belcom

iTrader: (1)

Title says it all. soooo fucking disappointed. 4th batch my ass! Had to return the first header that I got and then Nexus lied to me.... said I will get new one and I got back the old one "fixed". Fitment was crap all the way and I have no clue if it's resonanse or leak but pretty much as I put the throttle down it makes a loud high pitched ("cricket" noise as someone else described) all the way in the RPM range, not just between 2k-3k. I thought a lot of people said that AW figured it out finally and made a good product, that's why ordered it. Even the bolts they supply are shit, broke 2 in the process because with the poor fitment of pipes they had to be tightened pretty hard and they just broke.

what's with the sound? is the resonance supposed to be there all the time or just in some particular RPM range?

1quickCLtypeS

beautiful car man used comptech is the way to go even if its not new and still more expensive....... i mean its a beutiful car use the best

Time For Sleeep

Wow, this is very dissapointing news. From what I've read on the boards it seems like most others are happy with their alphawerks headers fitment/quality. Please keep us posted on what nexus decides to do with your situation. For you and them both, I hope they can back up behind their product and help you take care of your defective item...

cmark

wow, sorry to hear about your problems. i haven't had any problems whatsoever with my alphawerks. hope they take care of you.

typeR

i will say this...most people on this board have bad/worn motor mounts and dont even know it...the main culprit is the side mount nearest the PS pump...this is lquid filled and does fail easily leading to failure of either or both front and rear primary mounts...this causes excessive engine movement fore and aft and may be in part responsible for the noise you're hearing?

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

That sucks. Time to step up to Comptechs.

bobbydoedoedoe

i have reccomend the guy from nexus to replace the bolts into higher quality ones, but i guess they didn't give a shit on my comment and contine to supply those pos bolts

belcom

iTrader: (1)

Seems like I'm not the only one with bolts breaking. The only way it could be done now is Nexus should send me a new one (checked and rechecked a 100 times) and once I replace it I can either throw the old one into garbage or send it back to them. Anybody agree with me?

TallyCL-S

TypeR....isn't it the front motor mount that is hydraulic and not the side one?

Smitty

should of known you get what you pay for.... I took my CT headers off this past weekend... put the stock exhaust manifolds.. not a fun task to do mutliple times.. I feel your pain... but I never had a problem with the CT headers... find some used and just learn from your mistakes... a lesson learned.. ya know

p.s. make sure you use alot of anti-seize compound on the threads of the studs and bolts.

Sun Diego CL-S

that's for DAMNED sure! -though mine were new CT's, but yeah

typeR

front rear and side...with the f/r being vacuum assisted

belcom

iTrader: (1)

I've been following the forum and searching for the last 4 months and never once anyone mentioned anything about motor mounts being a problem and causing any sounds related to aftermarket headers

Sun Diego CL-S

yeah well. so it seems that there is all kinds of shit going on with this car. from the leather seats to the idle air control valve to.....

wahooo12345

Bad customer service
Bad QC
Bad product
Bad price

SAY GOODBYE to AW, I will not buy any AW product again

I am going to file compliant to BBB and paypal (to get my money back)

I have contacted the AW and the seller several times; they refused to replace it for me

belcom

iTrader: (1)

I actually smell exhaust fumes inside the car now when recirculation is not turned on. that's even more fucked up!!

typeR

thats what happened to me when my comptechs flex pipe broke due to bad motor mounts...it started slow and got worse and worse till eventually i sounded like one of those civics and smelled like gas every day...i replaced the frount motor mount..filled the side motor mount and comptech sent me the new flex section i had welded in and all has been good since

UglyPsycho

Thats weird. My alphawerk headers came with O-ring gaskets not that cheap paper one and they sit flush on the down pipe and block. I guess I had one of the good batches. Sorry to hear about your headers.

illogical

belcom, sorry to hear that your headers aren't fitting right. I was thinking about forcing mine in also, but I decided it wasn't a good idea. I tried to email Carlos about my fucked up AW replacement headers.. no response.
Right now, filing a complaint against Alpha Werks and Excelerate to the BBB isn't such a bad idea.

quicksilver10101

very true...alphawerks is an extremelt unreliable and irresponsible company...my headers came in with the o2 bung in the wrong spot and customer service was not very helpful....how can you make a mistake like that? were they drunk when they made the headers?...i had to shave part of my oil pan to fit the o2 sensor in and the my o2 sensor went bad and acura wouldnt warranty it...but since then the pipes have been good(knock on wood) good luck with getting you money back

mclarenf3387

Why the hell would you file a complaint against Excelerate? Its not his fault AW customer service sucks.

