Just installed race style headers...
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 990
Likes: 0
From: Germantown TN
Just installed race style headers...PLEASE HELP!
Had to drive it home from a friend's garage tonight with open headers. The car ran like absolute crap and backfired more times than ran good. It came up with 3 codes and they are: P0154, P0300, P0410. I'm pretty sure I messed up one of the 02's. Will one of the 02's cause it to run this bad and throw multiple misfire codes? Any help is greatly appreciated!
Last edited by PewterMetallic98; Apr 16, 2007 at 12:38 AM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 6,772
Likes: 1
From: Tampa FL
first one, P0154 is the 02 sensor .. that the inactivity code so you either didnt install the wire right or you've broken the sensor, id lean towards the first and if that doesnt work out the sensor might need replacement.
the second code, P0300, is an engine misfire .. i'd check plugs and plug wires, it's easy to crack the plugs when doing a header install
the third code, P0410, is the AIR system and if you've installed "race style" headers i assume you've deleted the AIR system .. which means it has to be programmed out (shut off)
once all these items are addressed, your car should run fine.
the second code, P0300, is an engine misfire .. i'd check plugs and plug wires, it's easy to crack the plugs when doing a header install
the third code, P0410, is the AIR system and if you've installed "race style" headers i assume you've deleted the AIR system .. which means it has to be programmed out (shut off)
once all these items are addressed, your car should run fine.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 990
Likes: 0
From: Germantown TN
first one, P0154 is the 02 sensor .. that the inactivity code so you either didnt install the wire right or you've broken the sensor, id lean towards the first and if that doesnt work out the sensor might need replacement.
the second code, P0300, is an engine misfire .. i'd check plugs and plug wires, it's easy to crack the plugs when doing a header install
the third code, P0410, is the AIR system and if you've installed "race style" headers i assume you've deleted the AIR system .. which means it has to be programmed out (shut off)
once all these items are addressed, your car should run fine.
the second code, P0300, is an engine misfire .. i'd check plugs and plug wires, it's easy to crack the plugs when doing a header install
the third code, P0410, is the AIR system and if you've installed "race style" headers i assume you've deleted the AIR system .. which means it has to be programmed out (shut off)
once all these items are addressed, your car should run fine.
I'm almost positive that the 02 sensor on the passenger side is fried so that should be the cause of that code. I did replace the plugs wires with MSD and NGK. I checked all the wires to make sure they were on there correctly and they were.
I'm really curious if the 02 sensor being bad would cause a misfire code to come up. Any thoughts?
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 5,987
Likes: 18
From: DuBois PA
St. Jude Donor '11-'12-'13-'14-'15
I'm almost positive that the 02 sensor on the passenger side is fried so that should be the cause of that code. I did replace the plugs wires with MSD and NGK. I checked all the wires to make sure they were on there correctly and they were.
I'm really curious if the 02 sensor being bad would cause a misfire code to come up. Any thoughts?
I'm really curious if the 02 sensor being bad would cause a misfire code to come up. Any thoughts?
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 990
Likes: 0
From: Germantown TN
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 4,386
Likes: 689
From: Boise ID
There're pretty common now. Harbor freight has them for $20 but they only measure to about 480F. The more you pay, the higher the temps it reads (general rule). Seems like I have seen them in flyers from Autozone type places for $50 or so.
PS. Plus you drove home with open headers. I think your car is missing a few parts it hasn’t been told to ignore.
PS. Plus you drove home with open headers. I think your car is missing a few parts it hasn’t been told to ignore.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor
Joe Kucinski
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 6,772
Likes: 1
From: Tampa FL
There're pretty common now. Harbor freight has them for $20 but they only measure to about 480F. The more you pay, the higher the temps it reads (general rule). Seems like I have seen them in flyers from Autozone type places for $50 or so.
PS. Plus you drove home with open headers. I think your car is missing a few parts it hasn’t been told to ignore.
PS. Plus you drove home with open headers. I think your car is missing a few parts it hasn’t been told to ignore.
as far as the misfire .. it's either a plug / wire or an ignition module ..
another way to check if a cylinder isnt firing, pull the plugs, if it's black then it's most likely your problem .. granted it might not be as easy as a temp guage do-hicky but it's free.
Racer
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 397
Likes: 0
From: Auburn AL
You can also go to each cylinder and pull the wire off the coil. If the motor doesn't sound different you have found the dead cylinder. Make sure to plug the wire back in if it does make the motor run worse. Then move on to the next one. Give the motor about 15-30 seconds between each cylinder to let it catch back up so you don't stall the motor. I recently did this on a buddy's car and we found the #6 plug to be severely fouled.
It may not be the best method but it works if you don't have the right tools.
Greg
It may not be the best method but it works if you don't have the right tools.
Greg
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 990
Likes: 0
From: Germantown TN
Well guys here's an update. I went and had the exhaust welded up a few hours ago and it still was backfiring like crazy after I put in a new 02 sensor. I was on the way home and decided to pull into an auto parts store parking lot and pull all the plugs and wires out. 2 of the plugs were completely black and one of the 2 was cracked so those must have been the culprits. I installed new plugs and it still ran like crap!!!
I checked all the wiring to the coils and it seemed to all be correct but I looked at the passenger side and it just didn't look exactly like the driver's...I swapped it around and BOOM! She's all fixed!!!!!!!
Now I just have to figure out what to do about the secondary air injection system.
Racer
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 397
Likes: 0
From: Auburn AL
What exactly was different about the pass. side? Did you have two plug wires crossed? I didn't think they were long enough to plug into the wrong place. Oh well, Live and Learn.
Good to hear you have fixed your problem. For the AIR system you will have to get the code "edited" out of the system. I don't think you will do any damage to the system by not doing it right away but you will have that code. Find a shop with LS1 Edit or HP Tuners to delete the AIR from the system.
Greg
Good to hear you have fixed your problem. For the AIR system you will have to get the code "edited" out of the system. I don't think you will do any damage to the system by not doing it right away but you will have that code. Find a shop with LS1 Edit or HP Tuners to delete the AIR from the system.
Greg
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 990
Likes: 0
From: Germantown TN
What exactly was different about the pass. side? Did you have two plug wires crossed? I didn't think they were long enough to plug into the wrong place. Oh well, Live and Learn.
Good to hear you have fixed your problem. For the AIR system you will have to get the code "edited" out of the system. I don't think you will do any damage to the system by not doing it right away but you will have that code. Find a shop with LS1 Edit or HP Tuners to delete the AIR from the system.
Greg
Good to hear you have fixed your problem. For the AIR system you will have to get the code "edited" out of the system. I don't think you will do any damage to the system by not doing it right away but you will have that code. Find a shop with LS1 Edit or HP Tuners to delete the AIR from the system.
Greg
The plug wires weren't crossed it was the harness that goes to the coils that was backwards. I just deleted all the SES codes out of the computer with my HP tuners but I am fairly new and wasn't sure how to "turn off" the secondary air injection system so it would stop sucking in air.
Racer
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 308
Likes: 1
From: Jamestown Ohio
You can also use a spray bottle of water if you can't get a thermal detector gun.Spray the water on the exhaust port of each cylinder at the exhaust manifold while the car is running.Even if the water boils off all the cylinders you can still see the cold cylinder by watching how long it takes to boil off the individual cylinder's header or exhaust manifold.the slowest to boil off is the cold one.the caveat to this is that you might have more than one cold cylinder and it works much better on headers than exhaust manifolds.