I have just installed some headers for my 98 honda civic Lx, and once i turn the car on and drive it for a minute or two, I can see smoke/gas coming from the engine....and something smells a lil tooo hot....does anyone have a clue of whats going on here????

 

totally normal for that to happen. the oil from you hands and the some coating on the header (you only have one) is burning off. it should stop in a couple days.

 

did u remember to plug ur o2 sensor back in?? any cel light?

 

yeh i did i plug both back up.....so do u think i should keep driving it or try to figure it out

 

did you spill any oil onto your engine block or new header?

if it did, that's just the oil burning off.

 

how many miles have u put on ur car since ive had ur header?

 

i just put them on today...there are no miles...and i notice the smoke/gas when once i hit the accelerator...it seems fine when its just running alone...and i maybe had some oil on my hands when i installin it...thats it

 

you should be fine then.

btw, did you torque down your header bolts to factory specs with a torque wrench?

 

i used a regular wrench to bolt down the bolts...but i did it rather tightly....i dont know why its so called smoking...i just dont want this to lead to a fire!!!

 

it shouldnt lead to fire, normally any new exhaust components take a few days to get worn in. THey usually smell and sound bad for a few days. If you have excessive smoke coming from in your engine thats bad news though. Make sure the header is bolted to the block at factory specs and that the o2 sensor is tighteneed down good as well.

Also, is it a 2 piece or 1 piece header? If its a 2 piece, the bolts/gasket between the 2 pieces is just another place you need its tightened down enough.