I have posted a thread or two about installing PPE Headers on my SC.. Power gain was certainly awesome and fit and finish seemed great until i got a leak first on the driver side manifold and then onto the passenger side. I thought the issue was initially gasket/installation related so i ignored it for a bit until it got really bad that every time someone rode with me they would either comment on the valve ticking or try and diagnose an engine issue.

Decided to strip em off and swap out the gaskets. To my surprise, turned out the headers were warped at the port.. PPE did a terrible job straightening out the port which fits on the block that i had 7 leaks on the driver side and 4 on the passenger. I had to take them to a machine shop to shave off imperfections and straighten the port costing me almost $1000 till now with the initial installation charge, removal for checking, porting, and reinstallation.

I took some pics although they don't show much..

Just wanted to inform anyone who has or who's considering these shorties for their 3UZ.

Moe

 

Any warrenty available from the supplier?

 

Did you purchase these second hand?

Why didn't you contact us? We always work with our customers. Even if you bought them used we can repair or fix them.

 

Well, there you go! They want to help you I-Force!

 

PPE HEADERS seems to a company that will work with you. you should have made contact with them in the first place.

 

I've been thinking about ordering a set of these. But have been holding off partly because of this. If the headers do have issues, do you cover the cost of uninstalling, shipping and reinstalling them?

 

I'd be shocked if they did cover those costs. Shipping...maybe. But the cost of installing and uninstalling is pretty much unheard of.

 

I couldn't have said it better myself. I want te extra power, but the noise would drive me insane.

 

No sir i purchased them new and installed them around 5000 miles ago on a 2010 SC430 with 6k miles on the odo back then. Pretty sure this was a manufacturing defect.

I'm still satisfied with the gains and i love the quality look of the headers but i am disappointed with the lack of quality control. How hard is it to blue print a port before delivery ensuring it is straight.

Its just an inconvenience and a loss of $1000 not to mention time. Other than that no complaints and i STILL would recommend those headers on any 3UZ-FE motor.. Certainly livens up that V8.

Moe

 

how much are they (installed), do they throw off any of your engine lights? I am looking for a performance gain...not too happy that my bros Is350 can smoke my SC430 lol

 

I payed around 1500-1600 installed then another 500 to rectify those issues.

No they do not through a CEL if you do not mess around with the cats which can still be rectified with a manual 02 Sim

Worth the performance gain just make sure they're straight before installing

 

Did you also do exhaust? And is the valve noise completely gone now?

 

No sir, stock exhaust for now (dont plan on changing that) and yes, valve ticking completely eliminated.

 

That's good. Glad you got it sorted out.

 

To PPE Headers
There are lots of peeps wanting PPE headers but we don't want the issues IFORCE or Swoosh had.
That said, what is PPE willing to do to guarantee this same issue does happen to the other consumers?
Stainless Steel headers?