loss of power from leak?

[BirdOnFire]

my drivers side header is leaking,i have tried everything so far, except a new gasket, will my header leak cause a loss of performance? Are the pacesetter gaskets from summitracing.com the same as the crappy paper ones that come with the pacesetter headers? Part # PSM-G7209

[BLLDOGG]

im sure they are the same gaskets. no, you gaskets wont leak cause of loss of performance. and if you have done everything, why not just change the gasket?

[99W68Firebird]

birdonfire i think im having same problem as you, but do the ones that you ordered from summitracing have perfect circled holes or are they oval shaped holes. because the stock gaskets are oval and pacesetters are circled. and i have fel-pro gaskets and i heard those are factory replacements so they are oval and i think thats the reason i leak.

[BirdOnFire]

I haven't ordered the gaskets from summit yet, if there the same paper gaskets that are leaking now that came with my headers i dont think i will. viper04af said he ordered gaskets from napa and they worked great so i think im gonna do so also. their part # NGAMS16099 www.napaautoparts.com $21.99. im gonna have to live wit my leaky gasket untile after christmas cuz i dont have any money to myself.

[RallyRed 98]

if your leak is bad, you WILL lose performance; if it's really bad, you can damage your motor.

[99W68Firebird]

yea well looks like my only hope is the damn pacesetter ones, cuz i dont think someone makes them the same shape as the pacesetter headers.

[memphis_raines]

Originally posted by RallyRed 98:
if your leak is bad, you WILL lose performance; if it's really bad, you can damage your motor.

Definitely. I had a broken manifold bolt that caused a leak. I could feel a loss of power and gas mileage went down about 20 miles per tank on average.

[99W68Firebird]

lol could explain one reason why i get crap gas milage

You figure out if those gaskets from summitracing.com are pacesetter stock ones?

[RallyRed 98]

pacesetter cuts their own paper gaskets, and they're very good.

[kramer2125]

Memphis and Red have the right idea.
A manifold leak, on either side of your motor could have that hot exhaust gas causing heat related problems on the precious spark plug wires, fuel lines, electrical relays etc etc (if the leak is bad enough). I just fixed a snapped bolt (connecting the header to y pipe) on my exhaust. Those of you who've seen where the two come together know a movable flange with 2 bolts connects the y pipe to the headers' stationary theaded flange. I had the only remaining bolt tightened down as much as possible, but still
could see dark exhaust gas shoot out of the junction when i turned the ignition. It sounds raspy, sorta like a snare drum. That was a decent size leak, i don't know how big yours is or how many CFM of gas this leak is allowing, but the bigger the leak the bigger the damage. Good luck fixing it. Mister Gasket has always done well by me, their parts have sustained the torturous heat my/our motors produce. :cool:

[BirdOnFire]

I just picked up my header gaskets from napa and these things look like they will work great there called Victor Reinz gaskets the part # is listed in the above post, i decided not to order the pacesetter gaskets from summit cuz i didnt have luck with them the first time, i made sure the bolts were tight daily still got a leak, some i guess just got lucky to get the pacesetter gaskets to stay sealed. has any one used the stage 8 header bolts? i got a part # STG-8900 form www.summitracing.com i would like to know if these will work, i know they have been mentioned before in this forum but no one has ever given a part #?

[RallyRed 98]

if you mean grade 8, they will work fine... but are pricey as far as fasteners go.

[98Camaro3.8]

PSM-G7209 is the same Pacesetter gasket that comes with the headers. I would recommend those gaskets over others.