drivers side header glowing cherry red?

[BuickTV6]

Hey guys, heres something I noticed today on my car. Its currently stored cause of the winter months. I fired er up and let it run and idle for a good 15 minutes. Before I shut it down, I was under the hood checking a few things, and I noticed that the drivers side header was glowing cherry red. Not really the individual pipes, but moreso the collector. I was in a poorly lit environment, so this is probably why its the first time I noticed this. Since ive never actually seen this before, I wanted to know if this is normal, or does this mean that there is some kind of resitriction in the exhaust somewhere. Any insight would help. Thanks...

 

[wiked87gn]

yes there is some restriction somewhere, something may have built a nest inside your exaust, you will have to take it off and find it.

 

[Dusty Bradford]

Mine has done the same thing before. No restriction in the exhaust and the cat converter was already gone. I still have no idea what caused it. Fuel and timing?

 

[Chuck Leeper]

?????????

Likely it's cracked at #5 weld.. Under the heat shield, and that's the entry area to the collector... Air being pulled in, and an "afterburner" effect taking place??

 

[bishir]

Maybe it's those special "Cherry Bomb" headers from the makers of Cherry bomb mufflers.

My initial thought was the nest since the car has been stored. If you have a cat on the car I doubt it's that though.

James

 

[turbofish38]

The cause would be a leaned out cylinder or two. Maybe check your injectors,plugs and wires. Also coil and module. Dont let it go to long or you'll have to starting welding. I have had this problem too after letting my car sit for a few months. Damn pump gas will sit in the injector and gum it up. Do you know if the tubes were red too? Just the collector/flange,maybe a plugged cat if you are still running one.

 

[BuickTV6]

High egt's

I spoke to a few other guys an they were saying that I might be running too rich with might cause that? When it was idling, I did smell a lot of gas out of the exhaust... Can that happen in rich conditions? Also, the exhaust system is only about 3 years old and theres no cat. Crossover pipe and headers are original. Could that be an issue?

 

[strikeeagle]

I suppose running too rich can cause your problem. I know that running excessively rich can cause raw fuel to be burned in the manifolds, raising exhaust gas temperature (EGTs).

Do you suppose one of your injectors is stuck open? If it is, danger, Will Robinson! You can wash the wall of that cylinder down and wreak havoc with the motor.

Pull the dipstick. Do you smell or "feel" a lot of gas in the oil? The oil will "feel" thin and possibly "gritty".