Exhaust Leak

[GMSlam]

Hey guys,

It's been awhile, I've been so busy at work and doing little things here and there to the car and haven't had a ton of time to sit at the computer, i should start bringing my laptop to class for the cup of coffee between classes.

Anyway to the problem. Now that the cold has finally gone away(Sort of), I decided to finally look at this exhaust leak.
I'll upload pics.
:help::help:
My question first off, why is their a heatshielded spot there or what is in side?:shrug:
Second, does it unbolt somewhere before the CAT?
Any suggestions on fixing this?





Oh and for anyone who is curious, pics of the vehicle coming soon, as soon as I take her to get :laugh: detailed. XD

 

[GMSlam]

Sorry bout weird pic sizes, I had to resize them all. LOL

 

[jimbbski]

Is the leak at the flex joint? That/s the steel braided wire thing in the pic you posted. They are available by then selves. You have to cut the pipe and replace the flex joint. Unless you have a welder have a muffler shop do the work. Unless you find a flex joint that has ends the will either slip over of into your old exhaust you have no way to attach or seal the pipes together.

 

[jrichardson]

you can also go the cheap route and get some tailpipe with is cheap flex pipe. the replacement flex that looks like that is round $25 where i live and the cheapo is like 5 bucks. also the cat is attached directly to the manifold with four bolts. you have to remove that heat sheild and you can see the bolts. requires a deepwell 14mm i believe and there is also a bracket halfway down that is held on with two bolts to the car and one bolt that holds the bracket to the cat. if you can't get the bracket off (like i culdn't) then you can't remove the cat (as far as i can tell) try not to break it thought...ford quoted me 25 bucks for it.

 

[GMSlam]

I was able to find the four bolts! woot! before i read the post.

The bracket you are talking about it totally a pain in the ass, not to mention those bolts holding the back on are so ******** rusted.

Have a welder, but not sure if im gonna be able to get the thing onto the bench where I can weld it.

Im going to get a quote from the muffler shop, see what kinda deal i can get =)

if it's too much i guess i'll have to do the cheapo route. =/
college paychecks aren't exactly luxurious

 

[GMSlam]

Well, Midas and Monro and the local mechanic none of them have the flex pipe i need in stock...
Cheapest cost was the local mechanic wanting 167$ to do it... I can't see why so much but Monro has a 30% coupon online which brings theres down to 154$

At this point it's not loud enough to cost me that much.... gonna have to get the ole torch out and break these bolts off and do some good home welding =)

Anyone have a tip to get the EGR tubing off the exhaust???:help::help::help:

anything would be much appreciated

 

[GMSlam]

I've determined in order to easily remove the EGR tubing, i need to remove the headers from the manifold. If anyone has another route, please let me know =) Otherwise im picking up gaskets in the morning.

 

[GMSlam]

For all and any, I've gotten the bugger off. I had to cut several bolts, I'm still trying to figure out what the clamp around the larger CAT area was actually doing, I can't figure out if it just held it together or attached somewhere cause mine was just free hanging. (unless i broke it off somehow n didnt realize)

One last concern, I measured my flex pipe and it's 8.5 inches of ss mesh, and 9.25 inches total length. I've only been able to find 10" and larger flex pipes. Is there an advantage to going to a longer flex pipe if i cut and weld it in???

Thanks!

 

[striker2]

no real advantage to a longer flex pipe. there are various places that you can find flex pipes and they come in all kinds of lengths and diameters so just find one that is roughly the same length and weld it in.

 

[GMSlam]

Thanks Striker, picked one up at the local shop, will be chopped up and melted in the next couple hours!
=)