Headers putting out too much heat?. Header recommendations?.

[Texamaro]

Hi guys and gals. So late last year I did a mild cam swap as well as a lot of other engine mods to my 2011 ss with the l99.
I also got a professional tune, upgraded springs, lifters deleted afm, etc etc..
And I last minute decided to install some stainless long tube headers I picked up inexpensively.
I didn't invest a lot in headers and during winter and spring months it seemed alright but around the time Texas heat hit they seem to be problematic.
My temperature gauges have all held a little high but not dangerous, that said into May of this year I seemed to have an issue with headsoak on my starter, then that was followed by my ecm going out. It's been in and out of the garage but after getting all the repairs done in late August I got stuck in a couple work zones where I sat for prolonged periods with the engine running and all heat related gauges (engine temp, oil temp and even trans temp) creeped up to the point I was worried and shut the car off while waiting.
I've gone through basics such as making sure cooling fans are functioning well, thermostat is good, coolant level is full.
I've not done any cooling upgrades but Im pretty sure my issue is the headers themselves.
What do I need to do to avoid such issues and drive my car without fearing of overheating?.
I'm assuming I need to get quality headers, but no real clue where to start...
I'd prefer to avoid header wrap as I don't love the look and have been warned it can be a fire hazard.
I'm open minded to other engine cooling upgrades but am pretty confident the headers are the main culprit.
Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!.

[102SS]

You can do several things to improve your drivability.

1)Install a larger more efficient rad.

2)Install a cooler thermostat

3) Wrap your headers or send them out for ceramic coating.

4) Program the fans to come on sooner

5) Either wrap your starter or configure a heat shield to protect it from the headers.

[acutron42]

Look into Jet Hot.

[hunter1660]

And easy and costless mod is to remove the rubber hood seal along the firewall near windshield. Helps let the heat out.

[Badbubba]

You can ceramic coat your headers. Just be certain you have a decent set before spending the money to coat. Jet-hot coats inside and out. And the parts do not have to be new. Iirc, it was around $400, with shipping, to get my ARH longtubes coated, but have had no issues. I did have to grind some off for the slip joint at the collector to fit. Any idea of what the afr is at idle? I can see the potential for the plug wires and starter to be affected by the headers, but not the engine temps that much. I would check the cooling system. Since you had a cam change, it would have been drained. It's a real pain to get all the air purged. And temps will rise the most at idle. I shut it down a few times, really had me concerned with the temps.

[gtstorey]

I'm running am LSA supercharger and non-wrapped headers and the only problems I had with heat have been the transmission (solved with a transmission cooler, not ran through the radiator) and heat soak on the supercharger.

Run a cooler thermostat, although this may drop you mpg a little. Have the fans programmed to cut on sooner. The first time I drove mine in real heat, I thought I had problems since the fans have such a high cut on temp, 127 IIRC. The oil temp is calculated, not measured so I don't worry to much there.

And the quality of the header doesn't matter as far as temperatures.

[C@mero]

There’s guys out here that run speed engineering, and that’s as cheap as they come. I couldn’t imagine another set of eBay headers radiating that much heat.

As far as fixes with starting. Check grounds, wrap your starter, check your tune. If it doesn’t fix that then get a high torque starter. Start with the free fixes or cheap options first.

Like everyone said, better t stat, better radiator, and have your fans turn on sooner. Again, start with the cheaper fixes.

[Trawz]

Ceramic coating the headers will help more then you think.

I bought a set of speed engineering LT headers last year and got them ceramic coated black by a local coatings shop. I spoke with the owner when I dropped them off and mentioned I did road course racing. He said: "Most people want our flashier coatings, but the serious people who want to keep heat out get them black". I can touch one of the primary tubes immediately after driving all day without burning myself.

I have not had any issues with excessive heat, except on 95+ degree track days.

[pyroguy]

I definitely second the ceramic coating suggestions. When I bought my car it had shorty headers on it and on hot days the starter would lag. I installed ceramic coated long tube headers and the car hasn’t struggled to start since. Not only that, the headers look brand new many years later. Good luck! Ceramic coated headers rock!

[Bigdumogre]

Originally Posted by hunter1660

And easy and costless mod is to remove the rubber hood seal along the firewall near windshield. Helps let the heat out.

Any problem on heavy rain days and water getting into the back of the engine?

[InFiD3ViL]

Originally Posted by hunter1660

And easy and costless mod is to remove the rubber hood seal along the firewall near windshield. Helps let the heat out.

That helped me a lot, but it can also cause your windshield to get foggy, especially when it is very humid out.

[cmack]

I live in Texas and have had my share of heat trouble. I have LG motorsports radiator:
https://www.lgmotorsports.com/lg-mot...-radiator.html


I also have manual radiator fan switch:
https://www.pcmofnc.com/product/2010...tch-harness-3/


The fan switch is similar to (102SS mentioned ) having a tuner "Program the fans to come on sooner". I personally did not want to rely on going back/forth with tuner on fan configuration. I can also kick fans to high before it reaches certain temps. I was stuck at train stop earlier in week, I kicked fans on as soon as I saw traffic stopped. I track my car and I kick fans on high for whole session. The fan switch is not super easy diy project as you have to add a pin to ecu but it is not rocket surgery.



Just asking...... Do you know to turn heater on if you are having trouble cooling? Nothing sucks more than sitting in Texas traffic over 100 degrees outside and having to run heater. Under normal circumstances you should never have to do so but if the car has cooling trouble, the heater will keep car from overheating.

[hunter1660]

Removing the seal won’t add a significant amount of rain compared to what’s drawn in thru the front grill and splash by tires. The benefit outways not removing it. It gets hot under the hood, especially with a power adder.

[102SS]

Originally Posted by cmack

I live in Texas and have had my share of heat trouble. I have LG motorsports radiator:
https://www.lgmotorsports.com/lg-mot...-radiator.html


I also have manual radiator fan switch:
https://www.pcmofnc.com/product/2010...tch-harness-3/


The fan switch is similar to (102SS mentioned ) having a tuner "Program the fans to come on sooner". I personally did not want to rely on going back/forth with tuner on fan configuration. I can also kick fans to high before it reaches certain temps. I was stuck at train stop earlier in week, I kicked fans on as soon as I saw traffic stopped. I track my car and I kick fans on high for whole session. The fan switch is not super easy diy project as you have to add a pin to ecu but it is not rocket surgery.



Just asking...... Do you know to turn heater on if you are having trouble cooling? Nothing sucks more than sitting in Texas traffic over 100 degrees outside and having to run heater. Under normal circumstances you should never have to do so but if the car has cooling trouble, the heater will keep car from overheating.

I did the manual fan switch on my LT1 4th Gen F bodies my LS1 F bodies seamed less suseptible to the heat soak.

Been there done that with the heater man that sucks on a really hot day