I feel bad for you guys, it sucks to buy something expensive and for it to be crap, but you can't just go around and blame everyone for the problem. The problem lies with AW, not Excelerate.

Then again, looking at your username, it seems pretty fitting.

Time For Sleeep

I agree. All complaints and beef are w/ AW, not excelerate.

illogical

But it also doesn't help that they don't want to exchange nor offer me a refund, either, mclarenf3387

mrsteve

iTrader: (1)

When it takes a company 4 "batches" to get something right and now it appears as if they still didn't get it right why on earth would you buy in the first place? First time: crap. Second time: crap. Third time: crap. The headaches really aren't worth the cash you save. Live and learn I suppose.

Mike_McCready

Why is it so hard for a company to make a decent header at a decent price??

mrsteve

iTrader: (1)

If it was that easy everyone would have been able to do it. Comptech made one correction early on to the flex section of the downpipe. Since then no problems at all. You get what you pay for.

Would you buy brakes from a company that had trouble with their first THREE "batches?"

wahooo12345

I bought my AW crap from ebay, not excelerate

I think the ebay seller or excelerate should take it back and stop selling it

If they didn't do that, it will give me a good reason to file a compliant against the seller, not AW

For example, if you bought a defective parts from pepboys, you will not contact the manufacturer at first, right?

AW is crap; there are a lot of bad batches in the market
but why the ebay seller/excelerate are still selling the bad one

I think the only reason is that they bought the bad batches at a really cheap price from somewhere and sell them to us

mrsteve

iTrader: (1)

Pure speculation there buddy. If you didn't buy the headers from Excelerate you have no ground to stand on in telling him to exchange them for you nor do you have a reason to file a claim with the BBB.

jgscott

Yup ! My friend called me complain about this strange noise he had after intalling A/W headers. 2 noises :

1. Motor mount "resonance when engine started. Pump noise when pumping mount. There before the A/W headers. There after the A/W headers.

2. Rattling noise Vibration noise. Cause = Motor monts were bad. Metal was sitting on metal. Replaced Motor Mounts, noise gone.

I have the the very first set of A/W ever on a CLS. Got them 2 years ago 45,000 + miles ago. I started reading many negative comments and all of a sudden I developed a ticking noise. OH S_ _ T ! Now I have a exhaust leak from those Damm Headers. Did they split at seam. Could not find leak. OK comming for Flex gotta be.
Nope Vavles need adjusting. 101K miles. Engine was ticking like crazy. Still no A/W problem.
Sorry you guys had the problems tho.

jgscott

I was wondering something else. I have not been here alot lately. Working too much but.... The Honda Accord guys were buying those Headers too. Are they having the same problems with the A/W headers on the V6 Accords ?

wahooo12345

I didn't say I will file a claim against excelerate with BBB but AW

The ebay seller/excelerate should take a part of responsibility as being a merchant.

Since the seller and AW refused to replace/repair it for me, I have already filed a claim with Paypal against the seller; I am waiting for my refund.

belcom

iTrader: (1)

I did, and when I asked him to kindly replace the headers for a new set initially when they didn't even fit before putting on the car, he raised his hands and said that he has nothing to do with this and gave me the phone number for Nexus. Could've been all easily resolved the 1st time but nooo...

Defective is defective, if it's comptech, aw or anything else. Nothing else but a new Quality Assured header should've been sent to me in the first place instead of "fixing" the pile of "aircraft quality T-304 stainless steel, that provides best flow and design for EASE of installation to ensure PROPER FITMENT and SEAL" (that's off nexus website)

and here's what Mr.Excelerate posted in his groupbuy forum...
post1: "www.AlphaWerks.com has pictures of the headers. It includes all the hardware and bang for the buck is the best header out there. Comptech is of slightly higher quality and is CARB approved but AW headers are almost identical and are 1/3 of the price."
post2: Q:are these comparable to the Comptech's ? A:They are practically identical in design and power.

which basically led me to believe that it is a good product. and that's why I bought them. and most people are happy and have no problems. So why not just replace and forget about it to add another good review for the product that you sell.

hopefully when nexus is back to work after the hurricane they will do the right thing. if not... then I will pretty much BBB everyone involved.

jgscott

Did you pay with a Credit Card ? If you did call them. Product defective, does not work or fit as decribed.
Reason why I pay everthing about cars, repair work, parts ect. with a Credit card. Send them back with Delivery signature requested. When they say do you still have them say "nope" !

belcom

iTrader: (1)

paid by money order

wahooo12345

Sorry to hear about that

Don't pay anything with "Moneyorder/Check/debit card" which is over $100

Excelerate

iTrader: (1)

