525/700 owners- what are some of the early signs to look for on these Engines with Original Headers?
I understand in 09, these CMIs were "Supposivlely" improved!
Scarey thought worrying about Leaky headers and loosing an Engine!!
Having them Pressure tested each season and/or sending them back to CMI to be Refurbished would also be an option!!
Thoughts?

Best I've heard and read many a thread is pressure checking constantly.

If you see any steam coming from the exhaust or hear any sizzling sounds upon shutdown they're probably already leaking . Pressure test .

Early signs are a lot of steam and when they get real bad it will hydrolock the motor. If you pull the plugs you will see traces of rust from water inhilation..my advise is to junk the headers..unless you have more patience than I do...I am not a big fan of those headers and I have sent them back many many times and they don't last..If you want to do it right get yourself a set of stainless marines.they are lighter in weight and they make more power on a dyno..I have tested them ..

This guy is my mechanic. My headers leaked 3 times causing two top end rebuilds. He wouldn't re install the junk CMIs after the 3rd time(probably saving me $$ and headaches) so I went with the Stainless Marine set up. 2 years with no problems. I had them painted blue to match the motor. They look great.

Signs of leaking are steam, hard starting, feeling like its only running on 6-7 cylinders...

A vary bad sign is a connecting rod and pieces of a piston laying in the bilge..

Drain your headers after every time out.

Any pics of the engine bay with the blue manifolds??

+1

Not on this phone. I'll get some though.