Banks Headers?

bushman did pass the time by typing:

Keep in mind that's on a ZJ. I had to do a bit of grinding on the motor mount. YMMV.

Use antisieze on all bolts and follow the book for sequence and torque. Put a thin coat of permatex copper on the metal surfaces, that will help prevent any leaks. By thin I mean a bead about this --> o

There is a company called (I think) Crown that makes them for the TJ, although I dont know about your year. The 4x4 shop I was using at the time I needed to have mine changed out suggested them, and I have not had any trouble with it yet.

I put one on my 96 4.0L I6 XJ. One bolt was no fun at all to get to. Other then that it was very stright foward. The frst thing I noticed was it runs cooler. Second was even more low end grunt.

JoBo

Thanks Doug. I already have your site in my favorites and your site was the catalist for this little project. Are there any improvements to be done to the intake manifold while I have it off?

- Allen

bushman did pass the time by typing:

Apart from spending a couple of days doing a port&polish. :) (nah, that's if you have the head off)

You can match the intake and head by cleaning off any overhanging casting material from the intake rail and head. Basically you use the gasket to mark where material can be removed. The idea is to make the intake, gasket, and head match up as perfect as possible. (don't grind off the fuel injector bump, that's needed to swirl the mix) You also check the gasket to make sure it doesn't intrude into the air stream and remove (with a razor) the bit that overhangs. Handle the gasket with care. If you put a wrinkle in it it may not seal up properly.

It's possible to take the intake off without taking the fuel injector rail off. If you do be very careful to pull evenly. Rails are expensive. You will also need new O rings. NAPA has them. A bit of motor oil makes them easier to install. What ever you do, don't loose the injector clips, DC thinks those things are made of platinum. And despite what some manuals show the rail screws only go to 17-20 ft.lbs. I've seen manuals that show

100 and that's freeking wrong, and a great way to strip threads.

Check the injectors with an ohmmeter, should be about 14-17 ohms each.

If you do take the injectors off to clean them, don't poke anything into the injectors nozzle hole, that will screw it up easily. Just let the ends soak in some solvent. If you want to shell out about 20$ each you should be able to find a local diesel shop that will flow-test and clean your injectors. Takes them about a day.

With the injectors out, you can clean the intake rail of oil buildup from the CCV system. I use an old spoke brush and solvent. (work outside and wear eye protection it splatters like hell)

Take a close look at the exhaust and intake valves for any excessive carbon buildup. take a vacuum and while holding it at the port, loosen any of the carbon with a screwdriver. Don't go nuts here. Some carbon is normal. If you want to clean the whole system I suggest paying someone about 130 to run a motorvac on it.

That thing will clean everything. Make sure you clean the block face. (remember to put paper towel in the intake and exhaust ports to keep stuff out of the block. I used solvent on a scrubby (steel wool pad) to make sure the face was clean. Watch out for any stuck old gasket.

While I'm thinking of it. Don't underestimate the amount of fuel that rail holds. I drenched my shoes last time the rail was off. :(

After your done and cycled the engine (hot/cool) go over the bolts again and check the torque. The bolt way at the back gave me a bit of problems. Check them the next day and then again about 3-4 days later. After that everything should be settled. Don't overtorque! Just check to spec.

The cone washers and bolts are reusable.

Final note... do not overtorque the front bolt. It is into some thin casting and can distort the #1 cyl.

Mmmm, good coffee. ::)

Thanks Doug. I already have your webpage in my favorites and was a source for me starting this project. I talked to the Banks folks today and he guaranteed I would get 22.7HP if I bought both the header and catback. Wow that seems like a lot for a system with the same diameter as stock and uses

30% of the stock system. He is unable to provide any photos of the header for newer TJs. Hmmmm..... Allen who is posting this for the third time.

bushman did pass the time by typing:

Actually it's larger than stock. The only part that you didn't mention (and I think they no longer make) is the S pipe (the bit between the header and the cat). But that can be fabbed up by any good muffler shop. You can get a high-flow cat for about 100-130 depending on where you are, but the stock one flows well and muffler shops leagally shouldn't replace an OEM cat unless it's busted or clogged.

If you have someone make a new S pipe for you have them put in two bungs. One for the stock O2 sensor and one for a pyrometer if you ever want to get one. (bungs are much easier to weld in when the pipe is off)

As for the 22hp gain.. mebby. I can't say anything for sure except it sure sounds nice.. burble burble burble... and much less noisy than the ol smiling (cracked) header that was in there. I went with the Gibson aluminized cat-back. The only thing shiny on it now is the stainless tip. The rest is a nice rust color. Didn't worry much about having a shiny muffler since it gets bitten by the occasional rock anyway.

OK.........I'll bite & ask the stupid question. The only vehicles I have seen with pyrometers had turbo's. Why would you want one on a jeep?

Carlo did pass the time by typing:

:)

Actually you can put several things there. Ranging from a pressure gauge if you think the cat is plugged to an O2 sensor for watching the mix, to a pyrometer to keep tabs on the engines health. All depends where you are planning on going with the buildup. for a few bucks it's a bit of cheap planning ahead.

looks a lot like the last one I watched...........