My car was running like crap this whole day, not sure what was going on... it's had lack of power for a couple weeks, kinda running sluggish, not idling well, no pickup speed, etc. So I popped my hood after it died for good and wouldn't start back up (battery kept dying as I was driving...) Popped the hood because I saw smoke pouring out of it, and saw that my header was glowing a redish color. So I checked under the car and come to find out a belt is broken, just dangling under the car (guessing it's my alternator belt since I have to jump my car to get it going for a couple of seconds, then it dies out)

I have taken off the cat converter, not sure if this fixed the problem - but it sure as hell did make it loud

anyone have some other ideas why my header was glowing like it was?

 

ok I know that the belt that was dangling is the alternator belt, this probably occured because of the overheating and damaging the belt (it's practically shredded)

 

so your header actually glowed red hot?

 

yes I still have no idea what it is and am looking for answers, motor did not overheat just header glowing red hot. Cat is not clogged, no visible damage to exhaust that I can see

 

you have just described the symptoms of running rich to the T

Do you have a CEL

I would replace your o2 sensor or maybe you have stuck injectors.......did you do anything to your car recently

 

nothing new to car, what exactly do you mean running rich to the "T"?

o2 sensor looked fine, no CEL's

Is there anyway to check my injectors?

 

those are the symptoms of having bent exhaust valves.bad idle and exhaust manifold glowing.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LUCKYDRAGSTA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">those are the symptoms of having bent exhaust valves.bad idle and exhaust manifold glowing.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Is it because the combustion leaks out into the manifold heating it up that much?

 

it could also be a severely plugged cat

 

let's hope not... is there any way I can check without ripping apart the motor?

 

stuck injectors is what I am going to go with

I have one question for you......have you niticed that you get really bad gas mileage

 

Sounds like a clogged fuel filter or bad fuel pump to me.

 

the timing could be off

 

i think its your cat thats clogged from too much fuel .so i think u got 2 problems. a clogged cat and a running rich problem

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DirtySol &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">stuck injectors is what I am going to go with

I have one question for you......have you niticed that you get really bad gas mileage</TD></TR></TABLE>

terrible gas mileage, car should be getting 40 - I've been close to 15

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Iceman05 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the timing could be off</TD></TR></TABLE>

I had a diagnostic testing done, they said that the teeth are timing chain were messed up...

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by japanspecmotorworks.com &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sounds like a clogged fuel filter or bad fuel pump to me.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Fuel filter is brand new, fuel pump sounds fine and hasnt given me any troubles in the past.

 

What kind of car do you have. Most hondas Ive seen have timing belts not chains. If the timing is off, and the car is running real rich I guess that could be your problem. IS your check engine light on?

 

94 nissan sentra

 

i think iceman is right. timing might be off

 

yeah my first thought was timing too. If the mixture is ignited too late, it doesn't burn completely in the cylinder and ends up releasing it's thermal energy in the exhaust system; which is why your header gets so hot.

 

BINGO....check yer cat man...that is where i would start 1st...just unbolt the exhaust before the cat and fire it up...if your power is back...there ya have it......

 

errrrrrr. When header glows hot its too lean of a mixture.
Too rich of a mixture will make the cat glow beacause of the excess of hydrocarbons and makes the cat overwork itself.
too rich is safe for the engine except the cat. Whenever there is a malfunction in the engine it always defalts rich for saftey purposes.
When a car leans out it makes enough heat to put holes in the pistons from detonation.
Remeber
too rich = cooler engine, potentialy damaging converter
too lean = too much heat = detonation = engine goes to ****
my sugestion: Check your injector pulse wdith, fuel pressure, and if you have a SNAP ON 2550 handy take a snap shot of the ecu right after the problem occuse
have a nice day

 

Also if the timming was out it would be an incomplete combustion resulting in a rich condition and wouldnt make the headers hot but would fry the cat.
the cars not getting enough fuel, go from there

 

this is the only thing that's making me question that

if my car wasnt getting enough fuel, what explain 15 mpg? I would possibly think it's getting too much due to the gas fume smells and terrible gas mileage.

Then it goes the opposite too because it runs like complete ***, no pickup speed, very hesitant, etc. It was diagnosed, but I think it was a very poor job... the guy up there said the timing chain was missing teeth, I think he led to this conclusion because it makes a rattle noise inside the motor due to the timing chain guides being broken...

 

is there any way to check the injectors?

 

clogged cat, 100% sure