Headswap break in time and some ?'s

Blev

Blev

New Member
Aug 17, 2003
1,295
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So. Cal. V-Town
#1
I did a search but didn't come up with much.

Now that the swap is done and I have driven it I have a few questions.

1) How many miles should I run it before I go for WOT? I'm keeping it around 3k for now.

2) Did anyone else notice more "ticking" with headers? or is it the infamous "PI tick"?

3) I got a CEL, I cleared it once and it went away. I let the car idle for 15 min. or so and it was fine. Turned it off, let it sit and checked the oil. Started it and it and got another CEL. She runs really rough when it's cold but smoother then silk when she's warmed up. Any ideas?

4) Is there anything I should check for besides oil leaks?

Thanks for the help and info :nice:
 

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#2
Blev said:
I did a search but didn't come up with much.

Now that the swap is done and I have driven it I have a few questions.

1) How many miles should I run it before I go for WOT? I'm keeping it around 3k for now.

2) Did anyone else notice more "ticking" with headers? or is it the infamous "PI tick"?

3) I got a CEL, I cleared it once and it went away. I let the car idle for 15 min. or so and it was fine. Turned it off, let it sit and checked the oil. Started it and it and got another CEL. She runs really rough when it's cold but smoother then silk when she's warmed up. Any ideas?

4) Is there anything I should check for besides oil leaks?

Thanks for the help and info :nice:
Click to expand...

After doing the headswap, I drove mine pretty easy till I hit 500 miles and then did an oil change [incase I had any debris left in the engine from the swap]
Mine ran great, as soon as I started it, I wonder if you have a vacuum leak, do you have a vacuum gauge?
 
#3
CanadaStang said:
After doing the headswap, I drove mine pretty easy till I hit 500 miles and then did an oil change [incase I had any debris left in the engine from the swap]
Mine ran great, as soon as I started it, I wonder if you have a vacuum leak, do you have a vacuum gauge?
Click to expand...

That's what I though, but it runs smooth once it's warmed up. Drives really smooth in stop and go traffic. So I don't think it's that. I don't have a gauge though, so it might me. I'm going to double check all my conections tomorrow. The thing is I let it run for 15 min. after I cleared the CEL and it was fine. Backed it off the ramps and was fine. It's when I let it sit and then started it again when I came up with a CEL. :shrug:
 
#6
Blev said:
Nah, I'm running shorties. Do I need mils for shorties?
Click to expand...

<- green4.6GT at dustys

you shouldnt get a CEL from shorties, because they have not affected any cats, you need mills with an offroad midpipe only, and only for the rear o2's....

also, the CEL from missing cats, will not affect engine preformance, the rear 2 o2 sensors just tattle if your car is polluting more than it should... the front 2 are the ones that mess with the egine, but they are not affected by an o/r pipe because they are before the cats...
 
#7
Dusty said:
<- green4.6GT at dustys

you shouldnt get a CEL from shorties, because they have not affected any cats, you need mills with an offroad midpipe only, and only for the rear o2's....

also, the CEL from missing cats, will not affect engine preformance, the rear 2 o2 sensors just tattle if your car is polluting more than it should... the front 2 are the ones that mess with the egine, but they are not affected by an o/r pipe because they are before the cats...
Click to expand...
That's pretty much what I thought. I'm fairly convinced it's just the whole break in thing. I'm going to double check everything tomorrow and go get the codes pulled at the auto part store.
 
#9
Blev said:
That's pretty much what I thought. I'm fairly convinced it's just the whole break in thing. I'm going to double check everything tomorrow and go get the codes pulled at the auto part store.
Click to expand...

good call :nice: , you might have bitched a sensor somewhere just by bumping it on something thats making the car run screwy... like i did with one of my damn abs sensors :mad:

maybe check the pcv valve :shrug:
 
#12
Vacuum leak maybe? Mine had a vacuum hose come loose and it ran funny til it got warm.Sounds weird because I thought it would continue to run crappy with the leak but it got better as the car warmed up. I popped the hood and found a loose hose. I put it back on and the car ran like a charm.
 
