Hotshot Problems (header)

[240sxJay]

First off I've read tons of hotshot header problems, dont flame..read on.

Let me get to the only problem I'm having after the installation. My car sounds like a damn ATOPIA car (if you ever been to disneyland you'll know exactly what that sounds like.)

Otherwise I would explain the noise as a pulsing/stuttering sound. Putt putt putt.I've read post after post, seems to me it's an exhaust leak. Coming from the bolts that weren't tighten 100% because of the welding done on the hot shot headers and my EGR valve still has 3 threads that can't completely tighten?

For my bolt problems the only answer I found was to go to a mechanic and have him grind away the welds so the bolts can tighten. Is there no other way around this? Can I do anything to grind some of that weld myself?

As for the EGR valve, sooooo many common problems of it not completely tightening, but I didn't find one answer. People said to fill it with "goo" ...but they didn't freaking name the type of "goo" that I can fill it with.

Of this mystical goo do i have to retake out the EGR valve? If so, that would be a nightmare

[RedHatchback]

For the tightening situation,use LocTite,be sure to buy the red bottle though,it'll hold it shut

[s13sr20chris]

ouch, red locktite is too strong. that stuff is sometimes not removable at all. i have seen rod nuts with red locktite that had to be cut off. if the pipe gets tight and just does not seal then i would use high temp rtv. it works on exhaust manifold gaskets so it should handle egr. if it wont tighten up enough to stay put then i guess you have to use locktite but i would step down to the blue or something equivalent.

[240sxJay]

So you are suggesting blue locktite? How much does this can run about and since I have three threads left, just simply apply it to the hole? Last question, will this also work for the bolts that couldnt' get tighten because of the welding on the headers? Sorry so many questions, never used that stuff before.

[navysnail]

yes blue loctite

if you use red loctite on a bolt less than 1/2in diamiter, it will likely shear instead of coming out, its strong stuff

[240sxJay]

Nistech do you have any suggestions?

[hotshot240sx]

ive had problems with my hotshot header bolting to the cat...i was blowing out gasket after gasket...my solution...i had it completley welded...header to cat to muffler its all welded in one piece...solved my exhaust leak problem...and after awhile they tend to crack at the welds from the block to the 2 so keep an eye on that in the future...

[240sxJay]

Ah, how can u tell it's coming from the cat? I know we used a lift and we used an Impact gun, so those bolts should be pretty tight, were the gaskets just poor quality? I wonder if that is the problem. Our oem are nice thick *** IRON ones...the one hot shot provided is sorta weak. I wonder =(

[NISTECH]

I am not sure on what welds your talking about? the ones at the head or the ones at the flange?

The 3 thread issue. Are you saying the egr pipe nuts are not seating properly? if so loosen both ends and retry it get them both down to almost seated then fully tighten both of them. It sounds like to me you tightend one end all the way and the other end is binding due to it not being able to freely move around to seat properly.

[gumby]

i heard the gaskets they send you suck

[240sxJay]

Can that noise be from the crappy gaskets they give you? What what I did to solve the problem on the welds on the head itself was to use two washers and tighten..that worked perfect, hot shot told me to do that, also they purposely made the EGR hole smaller so it wouldn't be such a hassle to put the EGR Valve in. (Heh now they tell me) ...so my leak is not coming from the EGR valve, 100% sure and not from the head where i screw in the bolts...and where i connected it to the cat...an Impact gun was used...now i'm stuck where can this leak be? Back to the first sentence..crappy gaskets?

[s13sr20chris]

if you are not sure where the exhaust leak is...get 1/2 quart of atf, stick a piece of vac hose in it, and attach to motor. start her up and regulate flow so she doesnt huff it too fast. when all gone, just wait. eventually the atf will start coming out of the exhaust leak. atf does not like to burn and thats why is will come out the exhaust. carefull you dont use too much, it cant be good for catalysts.

[hotshot240sx]

with my hotshot it was actually the flange that bolted to the cat it wasnt making right contact... my buddy at the muffler shop told me that no matter what gasket i tried to use if the cat and down pipe flange werent true with eachother then it would continue to leak...so i just had it welded and said **** it. that was my issue...not saying all are like that...but anything made by hand or machine is never perfect i guess! and the welds im talkin about are from the 4 to 2 welds right before they turn 2 to 1.

[240sxJay]

Hey chris i'm going to try that, btw would you recommend any more mods..I want to go N/A and reach 225hp. i already have intake, exhaust and headers, ..I want to do cams next..and ECU last...anything I can do to see noticable gains after the cams?

[s13sr20chris]

225whp? or just hp? pulleys, synthetic fluids, and then it gets expensive. headwork and big valves.

[240sxJay]

just hp, ...whp would take A LOT more, ...what kinda synthetic fluids are we talking about that can improve HP? ...now i'm beginning to think going N/A might not be a good idea if it gets that expensive...how much hp doe pulleys add and are how much are the parts?

