Hooker long tubes

**derekbuckner1** · 07-18-2011, 04:52 PM

After installing my hooker 1 3/4 lt's I was getting a leak out of the passenger side header near the firewall. Took the coils off and torqued the bolts again 2 days later and still have a small leak. I'm having a local shop remove them and straighten the flange and is appears to have been warped on that side.

Anyone else have this problem?

**JayTA98** · 07-18-2011, 06:40 PM

i have heard of leaks but normally is a bad gasket or the bolts are not tight enough. Did you use new GM gaskets or the old ones?

**0rion** · 07-18-2011, 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by JayTA98

i have heard of leaks but normally is a bad gasket or the bolts are not tight enough. Did you use new GM gaskets or the old ones?

I was curious if he even used GM gaskets myself and if he used paper gaskets. Stock MLS gaskets will take up a lot of slack before they let something leak. You might also try just doubling up on gaskets instead of beating on the flange.....not sure how the flange is gonna like that.

**derekbuckner1** · 07-18-2011, 08:09 PM

Originally Posted by JayTA98

i have heard of leaks but normally is a bad gasket or the bolts are not tight enough. Did you use new GM gaskets or the old ones?

I used new GM gaskets

**derekbuckner1** · 07-18-2011, 08:13 PM

Originally Posted by 0rion

I was curious if he even used GM gaskets myself and if he used paper gaskets. Stock MLS gaskets will take up a lot of slack before they let something leak. You might also try just doubling up on gaskets instead of beating on the flange.....not sure how the flange is gonna like that.

Yeah i was told to add a second gasket to that side to get rid of the leak. I have pulled coils off and rechecked the bolts several times. Only reason I'm having the shop do it instead of adding a gasket is that the headers came with emissions hookups and the shop offered to cut them off and weld it up for cheap. I just figured that since they were doing that, they could take a look at the flange as well. They said if it wasn't bad they could straighten it. Im talking to them more about it tomorrow.

**JayTA98** · 07-19-2011, 12:32 PM

Originally Posted by derekbuckner1

Yeah i was told to add a second gasket to that side to get rid of the leak. I have pulled coils off and rechecked the bolts several times. Only reason I'm having the shop do it instead of adding a gasket is that the headers came with emissions hookups and the shop offered to cut them off and weld it up for cheap. I just figured that since they were doing that, they could take a look at the flange as well. They said if it wasn't bad they could straighten it. Im talking to them more about it tomorrow.

Thats kinda of weird from hooker headers. their QA is really good but anything can happen i guess. Did the box looked like it got hit or something?

**derekbuckner1** · 07-19-2011, 12:58 PM

Originally Posted by JayTA98

Thats kinda of weird from hooker headers. their QA is really good but anything can happen i guess. Did the box looked like it got hit or something?

No the box was in good shape when it was delivered. That's why it threw me off. I'll take a closer look at them when they come back off and maybe give hooker a call. It's the dd so I'd prefer to fix them and remount them but if it's bad then I'll send them back

**JayTA98** · 07-19-2011, 01:06 PM

Originally Posted by derekbuckner1

No the box was in good shape when it was delivered. That's why it threw me off. I'll take a closer look at them when they come back off and maybe give hooker a call. It's the dd so I'd prefer to fix them and remount them but if it's bad then I'll send them back

check with hooker 1st because if the shop messes with them they might not exchange them

**derekbuckner1** · 07-19-2011, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by JayTA98

check with hooker 1st because if the shop messes with them they might not exchange them

I just spoke with them. It would be a 2 week turnaround between sending them and getting the new ones. They weren't bad, I was told a second gasket would fix the problem so I may just have the shop fix it.

**knightryda01** · 07-19-2011, 03:48 PM

Stupid question, but how do you know if you have a leak?

**derekbuckner1** · 07-19-2011, 04:05 PM

Mine has a ticking noise to it but you will also get a carbon line on the head from the leak a lot of the time.

**JayTA98** · 07-19-2011, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by derekbuckner1

Mine has a ticking noise to it but you will also get a carbon line on the head from the leak a lot of the time.

you sure the ticking is not the spark plug cable arcing with the header?

**derekbuckner1** · 07-19-2011, 05:49 PM

Originally Posted by JayTA98

you sure the ticking is not the spark plug cable arcing with the header?

I mean I'm pretty sure. I would think the boot at the end would prevent that and it sounds like a leak. Shop that looked at it seemed to think the same

**0rion** · 07-19-2011, 11:23 PM

are they emmissions style headers? If so I'd also check the block offs if you have those on there. I agree.....it's odd that hooker would have something like that go out the door. Not that it couldn't happen but that would probably be the last thing I checked really.

**Too Fast** · 07-20-2011, 02:40 AM

I noticed a slight ticking noise after my header install. Checked my flange bolts, no issues and couldn't find a leak. Finally found it, one of the spark plugs was a little loose and it was leaking. Tightened it, and learned a lesson about letting someone help w/the install! Sure sounded like a small leak. Have had no leaks/problems with my Hookers now, and that was almost 4 years ago.

**derekbuckner1** · 07-20-2011, 03:36 AM

I'll check the plugs but I'm still pretty sure its a leak. The car was dynoed and tuned this weekend and it did well. Id think a plug problem would have effected that but I will still double check

**1bad98ta** · 07-20-2011, 02:46 PM

Derek's car runs damn good for only having intake, full exhaust, and tune.. I agree its not a spark issue as I heard the leak as well. I agree with the previous post to double up on the factory gasket.. Also, thanks for bringing me over from LS1Tech dude.. I am sure between both sites I will find an answer to anything

**transamtom** · 07-20-2011, 04:21 PM

I read on the other site about Hooker having some quality issues lately.

If it is a leak you will have black soot on the gasket and around the flange.

**derekbuckner1** · 07-20-2011, 06:19 PM

Originally Posted by 1bad98ta

Derek's car runs damn good for only having intake, full exhaust, and tune.. I agree its not a spark issue as I heard the leak as well. I agree with the previous post to double up on the factory gasket.. Also, thanks for bringing me over from LS1Tech dude.. I am sure between both sites I will find an answer to anything

Thanks man. I bounce between the two site for most issues. But if anyone's car runs damn good, it's your ws6.

**derekbuckner1** · 07-20-2011, 06:21 PM

Originally Posted by transamtom

I read on the other site about Hooker having some quality issues lately.

If it is a leak you will have black soot on the gasket and around the flange.

I thought I saw a thread about a warped flange but couldn't find it again. Hope to have the problem fixed in a week or so and I'll post up the results