Ebay headers...YAY? or NAY?

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north42g

Member
:
Mazda Protege5
I am hoping to speak with someone who bought and is using the Ebay exhaust headers.

How is the quality?

Did everything Line up during installation?

I am see the exhaust headers range from $75.00 to $110.00.(free or cheap shipping)
I even saw one for $39.99 with a $42.00 shipping charge! Are you kidding me?! Forty two bucks to ship it a few hundred miles! yeah right! That just tells me what the product is really worth.
But seriously...I've searched around the forums looking for my answer.... didn't really find what I was looking for.

Just looking for an honest review from someone who has actually bought and installed one.
 
north42g said:
I am hoping to speak with someone who bought and is using the Ebay exhaust headers.

How is the quality?

Did everything Line up during installation?

I am see the exhaust headers range from $75.00 to $110.00.(free or cheap shipping)
I even saw one for $39.99 with a $42.00 shipping charge! Are you kidding me?! Forty two bucks to ship it a few hundred miles! yeah right! That just tells me what the product is really worth.
But seriously...I've searched around the forums looking for my answer.... didn't really find what I was looking for.

Just looking for an honest review from someone who has actually bought and installed one.
Click to expand...
This topic came up in some other thread. I don't know where that is.
Basically, the exhaust gas recirculation pipe is a hard pipe with a nut on the end. The nut screws onto a bung in the exhaust manifold. In the eBay headers, that bung is welded in at the wrong angle so, that pipe cannot connect to the eBay header.
There are three things to do. 1. Do away with the EGR system with an EGR delete set-up. 2. Change the hard pipe to a flexible pipe. 3. Bring the eBay header to a welder/muffler shop and have them remove the EGR bung and weld in another one at the correct angle.
 
If I were you I would stay away from Ebay headers unless they say that they are legitimate and will fit the car. If you decide to go the Ebay route I'd look for the obx headers. Compare them to the ones that obx has on their website and you'll be able to see a big difference. I would buy them from the manufacturer or a retailer. I've lost faith in "genuine" products from Ebay.
 
rit14623 said:
This topic came up in some other thread. I don't know where that is.
Basically, the exhaust gas recirculation pipe is a hard pipe with a nut on the end. The nut screws onto a bung in the exhaust manifold. In the eBay headers, that bung is welded in at the wrong angle so, that pipe cannot connect to the eBay header.
There are three things to do. 1. Do away with the EGR system with an EGR delete set-up. 2. Change the hard pipe to a flexible pipe. 3. Bring the eBay header to a welder/muffler shop and have them remove the EGR bung and weld in another one at the correct angle.
Click to expand...

EGR at the wrong angle huh?....Thank you. That is very good information. ..exactly the kind of honest review I was looking for.
So The Ebay headers need EGR bung modification. Rather than screw with all that I think its less aggravation to just buy the one that fits correctly the first time around.
 
Just have to look at it and see. It is hit or miss. The EGR fitting should be parallel with the flange on the head which makes both parallel to ground when installed. Avoid any that the EGR appears to be at any other angle.

Correct.............scroll to 2nd pic down inside listing. It is better pic to see correct angle.

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)


Incorrect...........angles down too much.

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)
 
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I bought a $100 dollar header from m2 performance. Some knock off brand. Initially I hated the noise it made, but after fully getting installed like putting the midpipe gasket and tightening both spring bolts down bottom, I've grown to love the sound it makes, especially with the sri. For me the egr lined up perfect and the bottom connected perfectly with the midpipe. I think you'd be alright, but I guess people on this website think that a name has something to deal with quality but I disagree. Its the same material (stainless steel), probably same thickness, and looks very good in the engine bay with a direct matchup.
 
kosteniuks17 said:
I bought a $100 dollar header from m2 performance. Some knock off brand. Initially I hated the noise it made, but after fully getting installed like putting the midpipe gasket and tightening both spring bolts down bottom, I've grown to love the sound it makes, especially with the sri. For me the egr lined up perfect and the bottom connected perfectly with the midpipe. I think you'd be alright, but I guess people on this website think that a name has something to deal with quality but I disagree. Its the same material (stainless steel), probably same thickness, and looks very good in the engine bay with a direct matchup.
Click to expand...
Well, you can always direct the OP with a link for the seller.

The low-cost headers sold through eBay are from various sellers and going by the product photos, I can see that the EGR bung is angled downward, i.e. they welded in a bung perpendicular to the pipe in some of them. It can be troublesome to install a header, expecting for plug-and-play, only to find that the EGR pipe cannot connect, which requires the person to undo all the work they did.
 
Most people also screw the egr tube in first so that you can move the header to an angle that will allow it to screw in. It should not make any noise, our cars use a donut gasket not a flat gasket. If you use a flat gasket it will leak and be loud. The ebay headers are just obx knock offs. You can pay 200 for an obx or get one from ebay and have a little bit more hassle on the install.

Regardless there are things that should be replaced when this is done since its coming off anyway and is 10 years old. The manifold gasket, donut gasket and the spring bolts. Theyre not that expensive and will ensure that there is no exhaust leaks. Also you will need to do the non fouler trick or you will get a cel for not having the pre cat
 
Are there any performance differences between the two or are you jut paying for the name?
 
Your looking at a 3-5 whp gain if that regardless of brand. As long as the welds arent ****** up on the inside and seriously restrict flow there wont be a difference. It doesnt have to be exact when its an na application if it was an fi car there could be some loss by a poorly constructed manifold but still not much
 
tweety2300 said:
Most people also screw the egr tube in first so that you can move the header to an angle that will allow it to screw in...
Click to expand...
That doesn't make any sense.
The two lower, middle bolts are set in the cylinder head so you can mount the exhaust manifold on the two bolts. Those are strong enough to hold it up while screwing in the other bolts and the two nuts that go on the two middle bolts. If you screwed the EGR tube in first, the whole manifold would be angled so none of the bolts would line up into the cylinder head. The only reason I know this is because I had to work on it two months ago.
 
rit14623 said:
That doesn't make any sense.
The two lower, middle bolts are set in the cylinder head so you can mount the exhaust manifold on the two bolts. Those are strong enough to hold it up while screwing in the other bolts and the two nuts that go on the two middle bolts. If you screwed the EGR tube in first, the whole manifold would be angled so none of the bolts would line up into the cylinder head. The only reason I know this is because I had to work on it two months ago.
Click to expand...

it does make sense, but only if the egr bung is angled slightly. if it's angled too much you wont be able to screw on the tube at all regardless of what method you use. it's much easier to put the egr on first then flex/bend it to the correct position. if you mount the header first then try to screw on the egr tube onto a crooked bung you'll be trying to get it aligned for a long time and might even strip the bolt.

I've had 4 ebay headers (returned 2) and getting one with a correctly angled egr bung is about a 50% chance. 1 obx header (which was identical to the ebay header) and 1 ractive header. out of all of them, the ractive was easily the best. although if you can afford it you should just save up a little more and purchase an awr.
 
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