize before reinstallation.
So what happened? The threads pulled out on one and the second O2 sensor didn't pull out at all.
My mechanic ended up having to take the Y pipe down to a shop 3 blocks down and cutting off the old nipples and welding in 2 new ones. Well, at least I have some good ports to screw in O2 sensors but it was grief I didn't want to go through. BTW, the new O2 sensors brought some life back to my truck.
On a side note, the pipes are so heavy duty that the clamp can barely compress the pipe at the point where the Y pipe connects to the tail pipe on its way to the first catalytic convertor. There was an exhaust leak here that we think we solved by smearing some high temperature compound around the Y pipe before mating it to the tail pipe. If the compound doesn't blow out and it all plugs up good I should be fine there.
Anyway, I wanted to caution everyone about the nipples that the O2 sensors screw into. Perhaps working the O2 sensors in and out of the threads a few times to wear it out some before going on your first drive may suffice.
The threads where the O2 sensors screw into on the Y pipe also have the ceramic coating on them. What ended up happening was when I went to replace the O2 sensors that they were seized completely. The sensors had plenty of anti-seize before reinstallation.
So what happened? The threads pulled out on one and the second O2 sensor didn't pull out at all.
My mechanic ended up having to take the Y pipe down to a shop 3 blocks down and cutting off the old nipples and welding in 2 new ones. Well, at least I have some good ports to screw in O2 sensors but it was grief I didn't want to go through. BTW, the new O2 sensors brought some life back to my truck.
On a side note, the pipes are so heavy duty that the clamp can barely compress the pipe at the point where the Y pipe connects to the tail pipe on its way to the first catalytic convertor. There was an exhaust leak here that we think we solved by smearing some high temperature compound around the Y pipe before mating it to the tail pipe. If the compound doesn't blow out and it all plugs up good I should be fine there.
Anyway, I wanted to caution everyone about the nipples that the O2 sensors screw into. Perhaps working the O2 sensors in and out of the threads a few times to wear it out some before going on your first drive may suffice.
