Stillen Gen3 Intake, Berk Hi-flow cat, and Stillen cat-back exhaust

thispecialk

has these problem been fix yet i just now saw this and i just recently order the exhaust this morning

axio

Yes, the issue has been fixed. You should have no problems with the Stillen exhaust. Enjoy

thispecialk

Just got Stillen exhaust put in and I heard a clanking noise after driving like 3 minutes maybe 5 please help o yea the instruction said move silent damper from oem to new Stillen exhaust and the instruction mentioned that there is 4 silent damper but the mechainc said only 2 where found? does anyone have a picture of the silent damper so i can make sure that was the mechanic pointed to was the silent damper. and also when i was parking my car i look out the passenger window and saw smoke is this normal in the begining?

axio

There's just two dampers. Also, the smoke is normal. For clanking, you can check for install issues. Make sure things are clearing and that all hangers are in place, bolts are tightened up, etc. Make sure that bolt that acts as a hanger for the driver side part of the muffler is mounted correctly and hasn't somehow come out.

thispecialk

well im going back to mechanic tomorrow to pick up rest of my stock exhaust ima see wat they say

Denny McLain

Not so sure....... Ordered Gen III intake, Stillen headers and Stillen exhaust on Monday and did the install over the last three days based upon the advice. (already had the Berk cats)

After spending much, much time laying flat on my back readjusting the exhaust, adding 8 washers to each bolt as a spacer to the brace, it still on occasion rattles and vibrates. Now to be fair, instead of the Stillen Y-pipe I used an existing one that I had that appeared to be of much higher quality. Go back and do the realignment with the Stillen Y-pipe and see if it solves the issue. So far everything people are complaining about are still issues.

Honestly really quite surprised. Every vendor on occasion has issues or problems with new items, but exhaust clearance is not rocket science and misalignment of parts should never go out the door as this is a known issue. As everyone has pointed out, you shouldn't need a phd to fit an exhaust.

Headers....Warning! The factory 02 sensors do not come out easily and one seized during removal, I went to the dealer to purchase a replacement. They are $425.00 and according to the dealer and an independent muffler shop, seizing during removal is a common problem. One of the parts guys told me he always quotes a new exhaust manifold along with the 02 as he said usually you cannot remove the 02 and it's easier to replace both. Upon taking the stock manifold to the muffler shop, they got it out but the threads were destroyed during the process, so it's another $425.00 that you didn't expect plus the hassle.

Warning, Warning! Pretty handy and do my own work as I'm very fickle about getting things right and not banging up my car. Also have excellent tool collection. I would never attempt the header install again. It might be OK if you do them all the time, know the tricks and have the special tools. But it was one of the most difficult things I've ever done. You need to have the hands of a five year old to reach things as it's so tight.

Header quality vs stock. Stock is high quality but a poor design. Small tubes, crappy merge collection point and unequal length. Problem I've had is shorty headers typically do not help much. Dunno?? The dyno never lies.

Last note.........throwing 1168 MAF codes obviously from the Gen III intake. Do these go away on their own after the computer learns or is it another issue they don't tell you about??

Overall I honestly don't know what to think. Old established company, OK prices and the quality goes with the pricing. Vast difference in the welds and material of the Y-pipe that I purchased prior. Call them Monday and see how the mop flops and trying to get into Cobb for dyno tuning. We will see, but it would be a cold day in hell before I'd do headers again.

wstar

The intakes shouldn't be throwing any codes. 1168 is an O2 sensor code, which you mentioned you had problems with...

As for the Stillen exhaust, my problems with it were unending really, but they made design changes after that first batch, and most people are reporting no install problems anymore using the complete Stillen CBE (including their Y-pipe).

Also, I wouldn't recommend using washers to space off that crossmember, that's got to affect the rigidity.

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NIZMOZ

Just a hint for O2s that won't come out easy. Heat up the bung that is welded on the exhaust where the O2 is with a torch till it gets hot maybe even slightly red, then turn the o2 sensor out. Learned that from a ASE Certified mechanic friend that put my Berks in and the driver side O2 got stuck coming out. Did that and it turned out with ease.

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Denny McLain

Tried heating the 02 base with a butane torch and two things happened: I chickened out as I don't like to singe anything and the other is, it didn't help. Was very disappointed the muffler shop didn't try and heat it with their gas torches before they took it out as it sure stripped the threads.

