Ebay headers...updates? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Lobo1186 · 12-21-2010, 09:51 AM

So I have seen some threads in the past asking about the cheap 100$ ebay headers... so here is one for anyone who has them and has an update on the performance and quality/longevity.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-Boxster-986-97-98-99-2-5L-6-2-1-Exhaust-Header-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQfitsZModelQ3aBoxsterQQhashZitem 2c593e64f7QQitemZ190475822327QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fT ruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

that one there is like 85 shipped and for that price it seems so cheap why not try.
/
however, what are some of the things that need to be done to the car? does it have to be flashed for ROW in order to not throw codes? what would i need to do to get these into my car and go completely cat-less?

Topless · 12-21-2010, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lobo1186

So I have seen some threads in the past asking about the cheap 100$ ebay headers... so here is one for anyone who has them and has an update on the performance and quality/longevity.
what would i need to do to get these into my car and go completely cat-less?

Maybe move to Nevada. You live in the great state of Commiefornia, land of the smog Nazis. Cars with intentionally modified emission controls may be subject to impound. It doesn't happen very often, but it does happen. About 20 cars were towed from a Euro car meet not far from my house a few years ago. Periodic roadside inspection stations also scoop up cars deemed to be "not street legal in California".

Lobo1186 · 12-21-2010, 01:32 PM

well, lucky for me I am not bound to those emission rules. So does anyone have a clue as to if these are good for the job? And after that what needs to be done to the ECU or whatever else to make it run?

Adam · 12-21-2010, 01:36 PM

What year is your car? 2.5L cars don't require anything extra when switching to headers. If you have a 2.5L then it's a piece of cake. If it's a 2000 or newer good luck.

Lobo1186 · 12-21-2010, 01:48 PM

no unfortunately it is a 2.7 2001. would it require me to just flash it to ROW?

Adam · 12-21-2010, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lobo1186

no unfortunately it is a 2.7 2001. would it require me to just flash it to ROW?

That's one option, but who will do it? The dealer wont. You're not required to do anything....you'll just have a solid CEL on all the time. I've even heard of some people putting tape over the light. Outa sight, outa mind kinda thing.

Johnny Danger · 12-21-2010, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lobo1186

So I have seen some threads in the past asking about the cheap 100$ ebay headers... so here is one for anyone who has them and has an update on the performance and quality/longevity.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-Boxster-986-97-98-99-2-5L-6-2-1-Exhaust-Header-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQfitsZModelQ3aBoxsterQQhashZitem 2c593e64f7QQitemZ190475822327QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fT ruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

that one there is like 85 shipped and for that price it seems so cheap why not try.
/
however, what are some of the things that need to be done to the car? does it have to be flashed for ROW in order to not throw codes? what would i need to do to get these into my car and go completely cat-less?

Adam is correct. Unlike the 2.7 and 3.2 engines that utilize four cats (two of which are incorporated into the headers), the 2.5 variant only uses one set that are located further down stream. Therefore, you could conceivably change headers and still have the vehicle remain OBD II compliant. Whether or not a set of $85.00 headers found on on Ebay is the appropriate choice is another question.

Addendum: Now that I see that your vehicle is a 2.7, that raises two immediate concerns. First, by eliminating the oem header/pre-cat set up, your vehicle will no longer be OBD II compliant. Secondly, it was my experience that "going catless" resulted in a significant loss of low end and mid range torque. This has been commented upon in numerous threads.

harryrcb · 12-21-2010, 06:41 PM

OK really don't know if this applies, but....I have 04 S I bought the $80 ebay headers over a year ago. put them on - no warning lights- no flash - no loss of power. I also put them previously on my 97 2.5 same results , well actually better because the car ran noticebly better. Still have the same headers on my 04 working perfectly. I did use the ports and put the o2 sensors in. Since then I installed softronic flash and eliminated the cats altogether. no problems. runs great. lots of power.

j.fro · 12-22-2010, 01:57 AM

You're headed down a slippery, somewhat expensive slope, but there are power gains to be had. I've got an 00 S and I've had the Chinese headers on there for 4 years and 60,000 miles. I got CEL's and it took a Softronic reflash last year to eliminate that. The reflash also corrected a lean condition that I got, but only knew about because of taking the car for a dyno test. When I dyno'ed the car, I had the headers, gutted cats, and an EVO intake: 225 HP at the wheels, which put me around 265 flywheel. 15 HP gain isn't too bad, especially for under $400 in parts. Too bad it takes another $750 for the reflash to get things running properly.

