-Nightmare-

After an intense day of bashing, I took my Maxx to clean it and I saw that the muffler was bruised!! It's not a big dent... but I'm afraid that it could hurt my engine.
Here are some pics, sorry for the poor quality but i done they with my mobile phone:

firstadam2k

i honestly do not know i just hope u do a full cleaning after quick clean spray a light coat of wd 40 over your truck that will help next time u clean

fhm101

No worries. It won't hurt a thing.

slodsm

My Feedback: (1)

Won't hurt a thing.

hosaf150

it might reduce the performence untill you get a new header becuase it will restrict air flow

fhm101

If that's true imagine how much performance you are dropping when you get dirt on your truck, or leave your fuel open to the air.

I'm sure you could show on paper that the reduction of volume would reduce flow by X which in turn would have a negative impact on performance by a factor of Y, but you can also show on paper that a car must come to a complete stop when a bug hits it's windshield. In short, any reduction in performance would be too small to worry about. Certainly not enough to justify a new header.

Deandome

My Feedback: (1)

I dunno...I got a dent a lil' bigger in the EXACT same place on my header (I mean EXACT...kinda spooky!!) JUST LAST WEEK, and I noticed it when trying to figure why my tune had changed!!!! BTW, I'm runnin' an OFNA/Picco mid-block, not 2.5!!

It was mostly in the high-end....when I hit the gas hard (not full throttle, but close!), it would spool up & then bog until I backed off the throttle. It was fine for 0-3/4 throttle & then acted up in the last 1/4 or so. Kinda like the bad "over 320 deg/loss of compression" symptoms, but this is a new, properly broken in engine that has otherwise been fine...and I've never hit anything over 270 deg.

So I replaced my header, and guess what...PROBLEM IS GONE!!!!

Dunno if the weather or something else mighta been a factor, but I'm thinkin the exhaust-flow 'needs' with this engine are pretty strict at WOT, so a significant disturbance to the header SHOULD affect things!! Dented pipes can affect tune too...after all the shape & volume of the pipe is what makes it a "tuned pipe". But a dented header I'd imagine to be even more problematic, as it's handling the same flow at HIGHER pressures, and a small dent affects exhaust flow a lot more in a small tube than a fat pipe.

So I'm gonna piss into the "should be OK" wind and say you SHOULD replace your header, as it fixed up my problem. Maybe my bigger engine amplified this effect, but for $20 or less, it's a good idea!

Dean

dr_killer_uk

It very much needs sorting, a big dent will decrease air flow and could cause higher running temps, if you do notice it been higher get a new header they arn't expensive. The bigger the dent the bigger the proformace drop. but like the other person said you may not even notice a performace drop even though its probably there.

creyc

It's thin walled aluminum right?

Take it off and try to take the bend out by pushing from the inside with a screwdriver. And if you poke a hole straight through, well time for that $20 header change some recommended in the first place.

fhm101

Every 2.5 maxx out there that's been run hard at all has that same dent folks, it comes from the inner shock mounting boss on the shock tower when it gets flexed. last year I ran a 2.5 for half a season of racing with the same dent with zero issues related to tuning or heat and my little 2.5 would run with the big block trucks so overall performance was not degraded in the least. If you want to waste your money buy a new header, but if you dented the first one I'm gonna bet you will dent the second one as well.