When I bought my 98 base it had a DC header installed, as well as some other aftermarket stuff, and the guy I bought it from gave me some of the stock parts that he replaced.

I've heard on H-T that with aftermarket headers, the heat shield can't be installed and this may contribute to raising the engines temperature (heat soak?). Therefore, the gain from replacing the stock header and heat shield would bet to reduce heat soak. I have also heard that the gains from the DC header are very minimal.

The reason I'm considering this is that I have a pinging sound that only happens when the engine is warmed up and the outside air is warm. Could replacing the stock header and heat shield possibly fix the problem?

In addition to the pinging, I pulled my spark plugs and they are pretty black so I must be running rich. Another thing I want to check is the O2 sensors, because occasionally I get a "secondary O2 slow response" CEL every couple months that goes away when I reset the ECU. Could this be related to the heat issue? Any opinions on what might be going on, and whether I should replace the header?

 

The heat sheild is so people don't stick their hand in there and get burned, it has nothing to do with the actual engine temperature. I would just keep the DC on there for a couple extra hp...no big deal either way though.

 

Heat tape the header, thats the only real way to reduce engine bay temps.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hawkze_2.3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The heat sheild is so people don't stick their hand in there and get burned, it has nothing to do with the actual engine temperature. I would just keep the DC on there for a couple extra hp...no big deal either way though.</TD></TR></TABLE>

lol no its not that diagram is so you know not to touch the shield....

thats there to keep header heat away from the radiator and all that ish....

OP: just keep that DC on there....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bb4ever &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

lol no its not that diagram is so you know not to touch the shield....

thats there to keep header heat away from the radiator and all that ish....

OP: just keep that DC on there....</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, you may be right, but either way taking the heat shield off won't cause your car to overheat or anything...

 

just keep the dc

 

The stock is heavy and ugly IMO. As long as the DC is not rusted up too bad I would keep it.

 

DC is lighter, but also not as structurally sound. Even if its rusted and F'ed up wrap it with heat tape.

 

Thanks for all the comments. I think I'll try the heat tape, since it's pretty simple and it can't hurt to eliminate some heat in the engine bay.

 

Yea, heat tape should fix your problems.

or

If you can get your hands on a Jdm header then it would actually be better. I have heard that the Stock jdm h22a header is better than DC (in hp gains) and you can use the heat shield with it. Its a little more work than just throwing the oem one back on but its something to keep in mind.

As for the o2 sensor problem, it may have been installed incorrectly when he changed out the header, or it may just be time to put in a new one. and if the engine is fouling up spark plugs you are probably better off taking it to a shop. That might be your whole ping problem right there.