Header glow

The other night after a drive around town I noticed that my rear header was glowing red at the sampling connections to the headers. I haven't looked at this before while the engine was running at night and was wondering if this was normal.
Thanks in advance.Walt

Sorry............1980 308GTSi

Hi Walt,

Welcome to Ferrari-Talk.

No glowing red hot isn't normal but it is common on engines that are running out of spec on exhaust gas CO. You should have the exhaust gas numbers checked and the out of spec condition corrected. This red hot condition can lead to a cracked header.

Regards, JRV

"Big Time" crack, or blowing out all together.

First problem I had to tackle after getting my 308GTB.

Thanks for the fast resopnse JRV, it's not the answer I was looking for but I will have it checked. Thanks again!

>>it's not the answer I was looking for but<<

what answer were/are you lookng for?


without any "data" you want me to tell you what's wrong and what to do about it?

Generally we try to refraim from making wild, unfounded guess's....without being given some hard data to work with, such as exhaust gas readings. Most of the guys here have solved a myriad of problems putting up with such badgering for actual, useful info.

If you're just interested in guess's, I guess your engine is running rich, with high HC's...causing the syptom of glowing headers....now the exact cause of the symptom (besides simply rich &amp; missing)is not so easy to guess.

Regards, JRV

The answer I was looking for was that it was normal, which I now know it isn't.
No, I didn't want you or anyone to tell me what is wrong with my engine, just if the condition I asked about was normal or not. You answered the question in an appropriate way with the information I gave( it is all the information that I have at this time) and it is exactly what I wanted.I now know what I should do next...get the exhaust gas analyzed and move forward from that.
I do appreciate the responses and I'll be back as soon as I have gathered more information. Thanks.

Mine actually were hot enough once to melt the aluminum casing of the headers. It was splattering on the ground behind me as I went down the road!

Thankfully a gf was following me and alerted me.
It's a symptom of unburned fuel, but as JRV says, that could be caused by a number of malfunctions!
Improper jetting, malfunctioning distributor advance, fouled plugs.

Once repaired the engine ran much stronger.

Thanks again to all. At this time I have not had a chance to look into this further but when I do I'm sure I'll have more questions for the knowledgable folks here. BTW 308GTSi

"was glowing red ...sampling connections to the headers"

I popped the hood one dark evening to check the oil after a run and notice the sampling connector threads at the head were a dull red.

This is the first I've seen it. I too was wondering if this was normal. Now I know to have it checked.
thanks