Would a cracked header make it glow bright orange and not go over 3500 rpms?

 

No just leak and possibly set a code. Id check fuel pressure first. Red hot exhaust is usually caused by extremely lean conditions.

 

I have an air fuel meter and its pegged in the rich condition

 

Is it running bad?

 

Yes

 

Try unplugging one injector at a time while the engine is running and see which cylinder makes the biggest difference. Or go ahead and run a compression test on all 6 cylinders with all the spark plugs out.

 

Woohoo 100th Post! - sounds like you also could be out of time - CPS bad, crank sensor bad, heck even the O2 sensor could be malfunction and sending lean signals back to PCM. I'd check the timing first!

 

The thing is running rich as F**K for the header to glow! Something is seriously wrong for that to happen. Retarded timing will also make the header glow.

Regardless, it takes a lot to run rich enough to make this happen. It might be a combination of things...

 

It's a clogged cat that's causing your problem. Seperate the exhaust before the cat and start it up, see how it runs.

 

^^^^^ x2. prob a plugged cat.

 

yup, don't just remove your cat tho, put a new one in.

 

^^^x2 on that as well!! you dont want to be ridin dirty.

 

yes, I was recommending seperating the exhaust just for testing purposes. Once you're sure that's the problem get the cat replaced. Good luck

 

Yah like me! hehehe. JK. A new one is on its way. That does sound like a plugged cat. Good luck

 

I stated in another post that I made my friends Camaro do this... it was crossed spark plug wires... Please check them first... it's a lot less work than separating the exhaust.