I am really amazed by the lack of intelligence of some of the people on this board. Firstly, Alpha Werks is the manufacturer and Alpha Werks is the only entity that can do warranty work. If there is a problem with the headers fitment, machining, etc you can only take it up with Alpha Werks. Now let's get something straight right here and now:

*******IF I KNEW THE HEADERS HAD MACHINING/FITMENT ISSUES I WOULDN'T HAVE SOLD THEM.*******

That is why I didn't do a Megan Racing GB b/c I heard of all the issues with them. That being said, the customers who wanted to return them were able to do so according to the return policy which has been clearly stated in all of my GB's:

- ALL RETURNED AND/OR CANCELLED ORDERS ARE SUBJECT TO A 25% RE-STOCKING FEE PLUS ALL SHIPPING CHARGES (Includes original and return S&H fees).
- ALL AUTHORIZED RETURN MERCHANDISE MUST BE NEW, UNUSED, AND IN ITS ORIGINAL PA CKAGING. ALL DOCUMENTATION, WARRANTY CARDS, INSTRUCTIONS, AND HARDWARE MUST ALSO BE RETURNED.
- ITEMS MAY BE RETURNED WITHIN 15 CALENDAR DAYS FROM THE RECEIPT OF MERCHANDISE.
- SPECIAL ORDERS ARE NOT RETURNABLE.
- ALL DEPOSITS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.

Now if you installed the headers you no longer have new headers and I cannot allow you to return them. They are now used and I cannot resell them. So then there would be no refunds/returns.

Do you see me selling them? I haven't sold these headers in weeks and I'm not selling them anymore. Anyone who wanted to send them back was welcome to as long as they didn't install them. In fact, I have a customer today who I allowed to send them back. In any event, if you don't know what you're talking about, don't open your mouth because you didn't purchase them from me and I don't need some idiot trying to besmirch my name.

Warranty issues are with Alpha Werks. If all the headers have issues then what makes you think the next header won't? They are all from the same batch. Secondly I did not raise my hands and say I have nothing to do with it. I kept in contact with you and with Nexus. I IM them all the time concerning this issue and keep in contact with anyone who had an issue. And you installed them and then wanted to return. I can't take back used products as stated above.

And from what I knew they were a good product. They were the best header out there bang for the buck. I had Comptech's on my car and I installed AW's to test fitment and they fit fine and they produced the same hp (according to my butt dyno). So as far as I knew, they were a good product. But apparently this latest batch has some problems. I didn't know that. So the only means of fixing them is if you send it to Alpha Werks.

Just to make it clear: these aren't Excelerate headers. These are Alpha Werks headers. I didn't manufacture them. I am a retailer. There is only a manufacturer warranty.

belcom

iTrader: (1)

bottom line is I got a pile of garbage metal instead of what I ordered and when I tried to get a good replacement from AW, Carlos told me "you will be getting a new header", therefore lying to me. They just shaved/machined the surfaces/flanges to make them flat and due to that the fitment was really bad on the engine and those centimeters of metal that they shaved caused that. I spent 11 hours installing it with my friend who actually does a lot of mechanical work and it was 2am on Monday morning and I only have 1 car and needed to get to work at 8am. What do you expect me to do??? put everything back together?? when we somehow managed to finish it and I thought, all right you know if it doesn't have leaks then I guess it will be okay. but the header leaks, O2 sensor almost pushing against oil pan and makes all kinds of sounds because it's the original defective header that was screwed up even more. My friend even told me that thing was even harder to swap than the whole tranny. Now, I want to replace this product for a good one not return it. Who the hell would know that it would cause issues when installed?? So whether it's installed or not it doesn't really matter. I need the product that I bought not the garbage that I got in mail.

mrsteve

iTrader: (1)

I believe I purchased my brakes from you and it was a great experience.

I think it's great you responded to this thread instead of ignoring it BUT...

Your return policy is shit. What you are doing is selling faulty parts and then passing the buck or making the consumer pay for the fucked up parts by making them pay a restocking fee. And how the hell is a customer suppose to know if the headers fit properly if they do not even try to install them?

I've dealt with other vendors and I've never seen heard of this kind of customer service before. If there ever was a problem with a product they would fix it.

You're dropping the ball here man. Step up and help the guy out. Not for his benefit but for your own. Your return policy is really shady especially when you sell something knowing there's a fair chance the quality of the product is questionable. I wouldn't have relied on two or three threads from people who had success with the FOURTH batch of headers. I realize you installed yours without a problem but again, that's one out of dozens.

astro

belcom

iTrader: (1)

Thank you, MrSteve. Your comment is much appreciated.