Hey Guys,

This question is more from my dad. He has a TH Sports.

There was a wierd noise coming from the exhaust, so we took it the exhaust shop. It ended up being the front bank (of the extractors) has cracks in it, up near were it joins to the block, therefore needing a new front set of extractors (backs are fine).

The thing is, the price on the new Front set are $450 (BRand is: Wildcat)... Buuuut, a new set of the Pacemakers is $515.... (both dont include fitting, but thats irrelivant).

Question: Does anybody know about the WIldcat extractors?? WOuld Dad be better to pay the extra $65 and go for the Pacemaker's (have heard they are better)??? Keeping in mind there will be a few more mods to the motor before he is finished.

Any help would be appreciated, as we need to make a decision ASAP..

Daz

STOP!!

A COMPLETE set of Pacemakers is $380 from www.onautos.com.au

you go to any exhaust place and the most they'll try to rip you off is about $150, around 2hr job.

I can attest the pacemakers are good, I fitted whitedevils and liquidhot magna's. the only down side is they hang a bit low however on a 3.5 might not be as bad.

I can attest the pacemakers are good, I fitted whitedevils and liquidhot magna's. the only down side is they hang a bit low however on a 3.5 might not be as bad.

Cheers for that Madmagna.... As long as the pacemakers are better in the long run (ie: flow alot better than the ones he already has) then I might tell him to go for them...

Plus they look better...lol

Daz

how much lower? the ones you put on what suspension they have... :think:

I have no problems with the clearance now with working shocks. The lowest part of the pacemakers stick out right next to the engine crossmember, in my situation it is approx 12cm or so from the ground. NOTE the engine crossmember is probably only 15cm or so from the ground at that same point.

When I was on my stock shocks, I bottomed out once and I scratched the pacemakers at the lowest point, but I haven't had any problem with it since I changed shocks to GT GAS.

Dude i've got Wildcats and they are fine. But i also got cracks in mine. What you and your dad should do after reading this is get into your dads bonnet and have a good close look at the engine mounts (all of them) And what you will probably find is that one or a couple of the mounts rubber internals have s.h.i.t themselves. If not then it will be the exhaust moving around too much and a few brackets welded on should fix that. But you can always get the cracks welded up again for bugger all!! Anyways first things first go and check your engine mounts :rant:

No matter the state of the engine mounts (well to an extent) the extractors should not crack as this is why they have flex pipes.

The reason for cracking is cheap materials and poor workmanship. Liquidhotmagna had NO rh engine mount for some time, the pacemakers did not crack.

The cracking is generally the tubing is too thin and the manufacture process has left strain on the pipes when built.

No matter the state of the engine mounts (well to an extent) the extractors should not crack as this is why they have flex pipes.

The reason for cracking is cheap materials and poor workmanship. Liquidhotmagna had NO rh engine mount for some time, the pacemakers did not crack.

The cracking is generally the tubing is too thin and the manufacture process has left strain on the pipes when built.

some stresses/strains are intentionally left into components for added strength. for example if a beam were in tension during operation, then the design would be such that for the manufacturing process to introduce compressive stresses in the beam to counter the tension during operation.

i agree with madmagna that the only reason for the cracking is that you got unlucky and ended up with the 2-5% statistic of allowable defected goods (poor workmanship/poor material quality) or, it was simply just a crap product.

how about u take the extractors off and repair them?

there's no way to repair. even if there existed a dodgy way of repairing, those cracks will appear again sooner or later.

Should ahve also stated that my headers were heated up to bend slightly into place and give less sccraping. And since the welds have been in place nothing else has buggered up!!

To repair stress cracks drill a small hole at the end of the crack, this will then stop the crack from going furthur. We used to do this in light aircraft prop spinners.

You then weld up the hole and the crack and providing there is no other factors causing the crack it should not come backl

YOU DID THAT ON AEROPLANES!!! :) Crikey ... why not just replace the spinner?

see that's a dodgy way of fixing cracks (which is against any sort of regulation for repairing any component on any kind of plane - i am an engineer for boeing). i would not go anywhere near that plane. by drilling a hole at the tip of the crack and despite covering up with welding, you have created a notch that acts effectively as a stress concentration point. you might have stopped the cracks from advancing in the earlier case but you have just created a new case for new crack growth. and the only way for cracks not to appear is Not to use it.

well it'll cost 50 bucks to repair if you dont have a welder yourself

or 300 odd for new extractors, and if repaired PROPPERLY then the crack wont reopen. Seam weld it. If they can do it for planes and car chassis, then im sure extractors will be fine. Also look why they cracked in the first place, if this pair did it then the next pair probably will too.

Oooh I know all about cracked extractors :badgrin:

++++
Greetings All.

LOL!! Yeah me too...I got mine repaired for $50 though...I didnt have enough for new extractors...and i still dont :doubt:

Cheers,
--Tonba
++++

which brand seems to crack :confused: i would be returning them if mine broke :doubt:

only had them for few months but when i rev the engine sounds normal but when the revs go down after reving it sounds as if it has a friggen blow off valve sometimes when changing gears when driving normal it does it too

which brand seems to crack :confused: i would be returning them if mine broke :doubt:

The ones I had that cracked (the rear bank twice in 2 sets!!) were made by Liverpool Exhaust in NSW.

So goin off whats been said... pacemaker on superlows not really good idea... but on lows should be fine ??? spose just gotta be careful over bumps etc....

So goin off whats been said... pacemaker on superlows not really good idea... but on lows should be fine ??? spose just gotta be careful over bumps etc....

I have pacemakers, and when my lows were in I hit my paceys about 5 or 6 times, over a period of about 4 months, dented and scratched them quite a bit. If your going for paceys on a 3 litre 3rd gen, if your car is lowered you need to be extra careful with steap drive ways and bumps etc. Dont forget the strain that bumping your extractors on solid concrete with a ton and a half of car behind it has on your heads.

only had them for few months but when i rev the engine sounds normal but when the revs go down after reving it sounds as if it has a friggen blow off valve sometimes when changing gears when driving normal it does it too

My car does the same thing, mine too sounds like it has a BOV ( I ****in wish), I always thought it was a dodged up clutch on my AC compressor, engaging when it shouldnt thus building up pressure. But now I think I might check my extractors for cracks / leaks and see what I can find, thats as soon as I get my car back from the smash repairers :doubt: , ****ing flying wheels :mad: .

Id check the flange on your headers, if there not fully aligned then its the air whistling inside that gives you the noise. you might also hear the noise at 1/2 throttle around 4000rpm too.
But yeah it's a Bov without a BOV :redface:

Id check the flange on your headers, if there not fully aligned then its the air whistling inside that gives you the noise. you might also hear the noise at 1/2 throttle around 4000rpm too.
But yeah it's a Bov without a BOV :redface:

Sounds cool but :cool: .

it may also just be your pod filter, mine makes a weird bov type noise(nowhere near as loud as a bov), when i change gears, maybe its a leak somewhere though lol, oh well


later :cool:

Just to let ya know guys and gals, dad ended up getting the pacemaker's, they actually dont sit as low as the other ones (apparently). The car now sounds a whole lot better, and I am about to drive it myself to see if there was any difference, dad says there is, but he still needs to get the Unichip redone...

Daz