Only one header tube glowing red?

I know this is probably the wrong section, or even the wrong website, but I didn't know where else to put it.

My dad has a 1969 RS-SS Camaro convertable 396ci 375hp with factory aluminum heads (JJ option). So it is a very high dollar car!

Well he has been restoring it for the last 10+ years and today was the first start up. So on the initial fire up the distributer poped up and disengaged the oil pump. Luckily I was right there wathcing the gauges so we turned the motor off almost immediatly. When we got it fixed and started the motor up again it ran fine for about 17 minutes. But then all of the sudden only one header primary tube started glowing red. What could have caused this? I think it isn't related to the oil pump failure but I am not sure. BTW, he is running an aftermarket fuel injection intake but for the first start up he put a carb on just to make sure.

I am really worried because I am the one who installed the distributer. I feel sick:Puke:

i am real pissed off right now..because i actually saw that on a summit catalog and as an hour of searching i can't find the damn magazine..it was about this 94 camaro getting headers and they started turning red....well it said something about retard the timing of the ignition system ..or advance it...but it pisses me off that i can't find it...ill try to look for it somewhere else..but as for now ..im still pissed...sorry man :\

hmm, that weird that only 1 primary turned red, i cant think of anything that would make this happen, lets hope u can get this fixed.

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Originally Posted by 35thAnniZ28

i am real pissed off right now..because i actually saw that on a summit catalog and as an hour of searching i can't find the damn magazine..it was about this 94 camaro getting headers and they started turning red....well it said something about retard the timing of the ignition system ..or advance it...but it pisses me off that i can't find it...ill try to look for it somewhere else..but as for now ..im still pissed...sorry man :\

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Which summit catalog?

Valvetrain issue on that cylinder.

Hanging a valve open maybe?

I would be concerned that it was a lean cylinder, did you have any overheating problems? If it was a carb with individual meterting circuits (think dominator)you could have a clogged jet or something, but that would have made more than one cylinder hot.
You might try taking some oil in a oil can and dripping the oil around the interface between the manifold and the head consitrating on the cylinder running hot, if the oil is pulled into the leak the motor will idea differently and you should hear it, indicating a intake leak, you can also use carb cleaner which is easier to get to the tight spots but will last just a few seconds. That red is high heat, not a real good thing on aluminum heads, ignition advance can cause overheating but not on just one cylinder, normally.
Good luck,

There were no over heating problems. We put the fuel injection system back on and now it isn't firing up. It wants to start but we just need to tune it some more.

If the fuel injection system doesn't cure our problem then it might be pretty serious right?

Na. Could have been nothing more than a manifold leak. The important thing is you stopped when you saw it glowing red, I learned this lesson the hard way, out on my brothers boat 3 miles from shore, storm blowing in, we knew it was going to be a problem but had no other choice, motor, drown, motor , drown, that cost us a motor, had a nice hole in a piston, you probably got lucky.

Check your fuel pressure, if it's low you could have a bad pump or a clogged filter. That could be common to both of your problems.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that after we shut the engine off there was a vaccume port on the carb that wasn't plugged, but it might have been blown out when the carb backfired.

We are starting to think fuel pressure is part of the problem. Thats why it isn't starting with the mpi injction. My dad is picking up a pressure gauge today.

So what do you guys think, Do you think this problem is going to go away with the mpi or is the motor junk? I know you guys don't know enough about the motor to make a very accurate guess but let me know what you think.

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Originally Posted by SpurSS

I would be concerned that it was a lean cylinder, did you have any overheating problems? If it was a carb with individual meterting circuits (think dominator)you could have a clogged jet or something, but that would have made more than one cylinder hot.
You might try taking some oil in a oil can and dripping the oil around the interface between the manifold and the head consitrating on the cylinder running hot, if the oil is pulled into the leak the motor will idea differently and you should hear it, indicating a intake leak, you can also use carb cleaner which is easier to get to the tight spots but will last just a few seconds. That red is high heat, not a real good thing on aluminum heads, ignition advance can cause overheating but not on just one cylinder, normally.
Good luck,

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What he said..typically that indicates a lean cylinder....maybe just valve lash on that cyl...mabe an intake manifold gasket problem...leaking air in leaning out the mixture just on that cyl. whatever its really not healthy to run it that way...does damage eventually. That's a high compression engine...so stuff happens fast if its malfunctioning on any one cylinder.

Well good news! We hooked up the holley fuel injection system and got it tuned. Well tuned by me. So its not a pro tune but it seems to be running fine now. it sounds so good! I bought a gear drive for my dad on christmas so now it sounds like it has a supercharger whine.

But I will let you guys know if I have that one header glowing problem again.

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Originally Posted by Ryanater

Well good news! We hooked up the holley fuel injection system and got it tuned. Well tuned by me. So its not a pro tune but it seems to be running fine now. it sounds so good! I bought a gear drive for my dad on christmas so now it sounds like it has a supercharger whine.

But I will let you guys know if I have that one header glowing problem again.

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Keep us posted...we all liek to hear bout 'solutions' as well as problems.....

Hey

Your a/f mixture is basically burning in the exhuast stream, which is the result of too much fuel, or the timing is retarded. if the spark is too late, a richer a/f mixture won't have enough time to completely burn in the combustion camber there for burning in the header tube . Simple cause of this , can be a bad or burnt ignition spark plug lead ....
I have had the same trouble on My Camaro , due to the RHD conversion my headers are very tight on the right hand side and i tend to melt number 3 off all the bloody time causing it to run like crap and make that header tube glow RED hot .
Hope that helps .


http://camaro-firebird.dyndns.org/ga...vehicle&CID=15

You need to advance the timing because the spark plug is firing to late and the exhaust valve's opening before the fuel can burn completely. The other bank of cylinders may have a cylinder thats missing. But it may also be that one header may be dissapating heat better that the other.

well heres the guys problem and this is how the summit answers it

"im having problems with my 94 z28. it has an lt1, which ive upgraded a bigger cam from comp cams,lunati timing chain, edelbrock headers,crane lifters,summit roller rockers, and accel injectors. it also has an accel adjustable fuel pressure regulator, new valve springs, retainers and pushrods.
the problem is that it will start but then itll start backfiring and the headers go burning red. ive checked and double check the timing , plug wires and more. can you tell me what im doing wrong?


"any time you have backfire in the intake and headers turn burning red, the valve timing is off. that means the adjustment of the pushrod is too long, holding the intake valve open while its firing.... i'd check your adjustment and pushrod length and go from there....your cam lifters and chain should all work together."




hope this helps man