I got my first exhaust leak

[Anonymous]

And it is as scary as having sex for the first time.

Well I'm driving around and I start to notice a clickiting that turns into a light thump thump thump thump. I knew right away it was a leak, and I wasn't happy. The foot mark on my tire proves it.

It turns out the primary coming off of the #5(back right) cylinder totally broke off. It is where the bell attaches to the pipe. Here is a bad pic:

|>|-----

The | is the flange, the > is the bell, and the ---- is the pipe. The red | is where it broke.

So anyway, it is a weld that the welding place did with a TIG, the same place that told me not to use a MIG. Well I used a MIG, and every weld I did is holding up fine. So I have to remove EVERYTHING and pull off the back header, just to fix a PROFESSIONAL welder's Fuck up. I am pissed, and I paid the guy well too. I decided not to bring it down there, I'll weld it myself. Besides if I went down there I think I might shoot the dumbfuck. Welding degree my ass

[RacerX11]

If it was a TIG weld done properly, and it broke, it was probably not the weld's fault. Did you use flex joints between the headers and the rest of the exhaust? If not, and if you don't have solid motor mounts, you better get used to cracked headers.

That joint probably sees the most heat, and if it is subjected to a lot of bending, it won't matter what kind of weld you have, it will crack. You better check the cylinder 1 and 3 tubes wen you take it off.

Marty

[Lyle's GTP]

I agree, TIG by all rights has better penetation than MIG. Plus, you'd think if he knew enough to TIG it instead, he should know how to do it right. I have seen alot of guys TIG with no filler rod, those welds crack like nobody's business. They definatily will if there was no flex pipe.

Lyle

[Anonymous]

There is no flex pipe.

All my mounts are new, and I have the upper dogbone by FFP. I can literally rev it by hand, hard to 6000, and the motor won't rock AT ALL. It doesn't move. But with a load...

I will definately need to add a flex. As for the 1 and 3, they are fine, not even a leak.

So today I got it 3 feet in the air, and started. The wheel is off, the brake, the CV axle, the drive axle, all the axle support brackets, and a few other small things. Tomorrow I have to figure a way to get the front downpipe out. It won't be easy. I designed them so they are removable, but I hoped it would never need to come to that. And I'd take pics, but my nmom has the camera.

[RacerX11]

If you have rubber mounts, there will be movement under load, no matter how fresh they are. Even the poly mounts will flex a little. I don't run a flex joint, but I have solid steel monts and solid cradle mounts. The flex joint will be money well spent. Check out JCWhitney, they have some stainless flex joints for reasonable prices.

Marty

[Anonymous]

I will look into a flex joint, but I have no where to put it. There is not a section of straight pipe before my cat.

[dykz34]

Put it right before the cat.

[Anonymous]

I can't.

There is about a foot of pipe from right after the Y to the cat, but the Y sits about 2" lower, so it uses a curve, kinda like this:

..._
_/

I got the header off today, and the downpipes. the downpipes were easy, but the ehader took some prybar-inspiration to come out. It is broken, but I can't tell directly what caused it. I am going to a welding shop tomorrow to have them weld the fuck outta it.

[dykz34]

The flex joints are smaller than I think you think they are (if that makes sense ). They are only 6" long or so.

Couldn't you angle the flex joint in the appropriate direction? (I'm just guessing because diagrams made from font suck ballz and we don't have any pictures to look at )

[Anonymous]

Don't be dissing my fontart. I'm the next Van go, I'll even cut my ear off to prove it!

LOL, I guess I could angle it up, I'm going to the muffler/exhuast shop today and I'll see what he recomends.

[bud36light]

Man dont dis the welder right off the bat. Been in that situation a time or two. A PROPERLY welded tig joint will hold better than original. Meaning the metal will break b4 the welded joint will. A good welder will make sure that joint is good or he/she wont release it. This means I am not defending your place or saying they are wrong, just saying maybe there may be other reasons why the WELD broke. I can under stand being sickly pissed off. Looks like a lot of work went in to this particular project.( Job well done Aaron). Maybe we need to start a new thread/discussion to better inform members about smoke wrenches and metal.

[bud36light]

LMAO. Had My own leak couple of weeks ago. When I pulled the rear head I pulled the exhaust man with it. Bolted it back together an lo and behold had a bad leak. Apparently the donut must have fell down btw the rack n whatever. Couldnt find a pic or diagram or knowledgeable person anywhere.( Holiday weekend). Ended up putting it on a rack at my "buddies" place and said fuck, it dont have a seal. My "buddie" put a new donut in it and charged me $30 for being stupid. I got him back when he needed to know how the fuck you time a LQ1! Life is good!