Hi guys,

quickly back to gaskets / exhaust removal. I just did more or less the same (also wrapped the headers), all without replacing the gaskets. How would I notice that they do not seal properly anymore? What do you mean by hearing a "tic"?

Thanks in advance, best, niv

 

I think what i was hearing was just the valvetrain. it seems equal in the front and rear pistons and I did not mess with the rear piston at all. There will be a "tic tic tic tic" coming from the exhaust port if there is a leak. It is gas escaping from each cycle.

 

After a while, you get soot.

 

Hi all, I'm new here and was looking for the exact same answer. I recently installed forward controls and had to remove the front exhaust. I had the forethought to pick up a new gasket and didn't think to ask for the SE gasket. When trying to install the oem gasket with SE pipes, the gasket wouldn't fit and the pipe just wouldn't line up. After some reading, I went back to the dealer and got 2 SE gaskets and, after following advice on this site, doubled up on the SE gaskets in the port. I didn't use any sealant or anything, just torqued them down and appears to have seeded correctly. I did, however, notice that the muffler interconnect gasket was in bad shape, but haven't changed it yet. I'm not sure exactly what the problem is, but the ride just feels "different" than it did before removing the exhaust. It feels like it's lost a little bit of power, is a tiny bit sluggish, and was hearing some unusual engine noise reverberating off of the inside of the windshield. Just sounded and felt "off" to me. Assuming the pipe seeded in the port well, could there be problems coming from the muffler interchange gasket? Would that change the air flow, thus throwing off the tuning? Thanks...

 

I would't have doubled up on the gaskets myself but I doubt that what happened to you made a difference that you could feel.

 

Given my experience with cars I didn't realize how this was all put together. (other noobs read on.... You more experienced guys can go get a beer, scratch whatever itches, or go pee for the 4th time this morning......) The gaskets (stock on left, SE on right) are made of a wound metal rings instead of plates as in cars. These rings are literally crushed in between the header and the head which has a recessed area for them to sit in. When I replaced my stock gaskets with the SE gaskets the other day, I almost couldnt tell that there were gaskets in there. The crushing process "seals" them to the head. With the stockers you get quite a bit of deformation and wiggle room for ill-fitting headers.

Moral of the story, while you can NEVER hurt anything by replacing gaskets with new, I would give them a good look over and make a judgement call. I probably could have left the stockers in there in the condition they were in. Removing them destroyed them, however. Had to pry a part up with a flathead and then rip it out with needle nose pliers.