I have a 99 TL, bought Stone headers for 99-03 tl-p. shop that i am having them installed at said they couldn't do it because it's not a straight bolt-on install. I thought it was supposed to be straight bolt-on install. Another shop has my car now and he seemed like they could do it but didn't sound 100% sure. Is there a trick to the install? How do they connect? any info i can give this guy would be helpful. thanks in advance.

 

someone please give me a hand here please.

 

Its a straight bolt-on install. SHould not be a problem for a shop with a competent mechanic. Issues may arise with fitament but they would easily be able to handle it.

I would look for a different shop as these guys don't sound like they know what they're doing, or never worked on a car like ours before.

 

ya they obviously dont have experience with our cars... thats why you should go to a shop that has installed headers on our cars - just call around untill you find one.

 

i got the stone headers. took them to a shop i trust, no probs. direct bolt on. of courese i have an 02 tl. im unsure if there is any diff. as far as i know there isnt. oh yeah, make sure u take them back to get retorqued after about a week of use.

 

hey acrite, how do you like them? I have an 02 and want headers soon. cant decide if i should wait for used comptechs or these.

 

get the Stones...half the price of used Comptechs and give the same power gain. I have the 3rd batch (the new ones are the 4th set); they have about 20k miles on them, and I dont have any issues at all - other than the power!

 

i have no problems what so ever. raced my friend in his 99 tl and smoked him i was able to see his front liscence plate in my rear view mirror. course i have a newer tl (geared for more touque, 5 speed over four speed ect.) i feel a definite power jump. it took a couple of days for the ecu to calibrate but i love the stones. definite

 

Stone headers will fit (I got the first batch of headers when they first came out). My mechanic also said the same thing about the install, saying that it's not a straight bolt-on. See below for header installation instructions, and print this out for your mechanic to read:

http://www.comptechusa.com/instructions/ins028.pdf

The most important thing your mechanic must remember: do not tighten any bolts until the entire headers have been test fitted. The fitment of the headers should be semi-loose: loose enough that you can move the headers around a bit, but not too loose that the headers will drop off. Once your mechanic has aligned everything, and all the bolts are in place, that's when he starts tightening the bolts down. This is the only way to get the headers to fit. Hope this helps, and good luck.

 

Bro, that shop's on crack!! did they charge you anything?

Patrick's right about the process. I did mine with a friend and we took ~ 8hours 'cause we fucked around too much, put the front header in the back, and then had fitment issues 'cause we made all the mistakes Patrick explain

headers is a 3/10 difficulty mod, its just time consuming and requires lots of strength.
Enjoy

 

got the headers installed today. have a few questions. My engine light is on, i figure that is normal right? Also there is a buzzing/hissing type sound when i accelerate, is that normal? It gets louder the harder i accelerate, but you can't really hear it when i do because engine is much louder. I feel a little difference in power, but not much, how long does it take for the ECU to recalibrate and maximize the headers? PS they look AWESOME!!!

 

teh engine light shouldnt be on

 

hmmmmm you should go back to the shop in a few days and let them hear the noise. they will probably have to retorque the bolts down again, mine had a noise right after also - but now it is pretty much quiet. Your engine light shouldnt be on! they may have not hooked up the O2 sensor right - or even if they touched it, it could freak it out some.

It will take a few days to get the full power...run it hard a few times a day - all the way to redline.

 

Am I running a risk by driving my car right now, if the O2 sensor is not hooked up right? And is the noise from air escaping from the headers not being tightened enough?

 

I have an 03 and the Stone's are working fine. It makes it a whole new car. Gives it a nice growl.

 

btw can i tighten the headers and fix o2 sensor? is it hard to do and if not can someone instruct me on how to do them myself.

 

THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO:
*Check the O2 is pluged correctly and hard enough
*Wait a couple of days and retighten the bolts (THIS IS A MUST~gaskets)

If you wanna DIY

O2: Jack the car (+jackstands) Follow the wire from the front-most O2 sensor up to its connection, unplug and replug HARD, make sure you put macho strengh into it


Bolts: this is kinda hard, might wanna take it back to mech and tell em they didnt do it correctly and have em retighten them
Otherwire, its a 12mm socket (i think), LOTS OF BRUTE FORCE REQ. 5 Bolts on the frontal header that easy to reach and easy to see. The rear 5 (in the same pattern as the front) are hidden about a ft 1/2 under the black strutbar. Stick your hands (if they fit) and attempt to tighten every screw ***WITHOUGH STRIPPING THEM***

i suck at explaining stuff, give me a pm and i'll clarify your qs.