Johnny Danger · 12-22-2010, 05:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.fro

You're headed down a slippery, somewhat expensive slope, but there are power gains to be had. I've got an 00 S and I've had the Chinese headers on there for 4 years and 60,000 miles. I got CEL's and it took a Softronic reflash last year to eliminate that. The reflash also corrected a lean condition that I got, but only knew about because of taking the car for a dyno test. When I dyno'ed the car, I had the headers, gutted cats, and an EVO intake: 225 HP at the wheels, which put me around 265 flywheel. 15 HP gain isn't too bad, especially for under $400 in parts. Too bad it takes another $750 for the reflash to get things running properly.

What did your power/torque curve look like from low to mid range ?

Stroked & Blown · 12-22-2010, 08:09 AM

FWIW, I have a set of the chinese headers sitting on the shelf. All the posts about broken header bolts & minimal power gains dissuaded me from installing them.

turbo mc kwek · 04-13-2013, 10:31 AM

Hello, I'm new here and I've recently installed a set of Ebay headers on my '00 Boxster S. After just a couple of kilometers (I'm from holland and we use the metric system

) the CEL went on...

So I got some CELfix pipes that I placed between the rear O2 sensors and the header. These take the sensor out of the exhaust flow and the CEL stayed off

BUT with the CELfix things there's a new problem; when I drive the car and take it above 5500 RPM there's a huge cloud of smoke (I'm pretty sure it's fuel) out of the exhaust. When I let the rev's down the smoke is gone again. I can drive the car at WOT up to 5000 RPM with no problem, but when i get to the highet RPM's the smoke returns...

The weird thing is that the CEL doesn't light up, not even when the smoke starts..

It looks like the thing mentioned above (about the fuel dump to check the catalytic converters) but that's only on 2003 and up cars, and mine is 2000

Does anyone know if the headers are to blame for the smoke??

The engine is all stock and in mint condition and has only 72.000km on it (about 45.000 miles), recently replaced the AOS but that was more a preventive measure.

shadrach74 · 04-13-2013, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbo mc kwek

Does anyone know if the headers are to blame for the smoke??
The engine is all stock and in mint condition and has only 72.000km on it (about 45.000 miles), recently replaced the AOS but that was more a preventive measure.

Seems unlikely. What color is the smoke?

turbo mc kwek · 04-13-2013, 06:56 PM

The smoke is light grey and smells like gasoline..

I'm not trying to be a wiseguy, but I'm pretty sure it's gas...

The engine doesn't have any oil in the coolant, coolant level stays the same, no sludge in the oil system. Even the oil filler cap is perfectly clean on the inside. There's no abnormal vacuum on the filler cap or dipstick....

Tomorrow I'll put the stock manifolds (with the catalytic converters) back on and take the car for a drive to see what happens...

shadrach74 · 04-13-2013, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbo mc kwek

The smoke is light grey and smells like gasoline..

I'm not trying to be a wiseguy, but I'm pretty sure it's gas...

The engine doesn't have any oil in the coolant, coolant level stays the same, no sludge in the oil system. Even the oil filler cap is perfectly clean on the inside. There's no abnormal vacuum on the filler cap or dipstick....

Tomorrow I'll put the stock manifolds (with the catalytic converters) back on and take the car for a drive to see what happens...

The thing is, even if all of the O2 sensors in you system were not working or hooked up, the engine would go to a default factory setting, which is a bit richer than optimal, but not enough to cause smoke.

turbo mc kwek · 04-14-2013, 07:30 AM

I've been working on it all day, and I'm pretty sure my NEW AOS is broken...

I didn't check it right away because I thought that it could not be te source of the problem since it was a new part and only about 500 miles old...

The hose to the intake manifold and the pipe on the AOS had zo much oil in it that it started to drip once the hose was disconnected...

Now my question: was I so unlucky to get a broken new part, or did it break because of something else?