i finally got a day off to replace my exhaust, it was littered with holes and leaks so my cheapest option was a full ebay header and cat back. can't afford to get a good muffler yet though, so i'm stuck with the shitty fart can. i had two questions i was hoping someone could help me out with.

do i really need to replace the lock nuts that bolt the header to the motor?

and i wanna paint the muffler a flat black so its not so noticable, what kind of paint should i use?

thanks in advance.

 

use the original nuts,

and for paint, use a high heat 500 degree plus. preferably 1000 degree. they sell exhaust paint somewhere. i can't remember.

 

well everything went pretty smooth.
except for when i took it out for a drive, the CEL kicked out a code.

Quote:

43: A problem in the Heated Oxygen Sensor {HO25) circuit or a problem in the Fuel Supply System

would it be safe to say its the o2 sensor?
i didn't notice the car running that much different on the drive. at one point while i was holding speed at about 40 it sputtered for a couple seconds but nothing after or before that

 

Code 43 could be a few different things. Clear it and see if it comes back. If it does, Helm's manual Chapter 11, Pages 42 & 43.

 

Did you re-connect both o2 sensors, theres 2 plugs one at the header and 1 by the cad conv.

Most ebay catbacks dont have the second o2 sensor bung.

 

I'm pretty sure if he left it unplugged, he'd get more than CEL 43.

 

nope just one o2 sensor on my car, and it was plugged in, but the system i got actually had three holes. one in the header, one in the down pipe, and one in the test pipe.

 

well the CEL seems to have gone away for now.

i cleared the code out a few times and the CEL always came back on, it seemed to take longer each time though, and then yesterday i decided to leave it and see what happened, to and from work (30 miles) and it never came back on, but the code was still in, so i cleared the code again this morning and made the drive to work and it didn't come on.

how is it possible that it just clears up on its own?
the only idea i've come up with is that the o2 sensor is now turned a different way in the exhaust. after being in the flow one way for 16 years, having the flow hit it in a different direction freaked it out for a bit.
but does that even make sense?

 

well idk but we can say it does lol