Problems after header and wires/plugs

[blackthunder50]

Installed the headers new plugs and wires today, well the mechanic did who is a friend of the familys. Everything went well and went together just fine. Except he started pouring water on the headers to wash some of the oils off. I watched and thought uh oh the opti. BUt he didnt pour it any where near it and I dont see how it could have gotten on to it. The engine idles and revs very nice. However, when you are driving it stumbles and shakes when you accelerate but then stops and accelerates normally. It seems like its missing. Also, the exhaust pipes shake like crazy and slap around on the bottom. I dont know what to do im so frustrated with it. Does the car need a tune now with the headers? The opti was replaced 6000 miles ago..Help! Thnaks guys

[blackthunder50]

Just went out to check for a spark bridging in the dark. There was and then when i went back into the car i noticed the service engine light came on. I really think that when he poured that water on it fried something or shorted out something. I thought to myself uhh nooo when i saw that water being poured, i never thought you would ever pour water in it. I mean it went all over the sides including the injectors, just not near the opti.

[96Camaro]

my car used to do that whenever it heated up, changed the plugs and wires, took care of the problem. Did the mechanic use any electrical grease on the plugs?

[94 formula]

Have your car scanned that should point you in the right direction. I'd guess you either have a plug wire or 02 sensor wire burnt up on the headers or your 02 sensors got destroyed by the coating on your headers. Getting it scanned and seeing what the code is will be a lot easier than guessing though.

[blackthunder50]

I dont know if he used electrical grease on the plugs, he has built motors for his race car ('82 camaro) so he know about engine builds. Im going to check the wires and other things that could have been burned up. Im glad that the check engine light came on like you guys said because now I can pin point the problem on Monday. I am really skeptical of that water though that he poured, it went all over everything, spark plugs, wires, sensors, injectors, while the car was running, im dreading that it killed the opti I installed a few months ago.

[Trash man]

i wonder y he poured water over the headers? it just burns off with the frist start up

[blackthunder50]

Welp looks like I found where one of the problems is. I was checking out under the car and saw that the Opti had orange stuff on the bottom of it...where the waterpump meets the engine block there was coolant all under the pump and seeping downnnn...

My best guess is that the opti has crapped out because of the darn waterpump leaking. I replaced it only about 7 months ago, it looks like its coming out of that little weep hole. What does this mean? Did it fail inside or something? The opti I think is done because it sputters and runs awful when I drive it.

Do you get the service engine soon light when the opti dies? Because thats probably reading something else now if its not the opti.

Thanks for all the prior post that have been a huge help to pinpointing the problem and calming me down

[94 formula]

If it is coming out the weep hole the WP has crapped out internally and will need replaced but make sure no other hoses are leaking before pinpointing a 7 month old WP. If they leak onto the belt it can make it look like its coming from about anywhere. You can get a code when the opti goes. The opti can give up code 16 or 32 which will be high resolution pulse or low revolution pulse. I forget but one will shut the car down I think it triggers the fuel injectors to shut off with the other you can still drive the car.

[blackthunder50]

If it is coming out the weep hole the WP has crapped out internally and will need replaced but make sure no other hoses are leaking before pinpointing a 7 month old WP. If they leak onto the belt it can make it look like its coming from about anywhere. You can get a code when the opti goes. The opti can give up code 16 or 32 which will be high resolution pulse or low revolution pulse. I forget but one will shut the car down I think it triggers the fuel injectors to shut off with the other you can still drive the car.

Good thinking about the coolant lines, I thought about it really hard and realized a few weeks ago I checked the coolant and then bled the system, I always put a rag around the bottom of the bleed screw closest to the the waterpump to make sure it doesnt spill down, a little bit of coolant must have dripped down and just collected on the bottom. The car has been in my garage for the past few weeks driven regulary before the header install and there was no coolant on anything at all, just some dried up on the bottom of the pump and a little tiny bit of orange dried up on the bottom of the opti.

Im just for tommorow when we hook it up to the scanner, I hope its just a 02 sensor. The car starts fine and idles smooth, just breaks up when you accelerate.

By the way, those bbk headers look great and provide enough room to do the whole plug change fairly easy all from the top.

[blackthunder50]

Cars going on the diagnostics later today, lets see what my problem is... dun dun dun

[blackthunder50]

Its fixed!!! We plugged it in and found that cylinder #5 was mis firing and #7 showed a few sputters. Each of the plugs had those metal heat shields on them that we reinstalled. Took them off and the misfire eas gone. Phew glad it wasnt the opti. We also fxed the oil leak by replacing the low oil sensor. Headers sound great inside and out, Im so glad to be back on the road. Thanks for the help guys, especially one of the posts I found saying that taking the metal shields off was a remedy.

[94 formula]

Glad to hear you got it all fixed up its always a relief to get something like that fixed. If you ever have problems like that again try looking under the hood in a dark place that'll show you if you have any arching. I'm just wondering where at in PA are you?

[JL8Jeff]

Did you open up or widen those heat shields when you put on the MSD wires? I just put on the MSD 8.5 wires and I wanted to protect the boots on those cylinders so I pried open those heat shields and put them back on over the MSD boots(which are much wider than stock). I haven't noticed any problems like you mentioned, but I'm still getting an occasional P0300 random multiple cylinder misfire. But I was getting that before the wire change as well. I guess I could try removing them for week to see what happens. Could you actually see any arcing on those cylinders or did those heat shields show any sign like black marks?

[blackthunder50]

We wideend them a little bit so they could fit over the boots. They were still tight though. I checked for arcing at night in the pitch black even reving the engine and saw absolutely no blue sparks around the plugs.

Take off the metal shields, but make sure the boots are clearing the manifolds slightly so they dont melt. If it cures the problem, but your still worrying about the heat issue, maybe try some of that heat wrap and make a little blanket right around the boot.