tmnismo91

I have had the car for a little over a year and it has always had a strange noise (hissing, rattling) during idle and low rpms. Two days ago it stopped. I thought, "my god, it fixed itself," then I realized there was a loud drone sound. Exhaust leak for sure, it just got worse. I recently replaced the holder bracket on the shifter thus removing the cat and replacing the gaskets (they were trashed). Note, there was a buring smell in the cab for a couple days thereafter. I just figured the gaskets were heating up. Though I am not sure if this is an issue. The noise seems to be coming from the rear of the engine. Could this be the y pipe itself (11 years old) or the gasket on the rear bank? A mechanic told me the cat clogged up and blew out a gasket. Sounds plausible, yet he told me I need a whole new exhaust. I'm thinking that a WSP y pipe and gaskets will do the trick. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to go about things wrongly.

-Sean

5spd92SE

Anything pre-02 sensor will cause a loss of power. Any loss of power?

YES:

1. Look/feel for broken exhuast studs on the front and rear manifolds
(The engine will shake and sputter pretty bad when a stud breaks)

2. Check the flex pipe for leaks

3. Replace the crush washers (2) and the Y-pipe

NO:

1. Replace the Cat with a Carsound Cat

2. Inspect the B-Pipe and muffler

I dont know about the cat clogging and blowing a gasket...I havent heard of that happening on a Max.

nyghostgxe89

I have the same problems with my 89 gxe, mechanics tell me that the sputtering sounds are caused by broken studs on the exhaust manifold. How much would it(exhaust manifold) cost to fix in the nyc area? Is it some thing I can fix myself? and last of all question, how much would a brand new exhaust manifold cost me?

maxipriest

I just had mine done over the weekend. I'm on the other side of the country in Cali. I paid 353.00 to have 4 broken studs extracted. The mechanic said that the manifolds weren't that bad and just had them resurfaced. He did however said he would never do it again though. Real pain in the ****! There are a couple of write ups if you search, but this job I hear is not for the faint of heart.

5spd92SE

I am pretty handy working on cars. I have a lot of tools. I have a lot of space. I had ONE broken stud on the FRONT side of my engine.
I had to remove (or move) the PS, AC, belts, exhaust manifold, y-pipe, electric fans. I then had to drill into the broken stud (if you miss, your screwed. Then I hammered an EZ Out into the broken stud and started turning counter-clockwise, extracting the stud. Then I put everything back together with all Nissan parts. The one thing I forgot to do was have the manifold leveled. There is a very small tolerence on these manifolds. They can only mill a small amount.
Luckily mine fit in that range. So I took everything off again (this time I didnt have to remove the AC, PS, fans), and had the manifold milled, and put all new Nissan parts on AGAIN. This time the car ran great. No problems. Total cost: About $100.

A new manifold is $150 - $250 depending on the dealer.

If the studs are on the rear, good luck.