Torqueless

Hello everyone,

I recently installed an aftermarket header and of course there is no heatshield that comes with the header. I was driving my car and i noticed a burning smell coming from under the hood everytime I came at a stop in traffic or at a light.

This got me worried, so I was thinking of getting some heat barrier tape (thermo-tec, spoon) and installing one underneath the hood, right above where the header sits, and/or one on the oem heatshield that blocks the battery and a/c lines for added insulation.

My question is... would this be an effective way to remove the radiant/convective heat coming from the header as well as adding relative heat protection for the underneath parts? I do not plan on wrapping it or coating the header with paint.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you

H22toF20

New headers have a little smell for awhile.

Torqueless

it's actually a used header bought from someone on this site... or are you saying it has a smell when installed again?

FISH22

Hmmm, after I installed my ASM header last year, I never noticed any burning smells.

suzuka-blue-s2k

About how many miles have you put on the header so far? Also your 100% sure nothing has fallen on, or touching the header correct?

Torqueless

yeah pretty sure nothing fell on it... i still have that underhood insulator thing attached and i'm thinking maybe it's this thing thats creating the smell. There aren't really any other thing in contact with the header or near it other than the battery heatshield..
It's a used header and i believe they said they put about 6000 miles on it and i put less than 50 miles on it.
also, it's not a burning where you see any black or white smoke but you definitely can smell a chemical-type scent once it starts emanating.

my plan is removing that underhood insulator, and just taping on the heat barrier thing above where the header sits so the heat doesnt damage the paint as well as reflecting the heat back downwards

suzuka-blue-s2k

Wow, yeah I installed a used header and I never had a smell or anything. It did smoke a tiny bit due to my oily/greasy hands being on it when installing, but that just took a couple minutes and was gone after it heated up. I have never heard of the hood insulator causing a smell, most of us still have ours including me. Maybe try removing it, then drive it for a little bit and see if the smell is still there, if it is, you know its not that.

I wish I could help more but I would have no clue what else would cause a burning smell like you descibed. I suppose try to but a few more miles on it and see if it just goes away.

Torqueless

Will try thanks...

so the insulator shouldn't catch on fire or anything even with the header exposed like that right? If there's no way it will catch on fire then I'm thinking ill just leave it in and deal with the smell until it goes away

i'm thinking maybe its some kind of chemical that got absorbed into the insulator while the previous owner worked on it (oil, brake fluid) and that's causing the smell once it's heated up..