Exhaust question

[1998 T/A]

I want to throw a set of pacesetter LT's on my WS6 and my county does not do emissions testing. That being said would there be a difference in running my headers with an x pipe and manga flow cat back and no catalytic converters or would you keep the catalytic converters?

[ls1camino]

1. Don't get pacesetters. The cermaic coating will not alst long and then you'll have rusty headers. Get Kooks, ARH, Texas Speed, etc. STAINLESS headers.
2. X-pipe vs Y-pipe is a personal preference in ground clearance.
3. Don't run cats if you don't have emissions testing...hell, I have emissions testing and I don't runs cats. Getting your car tuned properly (deleting rear O2 sensors will get you pass emissions).

[SMWS6TA]

I have Pacesetters and mine haven't rusted over yet and I'm at sea level, within 20 miles of the beach. Might be a North/South thing.

[theorangeguy]

I have Pacesetters and mine haven't rusted over yet and I'm at sea level, within 20 miles of the beach. Might be a North/South thing.

x2...never seen a set of pacesetters rust down here. concentrated salt on a road will do that in a heartbeat...

with that said, the stainless one's sure are pretty to look at lol

[1998 T/A]

Car will be garaged in the winter and i like the price of the pacesetter. As much as I like the look of a dropped firebird I will probably not lower it because my 98 was lowered and it scrapped/rubbed everywhere, annoyed the hell out of me. From what I understand, after my exhaust, ls6 intake, tb and egr/air delete I assume I can just mail order a tune by frost or am I best to do a Dino tune?

[Firebirdjones]

Don't worry about the Pacesetter headers. I've been running them on 2 cars for about 8 years now, without any rust issues. First 2 years were while living in Ohio. No problems at all, and mine are just the cheap painted headers

If it makes you feel better, I run coated Hooker Super Comps on my chevelle, I've had to re-coat them 3 times in the last 15 years, so even the best ceramic coatings aren't a forever solution. Hence the reason I use painted headers on everything else anymore. At that rate I can remove them and rattle can them and get 3-4 years out of them before it needs done again and save a hell of alot of money vs coating every 5 years at $600 a pop.

So the only real solution are stainless headers, and if it's the cheaper 304 stainless even those will rust over time. If you don't want to spend the coin on good stainless, then it's painted headers for me.

As far as your tune, a Frost mail order tune would suit you perfectly. On cats, personally I prefer not to run them simply because they are expensive to replace when they fail, and I just prefer to have less headaches on the car. The more headaches I can get rid of on the car the happier I am. Now I just don't have to worry about having any issues with cats. Cheaper aftermarket cats are even worse, made of inferior materials and have a reputation of failing with very little mileage. So I just avoid them all together. Of course there is also the HP syndrome in me that doesn't like the restriction, even if it only means a few ponies.

[1998 T/A]

Ya I think pacesetter painted headers with x-pipe and no cats, mail order tune. No the tune I may or may not have issues with...my SES light is on, car runs fine no knocks or clunks or anything but I think it runs rich...reason being is I get about 200 miles to a tank and from what I've read we should be getting 300-350...now when I go to get the codes run their computers can't read my car, I've been told a fuse is out somewhere or a wire might be bad someplace. I haven't had the time to check fuse but what are your opinions on this issue?

[SMWS6TA]

I'd go to any parts store and have them pull the error codes and post.


That much fuel lost I would think an O2 issue. How old are they? Normal lifespan is about 75k miles.

[1998 T/A]

That's the thing, they plug the code reader in and it doesn't read, they said I have a fuse out or something else electrical going on.

[theorangeguy]

That's the thing, they plug the code reader in and it doesn't read, they said I have a fuse out or something else electrical going on.

so the SES is on but when you plug it up it shows now codes...? Is it flashing or just on all the time?

[1998 T/A]

On all the time and when gas gets low check gages comes on but that's related to the fuel gage being crappy....they plug into my car and I turn the key to the on position then it doesn't read at all. They person at orielly said its a bad fuse or a loose wire somewhere on my car...I'm stumped to be honest.

[SMWS6TA]

you have 3 fuse boxes in the car.

1 is on the the dash facing the drivers door. The other 2 are on the drivers fender. I'd start there first. Pull fuses to see if you can see any blow ones. The large ones you can test them but I can't remember how at this time.


I'd start with the one marked ENG SEN

[1998 T/A]

I'll get on that...haven't had much time to tinker, will post results.

[99RedTa6spd]

If you cant pull codse or communicate with the pcm you most likely have your 25 amp cigarette fuse blown in the fuse panel on the drivers side of your dash end cap

[1998 T/A]

That's what was suggested but I clicked in the cig lighter and it was red hot when it clicked out...I'll be checking fuses this afternoon.

[1998 T/A]

Not a blow fuse, still scratching my head on this one.