quick question

[elgarvo616]

so my header broke in half and i ordered a new hotshot to replace it. i was wondering if i drive the car, will any problems occur? ive heard of hondas "burning valves" in this same situation. would this happen to my Ka?also, what does "burning valves" mean?thanks

[benemorius]

How exactly did it break? "Burned valves" is generally a term that ricers throw around to make them feel more intellegent, IMHO.

A valve can get burned if it gets too hot. (duh) This can be caused by valve lash being out of spec, deposits on the valve/seats, even normal wear and tear on an engine. Basically anything that prevents a valve from making good contact with it's seat so it can transfer heat away.

[elgarvo616]

ahhh gotcha. a weld broke on it. heres a pic.

[benemorius]

Is that just the downpipe that broke or is the manifold also broken? If it's broken right after the manifold, I'd say it's ok to make short trips if you keep a close eye on it. Things will heat up pretty quick with all the exhaust bellowing out right there, and the CO will be coming right through the firewall at you. You don't want to catch anything on fire or die of CO poisoning while approaching a flood of kids in a school zone just after school lets out. At least the exhaust will be directed down by the manifold, though. Now, if the manifold itself is broken in such a way that exhaust is more encouraged to stay up in the engine compartment rather than go down out of it, I'd be a lot more cautious. Drive it only if you must (like to the muffler shop for welding) and maybe even take the hood off and leave it at home.

Oh yeah - don't forget about how loud it will be. I drove for a few hours with my AIV hole unplugged. That was just a small exhaust leak. At idle, it turned heads; under even slow acceleration it became truly unbearable. The noise even overpowered a trio of harleys. I cannot imagine what having an open header would sound like.