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Akrapovic Exhaust Leak Issue?

4K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  DsTroy 
#1 ·
Sorry if this is a repost (couldn't find a thread)... But I recently installed a full Akrapovic Evolution Exhaust on my first gen 10r. In the beginning, everything worked as advertised and sounded really good. However, it wasn't until I went through tech inspection at a track day, when one of the evaluators told me I had an exhaust leak. It was very minor at the time, but after riding the track all weekend, it got worse. As I am riding, I get a strong, potent smell of something burning; come to find out, it was the exhaust I am smelling. I checked the torque on all the header tubes, and everything seemed to be installed tightly. The only thing I could think to do was disassemble everything and troubleshoot. When I pulled off the headers, and checked the bushings, three of the four bushings came off with ease (two slid off). The one that is stuck, or seated I should say, does not show any signs of leaking, because there are no soot indications anywhere. Judging the look of the interior wall of the bushing, and exterior surface of the header, trace soot marks are evident. Is that where the leak is coming from? If I am not mistaken, when I installed the header, the install information didn't call for crush washers to be installed, so I didn't install them. Or did I get bad information? I also was told high-temp silicone would do the trick? I want to try the silicone, but I would like a little more input from ZX10r folks before I press on. All I have is a R1 doucher (my brother), engineering new and inventive ways to break shit!:BangHead:
 
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#5 ·
Ok guys, so I realized what happened. In the installation instructions, it notes "if attach bolts are too short, discard copper washers and install header tubes without. Optimum seal will still be achieved." So when I installed the headers and went to install the nuts, it looks like it only catches three threads on the attach bolt, however, they don't call them crush washers for nothing. Wrench on them evenly to ensure max torque, and "bada-boom" tapping stops and my blood pressure goes down. Once again, thanks fellas!
 
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