Thread: Bad vibration after header install

Ok well I finally got my headers installed and I went to take it out for a little test drive today and as soon as I started it up it began vibrating pretty bad. The vibrations were so bad that I didn't gas it over half throttle for fear of breaking something. There is also a rattling noise which sounds like it's either coming from the cat or the heatshield above it. Could the cat hitting the heat shielding actually cause such a bad vibration? Another thing I noticed is that the front O2 is resting on two unknown metal lines, but idk if that's the cause of the vibration either. I would jack it up and check out what's going on underneath but it's raining/snowing out.

Anyone have any ideas? I swear I have the worst luck with cars .

not sure....did u check and make sure u have everything locked down tight.. i know i left one of my motor mounts hanging off i ( luckily noticed b4 i started it up) ..i would just doublt check everything.....and dont worry after i installed my headers and my exhaust my car sat for 2 weeks b4 i could drive it because i ripped a vacume hose and couldnt figure out y my car was running like shiot...

Yep everything is torqued down tight.

The fins from the cat are kinda close to the heatshield, but if it was from that hitting would it really make my car vibrate as bad as it is?

hmmmm ....... i got the same headers and i just did them about a month ago......i dont see y it would be vibrating.... all i know is for me it was a vacume hose the size of a tooth pick and it made my car run real crappy to the point were i didnt drive it or start it up for 2 weeks....idk im sure someone else will give u some better answer so just wait till tonight when everyones on lol

Originally Posted by kingd44

all i know is for me it was a vacume hose the size of a tooth pick and it made my car run real crappy to the point were i didnt drive it or start it up for 2 weeks

Lol same thing happened to me. Did it happen to be the one that plugs into the underside of that thing on the back fuel rail ?

hmm not sure there was one on the side by the fuse box and then there was one in the front lol....i was o god what did i do to my car lolol....it made me regret modding for a sec ..but then once everything is fine again i love it lol..im done for a lil bit till next summer...

Anyone know if the front O2 sensor resting on those metal lines is a problem?

Originally Posted by Smokin2000gtp

Anyone know if the front O2 sensor resting on those metal lines is a problem?

yes. might cause false knock.

Bio does your O2 sensor rest on some metal lines too, or is something wrong here.

not quite sure, but im pretty sure that it doesnt hit anything. what metal lines are you speaking of? trans fluid lines?

I'll try and take a pic.

Well the vibration is definitely from the O2 sensor resting on those two lines as it doesn't vibrate when I put it in reverse which lifts the O2 sensor up and away from those lines. So what am I supposed to do about this? Here's a pic.

the way mine sits....im just touching my transmission stick to the right but im above the metal lines on the bottom by a good 3/4" idk y mine would be positioned differently do u bio?

That looks like power steering lines...

If so, do whatever you have to do to keep the O2 sensor off them. Power steering fluid is flammable and the O2 sensor gets VERY hot.

Hmm well I guess I'll try and put my shortened dogbones on and see if that rocks the engine forward enough to allow the O2 sensor to not hit those lines. I still don't get why my car is the only one to have this problem with S&S headers .

Ok a problem I foresee with using the shorter dogbones is the front header conflicting with the fan shroud. Would it be a problem if the header melts it a little bit?

my headers are touching the heat shield on my front fans. nothing bad has happened yet.

i use shorter dogbones as well.

Yep the shorter dogbones cured my problems, it did melt the fan shroud a little bit, but whatever it's not like I care about that hunk of plastic anyway. Now I just gotta get my cat to stop rattling up against the heatshield grrr... oh well at least I'm able to go wot now, and let me tell ya I love it . Now it's time to start dialing in the tune.

i still cant go wot wtf!!!!!!!!