Track Day Ruined Again by POS engine mods!

I strongly suspect my replacement Milltek headers gave out again.... For the SECOND time in about 4 months at Infineon (maybe it's the track) my engine went into limp mode. On the start/finish straight a huge cloud of smoke went up behind me, the CEL went off and then rev limiter cuts in at 6300rpm. Previously it was a combination of a faulty valve-lifter and the cats burning out in the piece of **** Millteks. I had GIAC flash done a week ago. My replacement piece of **** Millteks were put on a few weeks ago. I have done one other track event on the replacement piece of **** Millteks with no prob. This was the first with the GIAC. Mooty I hate to say it but you were right. Don't f*ck with the engine (my paraphrase). I'm done with engine mods. Restoring to full stock (ok fine will keep the harmless Milltek exhaust for the look) next week. I hope my frustration and $$$ wasted will at least prevent one Cayman soul from going down this road. Good luck to all others who got sucked in by this sheer lunacy.

That sucks. I have a replacement set of Milltek headers on the way myself. They had such a good reputation until recently. They've obviously had ample time to make sure at least the replacements work by now.

Not trying to hijack the thread, but why is the Cayman so different that we are seeing these premature exhaust failures? Both Milltek and AWE seem to have struggled with their original solutions.

I learned the hard way a long time ago that mods lead to tears. But if you still want to play around with them remember my rule - don't be first !

sorry to hear about the milltek POS. yeah, i hate aftermkt stuff with the single exception of motons. i dont even like aftermkt mats ;-) that's why i can't find you in the afternoon. i finally got the orange car dialed in more or less. gave atila (sp) a ride, chasing few other RS and GT3, then my tires got greasy ;-(

I have a couple of comments. 1) Are you certain the replacement Milltek headers you received were the "fixed" version and not old stock that was laying around? If you are certain they are the fixed version, are you certain that the second set gave out? From what I read above it seems to be an assumption at this point and you haven't pulled the headers down to see? 2) GIAC tuning to the ECU is nothing major and isn't going to cause your headers to fail. ECU tuning, when done properly, can help you get the most out of your mods AND make them more reliable and less painful to upkeep. For example, the cats maps can get changed to account for 200 cel cats and prevent you from tripping CE lights if you use headers and aftermarket cats. I'm looking into developing some custom maps for those of us with certain mod sets and offering them to CC members at a discount. 3) I have heard from 2 different exhaust makers that our engines product hotter exhaust gases than say a 997, I think this is not so much the engine but rather the short run exhaust design, although the exhaust may not be cooling as fast due to airflow in a mid engine design, who knows that actual cause at this point. 4) So far my Capristo exhaust is holding up well. As is my ECU tuning, intake, suspension, etc. etc. I don't think mods are a problem as long as they are properly managed and tuned and taken care of.

K-man, they were completely new replacement headers. However you are right - i have not yet confirmed that the problem resides with the headers. it is merely an educated guess based on prior experience. I'll report back later next week when i get them off. I was not disparaging non-engine mods. I too am very happy with my PSS9's etc. But having had at least 2 track days halted by the mysterious CEL/limp mode I now feel that there is simply too much that can go wrong with these engine mods.

Sorry about the trouble bob. I was there in a silver CS in B1, but didn't see you. Thanks again for the ride mooty. It was a blast.

I understand you are frustrated, but at this early stage is that such an appropriate comment? Your not 100% at this stage that the Miltek component has failed, and secondly they have not had chance to respond yet should their product have let you down. Speak to them first prior to ranting; I'm sure they will assist you 100% should your headers be at fault.

Not quite 100%. They'll replace the part but you have to cover reinstallation.

If it does turn out to be the cats, I would see if they would reimburse for for the part. I don't think I would be putting them back on again. K-man, didn't your Miltek cat fail as well?

Did you look at the Capristo install? Yes one of my Milltek cats failed, but my car did not go into limp mode, it simply threw a code that I had a misfires on that side of the engine due to the increased backpressure. Having a car go into limp mode usually requires something more serious or there is something wrong with the car and thus it is placing itself into limp mode. My Milltek headers were replaced with Capristo headers, and I have not had a chance to talk to Stratmosphere/Milltek as of yet about it as I'm not in any rush.

two track day!!!. hahaha, next time you ask tony what happens if my car breaks down more than 1x.... the 2nd time it's down, it's dumped immediately. i have zero patience with failure, thus i bought 3 cay s, two as spares... next time you see me, the orange car may look white

Let me see if I remember correctly - he sells knock-offs of Boss, Armani and others to Walmart ;-) Or more correctly as he puts it, the same stuff goes to Walmar as to 5th Av. stores with a different labels !!! If this is really true I am burning all my Boss shirts ;-))))

i put my car into limp mode at the track because i either missed a shift ( i went from 3rd to 2nd instead of fourth) and/or i kept hitting my rev limiter (about five times). car worked fine but the rev limiter was moved done to 6300. the weird part was the car fixed itself after a few days.

Milltek headers for sale Apologies to milltek. Got the car back (no headers, just exhaust and GIAC ecu). works fine now fingers crossed. The cats were not burned out like last time. maybe these things just set off the CEL who knows. anyway i'm going to sell them for dirt cheap stratmosphere sells them for $3000 like everyone else i think. they're yours for $1500. these are replacements with about 1000 miles on them (i had them put on end of June by Sharkwerks). If u need pics I can get them. They are being held for me at Sharkwerks in Bay Area. i'll post a class. PM me if interested

Bob, I guess I don't understand why you are selling perfectly good headers? If it is the check engine light for catalytic convertor efficiency simply get the Softronic ECU flash tuning and that problem will go away. You have to realize that any set of headers with race cats isn't going to be as efficient as 600 cell factory cats and you are going to trip the O2 sensor CEL sooner or later unless you get ECU tuning to fix it.

Hi K-man, my engine has had issues with going into limp mode so rev limiter kicks in at 6300. had 2 track days w/o headers and so far no prob - if it was just a CEL i wouldn't mind so much. I cannot confirm this problem is with headers but since i've had them off no gremlins.