LT Header Hiss (Exhaust leak sound)

[mwt18]

Originally Posted by El Chorizo

Guys, I had this issue with Kooks headers on my SRT8 as well. The issue (I believe) has to do with the wall thickness of the headers and just a side-effect. It's not a leak, but the sound of the exhaust kind of bouncing off of the stainless steel. You get used to it, but yes I agree... I hate the sound of exhaust leaks and this is a similar sound :(

This does make some sense. I had my headers coated. I bet that helps with the sound, as I don't hear anything. But, I don't really have anyone to compare with either... Another thing I've noticed is that you can't really judge the sound that is being reflected back off of buildings, barriers, and whatnot. A lot of times it doesn't really sound like that, it's just an artifact from the sound waves reflecting off the things and/or interference. Get someone to sit in the car and give it some gas and walk around it out in open space (not in a garage).

[RedJewel2SS]

i had the same hissing noise with mine, but i had a clamp in the exhaust that wasn't fully tightened and it leaked, as i could tell from the black soot on the pipe around the clamp!

no more hissing sound!

get ARH, if you had a bad experience with kooks

[robertway]

In talking with the shop I got them from, they mentioned that folks that kept the stock exhaust noticed the hissing from the rear of the car. When I get on the gas lightly I keep wanting to look into the back set to see what is making the sound so that tells me it is coming from the rear. I can hear the added exhaust flow up front but it is not a "hiss" as it is more of an air flowing sound if that even makes sense so I am wondering if it has something to do with how the air is flowing through the stock mufflers now. It would be nice to get feedback from anyone that has Kooks and a non stock exhaust to see if the hissing sound is there or not. This morning I went under the car and loosened all the bolts up and re-tightened everything down HARD and I'll see if it helps but I would be surprised if it did. Interestingly the bolts on the ball joints that mate the cats to the headers were quite a bit loose but the connection wasn't loose as I couldn't rotate the cat by hand, this may be part of the problem so I will be double nutting those bolt and adding some locktite to keep them from coming loose again

ARH may be in the cards if this continues so hopefully I don't lose my shirt on "used" Kooks and Cats if I need to offload them, right now the sound is not worth the HP.

One more thing to add, the headers are not coated.

[Camar0wn3d]

Like I said before, I might BARELY have a hiss sound, but you really have to be listening for it. Any chance you can try to get a video of the sound it's making (in-car)? That might help with diagnosing the hiss. At a minimum I would be able to tell you if it's the sound I sometimes get.