#15
In first gear, hold your clutch in and rev engine to 4,000 RPMs. Let clutch out all at once and rev to 6,000 RPMs. Do this in 1,2,3,and 4th gear. You should be doing about 125MPH. After this your headswap is broken in. :rlaugh: :rlaugh: :rlaugh: :rlaugh:

This is what I did and now the car runs great.
 
#16
as previously mentioned the MIL could be a vacuum leak. run the codes and see what you get. when i headswapped we kept getting P0171 and P0174 which is banks 1 and 2 lean. we tried everything, from PCV valves to fuel filters trying to figure out why it was lean. we werent sure whether it was a fuel problem or a vacuum leak until we used WDS to watch the graphs. the lean condition existed only at idle and tapered off as the the throttle was depressed. we narrowed it down to a vacuum leak and were just about to replace the intake gaskets when we decided to try one last resort. we replaced the egr gasket and the light went off and stayed off. the egr gasket its an easy thing to forget because we pulled the upper plenum off of the engine with the egr still plumbed into the plenum (we just unhooked it at the back of the engine.) a simple $4 gasket saved us alot of work.

anyway, thats a really long winded response, but it shows how a long search for a problem can yield what turns out to be a really easy fix. other symptoms of a vacuum leak are stalling off idle because your long term fuel trims are maxed out trying to compensate for the lean condition. if this sounds like anything you're suffering from i'd try the egr gasket. its a cheap and easy fix.
good luck,
derek
 
#17
Also, with the OEM PI cams, you could be a tooth off on one of the sprockets and it would run "OK" but be down on power a little and run a little rough. It would also probably cause it to throw a CEL from the camshaft sensor. Just a thought.
 
#18
NitroDuck said:
as previously mentioned the MIL could be a vacuum leak. run the codes and see what you get. when i headswapped we kept getting P0171 and P0174 which is banks 1 and 2 lean. we tried everything, from PCV valves to fuel filters trying to figure out why it was lean. we werent sure whether it was a fuel problem or a vacuum leak until we used WDS to watch the graphs. the lean condition existed only at idle and tapered off as the the throttle was depressed. we narrowed it down to a vacuum leak and were just about to replace the intake gaskets when we decided to try one last resort. we replaced the egr gasket and the light went off and stayed off. the egr gasket its an easy thing to forget because we pulled the upper plenum off of the engine with the egr still plumbed into the plenum (we just unhooked it at the back of the engine.) a simple $4 gasket saved us alot of work.

anyway, thats a really long winded response, but it shows how a long search for a problem can yield what turns out to be a really easy fix. other symptoms of a vacuum leak are stalling off idle because your long term fuel trims are maxed out trying to compensate for the lean condition. if this sounds like anything you're suffering from i'd try the egr gasket. its a cheap and easy fix.
good luck,
derek
Click to expand...

You know...you might be right. Now that I think back, I didn't see a gasket on the plenum OR the egr. Do you really think that little thing could cause the rough idle til it was warm? Either way, I think you just nailed it because I didn't see a gasket and just said F' it cuz I was tired. I'll try that. Thanks!!

NickTehGenius said:
Also, with the OEM PI cams, you could be a tooth off on one of the sprockets and it would run "OK" but be down on power a little and run a little rough. It would also probably cause it to throw a CEL from the camshaft sensor. Just a thought.
Click to expand...
Dude...

I just have to say your avitar's ALWAYS make me smile. As for the cams, I installed new chains and tripple checked everything before we put the timing cover back on. So I'm posotive that's not that case.

I'll try the egr gasket and reset the computer and see if that helps. Cross your fingers!!
 
#19
OK, this really sucks. I didn't have a gasket so I used RTV to seal the EGR at the plenum. My car still runs like sh ! t when it's cold. Maybe I should say DOESN'T run when it's cold. It dies. I checked all my lines again and can't figure it out. Why would it run when it's warm but not cold? I didn't get a chance to go by the auto part store yet so I don't have a code :(
 
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