[hotshot240sx]

well whp is a hell of alot more expenisive to reach..i wouldnt say hard...mostly expensive... 550cc injectors-550ccfuel pump-steel braided fuels lines-cams-head port and polished with valves,springs,stems, header-intake-exhaust-jwt ecu upgrade... im hoping that will put you somewhere along the range...how many miles your motor have... im building my single cam and thats what i gotta do plus some little extras and just maybe....MAYBE...i can push close to that!!!strictly project my friend...

[240sxJay]

we are in the same boat ><, I have84,000 miles on my car, too old for Turbo, but not old enough to install a swap yet ...N/A seems to be very rare, so i just needed some suggestions..do you have any order in which things should be done?so far i have:

IntakeExhaustHeadersTest Pipe

Next?:CamsPulleysFuel Injectors? Etc...

I guess i'm a noob and dont' understand the "springs and stems"

[hotshot240sx]

well 84k isnt that bad...im putting a ka24e with 59k on it...heads getting ported and polished, supertech flat head valves, stronger springs and stems, have the block completley cleaned, header, intake, exhaust w/high flo cat, 550cc injectors, 550cc walboro fuel pump, adjustable fuel pressure regulator, 8mm wires, jwt billet cam, jwt ecu, cobra maf, apexi afc controller, 300zx vlsd, one piece drive shaft, act 4 puc clutch, fidanza lightened flywheel, yada yada...this is completley project...i hope to push 225hp plus to the wheels NA and thats pretty damn fast for a na 240sx. i do plan to turbo the ka but i have another KA sohc to build... first thinks first i need to lower my compression to 8.5 so that will take time and money... give me an email..ill send you some info and if you have any questions just drop a note.. [email protected]

[hotshot240sx]

i know for the price of all this i could do a swap...but i choose to go the other way and try the KA... why not right...rare like you said... may cost money...but it will further my knowledge into the engine which holds the biggest question mark out of all import cars...the KA24e and KA24de... what a mystery within these torquey motors...

[s13sr20chris]

you want big power on a na ka? you must solve the rev problem. you can get 200whp and up i believe but it will be at some high revs. if you can get the bottom end to see 8000 then i would think you could make power. the head is easy. pick your head porter and send it to them. order up their stage 758493027 super head job with all the trimmings and let them put in their favorite cam, springs, valves, etc. the bottom end is the hard part. you will need lighter everything and some serious balancing. you will also need some pretty high compression. i dont think big power na motors come together as easy as turbo because it really requires some thought. your head guy will need to match his chambers to the pistons for max quench and all kinds of crazy stuff.

[240sxJay]

Thanks hotshot and chris. Going NA will take a heck of a lot more time, and I have actually lots of questions to ask you hotshot. First I need to build up money since i basically just installed all my bolt-ons, plus massive tune-up (ngk iridiums, ngk wires, distrbutor cap, etc) and short shifter + knob :P

I'll email you later on where you get parts and I'm assuming you live in california, most people refer to some of those parts "the bay area" ...i lived in california all my life..and florida sucks @#$@#.

Right now I have a small problem with my intake right now. I sadly got one of those generic ones on ebay, because the experience i've had with generic intakes for my integra and honda were good. The only thing that is bugging me is the IAT sensor, how important is that, I basically got it glued to the MAF sensor..there is a little hole for it when i got the intake, hard to explain. ....90% of people seem to put INJEN..all i hear is INJEN..and most of those people dont' even buy the cold air extension. 100 more dollars for an extra 1-2hp? ...Tell me if i'm wrong, should I stick with this generic or go with Injen + their cold air extension?

[hotshot240sx]

well email me and we can talk further ive done some research all last night and yeah... na is hard to perform and i already knew that... but S13CHRIS is right its not a fun project... but yeah email meeh, i have an injen but aem will do... i dont see too many generic systems for the 240sx so i wouldnt know how they work or if they have proper hook ups for all sensors and vacuum lines... and the injen made a bit of a diff from the kn system i was running but its virtually not noticable until you reach a higher rpm... email me and ill let you in on some of what i know...

[s13sr20chris]

iat is just for diag of the coolant temp sensor. if you got no check engine light then its all good.

[gumby]

i was hoping to clean the intake manifold before installing this sohc. im assuming that entails removal. so as long as its out whats involved with porting and/or polishing it. i dont need major hp im just looking for efficiency.

[hotshot240sx]

yes removal is obvious, but porting and polishing is what i leave to my machine shop... you will feel a difference if the head is ported and polished, but efficiency is not really achieved through horse power gains but through care... so if your looking for effiency/longevity, then id stay pretty much stock...

[gumby]

true i'll just spray it down and scrub it with carb cleaner

btw i came across that post. the guy used thicker fel-pro gaskets and it solved his leak problem

[s13sr20chris]

if you plan to run a hot cam at any time i rec you match port the head and intake manifold(might as well do the exhaust too). then leave a very small lip on the manifold so that the port in the head is bigger(very slightly) than the intake manifold. this fights reversion and promotes tumble/swirl. if you do this and also remove the little butterflies from the intake ports you will have less idle problems from removing the butterflies.