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No longer stock '06 E55, A3 3.2 Quattro, GLE 400d, R107 280SL, Golf Polo
Kleemann Header cracked at collector
Nightmare.
Also explains why car was running like a dog.
Its cracked on one of the pipes at the base of the collector on the cyl head side, on the inner portion of the collector. Perhaps as inaccessible as it possibly could be.... I don't think there is any way to get a torch in there ... only way would be to cut a small section of opposite pipe out, fix crack and reweld the pipe back? Not so sure about my TIG skills just yet as a relative newbie at it.
Unless anyone has any other bright ideas?
That JB Weld Extreme Heat putty wont stand up to the pressure I don't think.
Mine cracked in the same area. I removed them, drilled a small hole at each end of the crack to stop it, and had a muffler shop weld the crack. So far, no problems with my newer long tubes.
No longer stock '06 E55, A3 3.2 Quattro, GLE 400d, R107 280SL, Golf Polo
Originally Posted by Amir_AMG
How long have you had them? How old are engine mounts?
Yeah they are many years old now ... mounts are fine ... its from knocking the resonator on a ridge on my driveway when I forget to raise the car....
I've cut the 3" pipe section with the O2 sensor from the collector and will weld the cracks internally and reweld the 3" section back on. There is no way to weld this from the outside of the collector.
Found 3 cracks actually - two along the diamond seal seam edges and one running up one of the pipes which is a bit more of a concern. When I had this 'repaired' about two years ago seems they did not get to all the cracks then either. The biggest pain about this job is getting the thing clean enough to weld up ...
Given the state of this I think I best check the other header too.
No longer stock '06 E55, A3 3.2 Quattro, GLE 400d, R107 280SL, Golf Polo
Pulled the other header and yes its also cracked - almost identical to the RHS one I pulled.
Cracked them open and here is what we have ... multiple cracks on both headers.
The last picture is looking down the downpipe - note the overlap internally - not made that well tbh as this will cause turbulence and an air trap in the crevice between the downpipe and collector section.
The welding and build overall is frankly poor ... as you can quite clearly see. The only decent welds are those where the cylinder downpipes meet the head flange - sorry no pic.
The shiny bits are areas where I have already started to clean the cracks up a bit.
No longer stock '06 E55, A3 3.2 Quattro, GLE 400d, R107 280SL, Golf Polo
I also checked the header flange level and its out on the outside extremes by 1-2 mm on both ends (centre area sits proud) on both. This cant be good for the welds either being under constant tension ... will flatten this out too. Seems some blowby from the firewall downpipes.
This could be a good opportunity to upgrade to longtube headers, Fix your leaks and give a little extra power at the same time, They will also bolt up to your factory resonators.
oof with that many connections it looks likely that those could leak.
I think if you ask around you will not hear that the longtubes are too low, infact they are too high for many people which is why they need to massage the heat shields under the car. legit street cars installed a set, You can watch his video on youtube. I think Longtubes are your solution, https://www.vrpspeed.com/product/55klth/
I have a set off an SLK 55 think they are the same for the E55 (Kleeman) been sitting around for a couple years. Think they have a dent in them, don't remember.
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