Update...... Removed the JIC Y-pipe, took the cats off, installed new crush header/cats gaskets and installed the Stillen Y-pipe. Think a big trick is to tighten the top two bolts first on the cats/exhaust manifold to create more of an upward angle and do the bottom bolt last. I tightened the dog poop out of the top ones and snugged firmly the bottom ones.

Loosely fitted everything, jacked the exhaust up and retightened everything. There is more clearance but the washers will remain as I just don't think it will clear completely w/o them. Drive the car a bit to see if the exhaust sags and make a decision later but there was definite marks where it rubbed in only 18 miles.

Also.....thanks for the heads up on the 1168 code. My OBD II code reader said MAF but it's a general code reader and not Nissan specific.

wstar

The Nissan description is:

P1168 - Closed Loop Control (Bank 2)

(From Nissan OBD-II Trouble Codes )

Forum threads here and there say it's likely an O2 sensor (the header ones that are real AF meters).

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Denny McLain

OK; fool me once, shame on me. I'll call Stillen and if they don't have a cure......shame on them.

More of an update.

After what I consider to be a very significant amount of effort, the exhaust system still makes a "clanging" noise. You hear it in normal driving just hitting soft bumps. Evidently the $20.00 new crush gaskets and the time spent being very careful installing Stillen Y-pipe... the exhaust still ain't working.

Don't let anyone BS you, it's not the real deal if it doesn't fit right. Think an old school term "racers net" (which means you need to make to work) applies. The car is only 4 months old...... a clanging exhaust is ghetto. What? I need to take a hammer and put a dent in it so it doesn't make a noise! No wonder they put them on sale. Congates.......got me. I bit on the sale price.

After taking a morning off; jacking up the car with again on jack stands, you try laying flat on your back in mid July Texas heat readjusting the exhaust and still hear a clanging noise .......tell me your happy about spending on over grand on what should be a slam dunk easy deal!

Didn't call Stillen today, but bet our *** I will tomorrow. What a pain in the butt!

racerxj17

mine went on with little effort, with jackstands and hand tools. im not 100% happy with the sound with the HFC, but no other complaints.

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2009 PW Sport/Touring/Nav M6
Stillen Gen 3 Intake/CBE/Berk HFC/BC BR Coil over/Phillips 6500k/Hotchkis Sways/Stillen oil cooler/B&M SS

Denny McLain

Then maybe it's the headers that are throwing things off. Congrates to you.....wish I had the same luck. Something isn't right.

Kyle@STILLEN

One thing to keep in mind is that the slip joints are designed to crush down on the inner pipe. The benefit to that is that it acts as a secondary lock. When the outer pipe crushes down onto the inner pipe it maintains that position and is very difficult to re-form, hence the reason why some people who had the first product run of exhaust systems had difficulty even when jacking up the exhaust when they tried to re-install the system to correct the "sagging issue." This is also the reason why we recommend supporting the exhaust system with a jack so that when the outer pipe does crush down it is in the desired location.

It could be that the problems are from the original installation with the JIC Y-pipe and our rear section. Perhaps they won't work together? Perhaps they spacing is a bit different? I don't know, there are a lot of possibilities.

Please send me an email with photos of the problems that you are experiencing. I am especially interested in understanding why you needed to stack a bunch of washer to install this. No one else has ever needed to do that so that is something I am very curious about.

If you purchased this system any time within the past couple of months than I assure you, you most definitely have the new production version which no one else has had issues with during the installation process. All of the running production changes that were made have completely eliminated any issues that were found from the first production batch.

Shoot me an email with some photos if you can please. I will take a look at them immediately and we'll see what we can do to get you squeak free and enjoying the exhaust!

thispecialk

i fix the clanking noise myself i went to a shop and rented the lift. i guess the exhaust place i went to rush it and didnt read the instruction. but i lifted the car back up lossen the bolts up and raise the exhaust up with a support stand as high as it goes then tightened it from front to back. when all bolts was i thought i **** up again cause the cross member wasnt touching but the sway bar was but when i remove the support stand it move down alittle giving space from the sway bars. now i regret paying those exhaust store to install when i could of rented a lift and install everything myself