Double wall header pipe seperated??

[Courtney]

I heard a rattle/buzz from my No. 1 header pipe, so grabbed it after it cooled down, and have found the outer pipe is seperated from the inner pipe. Youcan literally wiggle the outside pipe around inside the edges of the header clamp. Haven't taken it off yet, but am wondering what I'm up against? Can these inner and outer pipes be rewelded together somehow?

[crazy steve]

Not a common problem, but not unknown either.... The XJ I'm rebuilding did this, and the entire pipe fell off on the freeway.

You need to get that fixed before the inner pipe breaks too. Clean the joint as best you can and MIG or TIG weld it back up. Make sure the drain/vent at the other end of the pipe is clear before welding.

[motoman]

Not a common problem, but not unknown either.... The XJ I'm rebuilding did this, and the entire pipe fell off on the freeway.

You need to get that fixed before the inner pipe breaks too. Clean the joint as best you can and MIG or TIG weld it back up. Make sure the drain/vent at the other end of the pipe is clear before welding.

With the age of the stock exhaust header pipes, it IS actually becoming a common issue. Internally, the majority break that inner pipe about an inch or less from the top flange of the headpipe. Fairly easy to fix by using a dremal or similar and knocking the majority of carbon off around that area. Any left doesn't hurt, but will make the weld harder and somewhat brittle. A wire-feed works well even though the distance to reach broken area has the contact area being welded somewhat out of the sheilding of the CO2/Argon, but doesn't affect the welding to badly. Have had to do the #3 and #4 header on mine some years back.