 

i think i'll have 'em retorque bolts themselves and i'll tell them about o2 they better fix it

 

am i safe to drive my car the next few days until i can get my car back to the shop?

 

yes

 

thanks ou

 

I brought my car back to the shop today to tighten the headers and fix the O2 sensor(because by engine light is on after the 1st attempted install). Now my car still has engine light on, my radio was reading error and engine is now making a different sound. Now the sound instead of being hissing/buzzing sound is maiking a strill metalic sound. Almost sounds like my fan belt. Any ideas what the source of this could be. Maybe headers torque too tight?

 

BTW the headers make my car seem quieter. When I accelerate hard its a much smoother sound to the engine and not as loud as before. The power gain is a big difference, makes it feel like a real sporty car.

 

Unplug the batter for 10min (make it 15). Then, if the O2 is fine the light will disapear. plug in your radio/NAVi codes. Not such thing as bolting the headers too tight, is the "noise" happening in the 2300-3000rpm range? <--if so its resonance can't do jack about it

 

I'm in the same boat as you sbuswell, I had the Stones installed on my 02 TL-s today, eng light is on, VSA light is on, shrill metallic sound is on. I guess i'll have to re-torque all the bolts, re-tighten the 02 sensor adn all the other stuff to trouble shoot. hopefully the shrill metallic sound goes away as it is very annoying.Only time will tell. Otherwise the fit is 100% they look great (what I can see of them). I'll keep you posted if I find anything on my own.

Jeff

 

ya you need to get them re-torqued for sure it will help alot.

 

Yeah sounds start there and when I accelerate hard there is the sound again at about 4800-5200rpms. I also noticed that the right bolt that connects the front headers to the downpipe is a little loose. I couldn't get it myself. I would have to jack my car up and hold onto the nut witha wrench and tighten the top bolt at the same time. Do you think that loose bolt could be the cause for the sound? If not, where is it coming from? Thanks.

 

quite possibly, I just went back in today because I had to get another mounting rubber piece for my intake and they checked the bolts again, when he put the air driver on them, they took another 1/4-1/2 turn, they are quieter now also - so yes, just a slightly loose bolt will make a sound.

 

Okay, I found out the problem with eng light adn VSA lights, the o2 sensor connection wasn't tottally clipped in (simple) , as for the noise its still shrilling but it seems to be only under heavy load, I had the car in the air today and the mech said the sound seems to be coming from the flex pipe on the b-tube, maybe there is some turbulance in that area inside but not 100% sure. If it persists I will more than likely remove the b-tube and have a look inside to see if there is anything that would cause the noise, keep ya posted

Jeff

 

I tighten all the bolts very snug without stripping them of course. When I was under there(I jacked my car up about a foot) I couldn't find the O2 sensor. Can someone tell me where it is and what it looks like. I don't want to go back to that incompetent shop for a 3rd time. Also now everything is definitely tight, but I still hear a metalic humming sound at about 2700 RPM. Is that just resonance? One last thing. When I accelerate hard even when I am going 20mph and then step on it my tires start to hop a little. I know this is very bad. My tires a only a few months old, but I know Kumho's aren't the greatest. Still I don't feel this should be happening. Is there a quick fix besides new tires or is that my only resolution?

 

the 02 sensor is on the b-pipe behind the flex pipe portion of the unit, before the cat conv. it kinda looks like a spark plug sticking out of the left side adn will have a wire attatched to it leading up into the engine compartment, I've also re-tightened my header and still have the metallic noise, can't help with your traction problem I'm not sure I understand what you mean.

 

so do you pull out the spark plug looking thing and replug it in really hard or follow the wire into the engine bay.

 

The O2 sensor screws in. Why do you think you have a problem with the O2 sensor?

 

my engine light came on after I had my headers installed. I was advised my other members of this forum that that was the issue. do you think it could be something else.

 

Not sure. It's worth checking the O2 sensor. Make sure it's screwed in tight and follow the wire up into the engine compartment to make sure that end is plugged in correctly.

You had someone read the codes, right?

 

They didn't read me the codes. They did read them but didn't know how to fix the problem.

 

Did you unhook your battery for 30mins after installation?

 

no i didnt't do that yet, shit. When I picked my car up from that shop the second time my battery had been unhooked cause error was reading on headunit. Not sure how long it was unplugged for. I am going to trouble shot by tightening O2 sensor and then will unhook battery, hope that works. Thanks guys.