thefallman

i was worried that the wrap had held water up against the pipe, and had possibly contributed to weakening it by causing it to rust. When i pulled the wrap off my blown pipe all the high temp paint flaked off. btw i used the same paint that Dale did. So when i got my new replacement crossover from ORS i had a place in CO springs Ceramic coat it cost me 50 bucks i have no header wrap now and have had no problems with heat since.

of course i have a 3 inch body lift too so if you dont have that raj your speedo cable and brake cable are closer then mine were. i think mine would have been fine with just the pipe from ORS and no ceramic or header tape but hey it make it easier to sleep at night. You would be amazed at what a good job that ceramic coating does on keeping the heat inside the pipe. i would say that it is almost equal to or damn close the the header wrap

breknraj

Thanks for that extra info, Brian.

I guess I'll go into this later this morning expecting the worst, but hoping for the best.

If it comes to that, I guess I'll look into getting my crossover repaired (or replaced), ceramic coated, and wrapped (or, perhaps, some kind of shield/blanket for the firewall.) With no body lift, I'm going to be a bit paranoid about excess heat, anywhere.

I'll also have to take a long look at how I might be able to work in a flex fitting. Its pretty packed under the cab with 2 cats and two O2 sensors.

mt_goat

I have a flex coupling between the cat (I'm just using one cat) and front O2 sensor. I didn't figure out a way to use that support bracket at the tranny bell, but I may go ahead and try to figure out a way now. I thought about ceramic coating the crossover but I didn't think the flex coupling in the crossover could take that. How does a ceramic coated flex coupling work? Does all the coating just break off the first time it flexes?

Dan.3

I was wondering the same thing

thefallman

actually the flex coupleing was taped off or something so that there wasnt any coating on it. i wish i had a digital camera i would have taken pics of it while it was out. ill see if i can get pics of it now that its in and show you how the exhuast show modified the original bracket.

Dan.3

would ceramic coating plus header wrap plus header wrap coating be to much overkill???h

mt_goat

It might be, I remember the instructions for the header wrap were warning not to over-lap the wraps too much but I'm not sure what happens if you do.

Dan.3

since i havent dropped my 3.4 in wondering what the best set up for the crossover. I was thinking high temp paint with header wrap. Then I saw the spray on coating for the header wrap. Then since brian had his ceramic coated I am leaning towards that with header wrap for extra security. I was wondering if the spray on coating for the header wrap would do more harm than good with a ceramic crossover.

breknraj

The bad news - there is a about a square inch of exposed crossover pipe, right at the Y junction on the driver's side. The good news - I don't see any signs of escaping exhaust on the firewall - just the melted section of the insulation pad there.

The E-brake and speedo cables don't look too fried, but I'm sure that they are damaged. The hole in the insulation is immediately above the flange that the cables come through.

My question to our collective brain trust - can you think of anything I can put in that area to tide me over to next spring (only using the truck if absolutely necessary, and only for short trips to town?) I don't really see a good way to get anymore header wrap on the area, until I can pull the engine out. I really don't have the time or inclination to do the winter engine yank, again. Have I mentioned anywhere along this thread that I would kill for a garage?!?!?

Basically, I'm thinking that I put the truck on injured reserve, so to speak, and start accumulating the parts that I'll need, then pull the engine next spring, when it starts getting decent outside, again.

I figure that I'm going to need a new E-brake cable, new speedo cable, firewall insulation pad, and figure out what needs to be done with the crossover (repair or replace). I'll definitely look into the ceramic coating, one way or the other, and figure out a bell housing support, plus the flex unit. I'm also going to have to find a way to get rid of the after effect of the smell in the cab - ick!

I guess next spring could be some big doings for the beast, because I still want to get the e-locker in there, and put the TJ springs on the rear axle, as well as some other odds and ends. Oh, and paint - eventually!

mt_goat

Only one sq inch is uncovered? Wow, I wouldn't think that would be enough to scorch the firewall insulation.

