Had ARH headers have alot of valve noise... anyone else?

[JDBeck23]

I bought my ARH headers from ADM not long after buying my car in Jun 2009. I installed them at about 2500 miles. After calling Andy and bothering him a few times to overcome a couple install hurdles. They went on with little trouble. Andy advised not to use the supplied gasket in the kit because it would definitely tear and I would have to replace it. And the stock metal gasket was superior, so I reused it.

After install I noticed immediately that there was more valve noise than what im used to hearing from a full flange set of headers. After talking with Andy he said that they were the loudest headers he'd heard in that regard. I triple checked to make sure there were no exhaust leaks, and retorqued the headers after 200 miles and only find one or two bolts about a half turn loose. I retorqued again at about 500 miles, no problems, and once more around 2000 miles after install, no problems again.

Has anyone else noticed this? I travel alot for work, so when I come home, I hop in my car and I also notice it again, almost like it's the first time I've heard it. The car runs and sounds great, but the noise bothers me when im on the highway, for example, and driving next to a jersey barrier, it's quite noticeable.

Any ideas? Are there any gasket solutions other than stock that I can try that might help? I've read that some people use high temp copper antiseize on metal header gaskets to help mate them to the head and flange better, any experience with that?

Thanks all for any input!

[EFI]

It's just how it is with headers compared to cast iron manifolds. The LS engine is loud enough as it is, but the think iron does a good job of absorbing that. Thin stainless steel lets out much more of the engine noise.

You could try wrapping or coating the headers for more sound deadening material, but still the matter of the fact is they're not thick cast iron thus you will hear more of the valvetrain noise. Some headers are better than others at this, but they all sound much louder than stock.

[Indpowr]

We hear none

[Russell James]

Mine are very noisy too, sounds like a lot of valve train noise. I think it's just the nature of the tubing. When the exhaust valve opens the pressure slams the thin walled tubing. With the manifolds, the thick cast iron quiets that sound.

Mine don't leak at all, and I just re-used the OE gaskets. If you used the OE gaskets and tightened according to the directions from the center out, I doubt yours are leaking. I know what you mean though, when I drive next to something I'd swear they are leaking, but I know mine are completely leak free.

The only thing I can think that might quiet it down would be some type of coating. Whatever the thickest header coating out there is, might quiet it down a bit. Maybe? I was thinking of trying Swain coating some day.

[Slowhawk]

Most of the time you hear exhaust noise in the collector.It's exhaust pulses. Normal.

[Avalnch]

Originally Posted by Russell James

Mine are very noisy too, sounds like a lot of valve train noise. I think it's just the nature of the tubing. When the exhaust valve opens the pressure slams the thin walled tubing. With the manifolds, the thick cast iron quiets that sound.

Mine don't leak at all, and I just re-used the OE gaskets. If you used the OE gaskets and tightened according to the directions from the center out, I doubt yours are leaking. I know what you mean though, when I drive next to something I'd swear they are leaking, but I know mine are completely leak free.

Ditto. Noisey valve train/exhaust leak sound from my ARH. Doesn't bother me since I had noticed the same sound with the stock exhaust, but not as loud. Get a loud enough cat-back and you won't have to worry about this noise. ^_^

[Stewcam]

No valve noise here.

[A.R. Headers]

JDBECK, What you're more than likely hearing is the echo of the valvetrain inside the headers. This is extremely common with headers no matter what type of vehicle you drive, (although the volume can be different from vehicle to vehicle). Our headers were designed for the sole purpose of producing huge power gains. The trickness of our 304 S/S primaries are the industry standard .049. This material will not fail. If your noise is that pronounced I highly recommend getting your ride back to Andy to check for any possible leaks. Our products are entirely made by hand by extremely skilled craftsmen but on rare occasions something may be wrong and I need to confirm that there's no possibility of leaks. I won't sleep at night if my customers aren't 100% satisfied.

On a side note, our gaskets are all made by Flatout Racing. In 5 years we've had ZERO failures. I need to set Andy straight on this. They may not be as good as the factory gasket but their track record speaks for itself. Let me know if there's anything I can do. Thanks.

Nick

[JDBeck23]

Nick, I definitely dont think that the sound is a result of less than stellar workmanship, your headers are great!

I figured it was due to the sound from the valve bouncing off of the comparatively thinner walled headers compared to the factory manifolds. I am very happy with the performance of the headers. I was just wondering if there was a way to quiet the sound a bit more.

Thanks all for the replies, I just wanted to confirm that it wasnt just me and see if there was a solution out there.