Might try a patch of the wrap and spray it down good with this:

http://store.summitracing.com/egnsea...700+0&x=30&y=7

Or might try some of the adhesive backed heat shielding on the fire wall.

Or try asking Mike if he knows.

thefallman

once again one of the reasons i went with the ceramic second time around is because i get alot of water up in those areas weather its snow wheeling or creek crossings i was worried that the pipe would rust out at an accelerated rate because of the wrap holding water against the pipe. when coated the coating acts as a paint and insulation and would prevent both overheating the firewall and rusting out of the pipe.

BTW with a 3inch body lift like mine you can get the crossover in and out of the truck with out droping the tranny or pulling the engine. it slides right out over the torsion bar thru the drivers side fender well. plus it makes it so much easier to pull the trans with a body lift on. when i did my swap i actually put my crossover in after the trans and engine were in the truck.

all you have to do is drop all the bolts out of the driver side of the cross member and pull all but 2 out of the pass side then loosen the other 2 to max drop with out pulling them. then drop your exhuast and pull the crossmember through the fenderwell

thefallman

you can get a 3 inch for as cheap as $94 from summit and from 4crawler for 172.00

Dan.3

I saw this stuff at advanced auto parts last night. I was thinking about using it when I wrap my crossover

mt_goat

In case you missed it in the general vehicle section, here are some pics of the pro at work:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f123.../#post50673145

breknraj

Thanks, Dale, I did see it. That will be a bada$$ rig, when it's done!

I had to agree with you about the heat shouldn't have been enough to do what has happened, so I was back outside, looking again this morning. It finally took starting it up cold, and sticking my hand behind the crossover before it could get hot. Sure enough, I felt the telltale puffs of an exhaust leak along the back bottom seam of the Y.

NUTS!!!!!!

I hate the thought of not really having my truck for the winter months (except for extreme circumstances), but I simply don't have the time to deal with this, right now, since I'm gearing up to buy my neighbor's hot tub service business - hopefully by the end of next month. That has to be my priority, so I guess my injured reserve idea is now, officially, in effect.

I'm planning to use the old Volvo GLT wagon as the primary business vehicle, anyway, so I should be good to go with it, once I get a set of Blizzaks on it.

On the plus side, this will give me plenty of time to get the stuff I need, plot the procedures, and figure out if there's anything else I want to play with, when the time comes.

thefallman

ORS did offer to fix mine for me at a reasonable rate but i decided to go with a new one because of my decision to ceramic coat it.

Elvota

Sorry to hear about all of you and your crossover issues. Can't imagine how frustrating that must be to have such a hard to access part fail after all the work of the swap.

Why doesn't ORS warranty such a problem? Doesn't sound like anyone has used their crossover incorrectly. Seems like they should be all over this issue. If it requires a flex coupling, shouldn't they build them that way... or give specific direction that one must be used downstream to prevent failure?

I had been debating headers somewhat for my swap but not looking to mess with similiar issues I'll probably go that direction instead of the ORS crossover.

Then I'll get to discover all sorts of new issues on my own.

thefallman

my issues didnt appear till aprox 9 months after my swap. and ors was very accomadating in offering to repair the crossover. the problem is they cant put the flex in the cross over and have it work properly it needs to be parallel to the ground.

mt_goat

You're going to want a flex coupling or 2 with headers too. I think before I went to headers I'd consider trying the factory 5VZ crossover. Of course it would need to be crossed back over somewhere but so would the header pipe on that side and -if- it would fit it would be easier to get the O2 sensors in the correct spots and probably the most reliable of any of the options.

Elvota

With headers on my 3.0, I tried a flex coupling but it failed. Broke where the mesh attached to the flange. Then I replaced it with a second at it failed as well... so I gave up.

Not sure what to do with this 3.4. When those flex joints fail, you have to run open headers until you get to a place to fix it at that really sux.