Y-pipe=HELL
04-02-2004, 04:21 AM
#1
Y-pipe=HELL
Whoever said puttin the wsp y-pipe on yourself was WRONG.I estimated last night it would take about 4 hours,so I planned to start at 6 and finish around 10.Got workin...the six bolts that connect to the headers were a pain in the *** to get off,but I worked at 'em and got 'em off.Then...I moved down to the cat.The bolts around the cat are almost welded onto the nuts and cat.I tried PB blaster and cuttin the bolts,but theres no bolts to cut! So that took til about 11:00 and I stopped.So now my car is sitting up on a lift in my garage until I can get back to it this weekend.Not too happy.I hate the New England weather that made my car rust out.Guys in NE doing the y-pip yourself,good luck!
p.s.-You guys have any suggestions on getting them off??
p.s.-You guys have any suggestions on getting them off??
04-02-2004, 05:09 AM
#3
wd-40ed what? all mine is is a little nub.its so rusted it's almost a perfect circle,no notches or anything to put power tools on! I was thinking about torching em,but I didnt wanna mess up and ruin something.
04-02-2004, 05:57 AM
#9
Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 52
What if I dropped the whole exhaust and just f-in burn 'em off (sorry,little frustrated my max is sitting in my garage useless)?? That'd work right...precautions? Dont wanna burn the cat.
Dont F*** it up so bad to were you cant put the y-pipe on after you get it off.
Taking the hole system off would be alot easier to work with(stick it in some kind of vice) it seems pritty drastic but if you have already spent that much time with the darn thing why not man got for it and give it hell
good luck
04-02-2004, 06:01 AM
#10
I knew I was going to run on the same problem you have, so Before I had to remove my Y-pipe I took to a mechanic, and asked him to put new bolts on my cat. (he torched my old ones for $15).
But then as the worst luck of all, the "bolt of Hell" did not wanted to come out on my y-pipe.
comclusion: I drove my car with the y-pipe hanging by 2 bolts down to a mechanic. he took the pipe off and charged me $25
here is a link to my tread: it doesn't help much but you can always read.
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=298373
But then as the worst luck of all, the "bolt of Hell" did not wanted to come out on my y-pipe.
comclusion: I drove my car with the y-pipe hanging by 2 bolts down to a mechanic. he took the pipe off and charged me $25
here is a link to my tread: it doesn't help much but you can always read.
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=298373
04-02-2004, 07:56 AM
#12
Originally Posted by Kta920
What if I dropped the whole exhaust and just f-in burn 'em off (sorry,little frustrated my max is sitting in my garage useless)?? That'd work right...precautions? Dont wanna burn the cat.
04-02-2004, 09:12 AM
#13
Kta920 you have a lift in your garage?
i want your garage lol.
if i had a lift it would be so much simpler jackstands don't give enough raise.
i also have the same issue it took me about 1 hr to take off the damn heatshields. and then i cut myelf so i stopped. the bolts were so rusted that the 14mm didn't even fit but a 13mm fit loosely. maybe this weekend i'll just get a grinder and just grind them off and replace with SS bolts.
for the cat you might want to take of the bolts that connect to the b-pipe i found those easier to turn for some reason and remove the y-pipe with the cat and then get the cat separated from the y-pipe once it's off, that will make it much easier. heat is good too, just watch where you point the torch. also use a hammer to lightly tap the bolts in place to loosen the rust after wd-40ing the hell out of them the day before.
but definitely not a simple project. especially in the NE where we have plenty of rain and changing climates that favor rusting.
i want your garage lol.
if i had a lift it would be so much simpler jackstands don't give enough raise.
i also have the same issue it took me about 1 hr to take off the damn heatshields. and then i cut myelf so i stopped. the bolts were so rusted that the 14mm didn't even fit but a 13mm fit loosely. maybe this weekend i'll just get a grinder and just grind them off and replace with SS bolts.
for the cat you might want to take of the bolts that connect to the b-pipe i found those easier to turn for some reason and remove the y-pipe with the cat and then get the cat separated from the y-pipe once it's off, that will make it much easier. heat is good too, just watch where you point the torch. also use a hammer to lightly tap the bolts in place to loosen the rust after wd-40ing the hell out of them the day before.
but definitely not a simple project. especially in the NE where we have plenty of rain and changing climates that favor rusting.
04-02-2004, 11:15 AM
#14
All I had to do was cut off the end of the "bolt" (more like rusted nub till the flange is clean) then I pulled off the y pipe and was left with the task of removing the studs. To do this I heated up the cat with a torche and then turned them out with vice grips. Took me a while but wasnt terribly difficult. MAKE SURE YOU WEAR GLASSES rust is not fun in your eye.
04-02-2004, 11:28 AM
#16
Yeah my garage is nicely equipped dad bought it for his Honda S2000,but since that's in hibernation,it's perfect for a 17 year old kid to fix up his Maxima dream car (not some ricer BS either).
But anyway,I think later on today once I get out of work I'm gonna torch 'em off.Hopefully that will work.And I'll get rid of my cat and get a new one.Anyone want a stock 97 cat? It's up for sale after this weekend,or after I find a new one.Wish me luck this weekend,I'll throw up a post on how it went.Thanks guys.
dad bought it for his Honda S2000,but since that's in hibernation,it's perfect for a 17 year old kid to fix up his Maxima dream car (not some ricer BS either).But anyway,I think later on today once I get out of work I'm gonna torch 'em off.Hopefully that will work.And I'll get rid of my cat and get a new one.Anyone want a stock 97 cat? It's up for sale after this weekend,or after I find a new one.Wish me luck this weekend,I'll throw up a post on how it went.Thanks guys.
04-03-2004, 08:41 AM
#24
Originally Posted by image
Yea they are. Also you have 276 HP with just a Y Pipe and a CAI?????!!!!
No!!! My buddy was just messin around with that.He has no where near what he claims either.Its just a website...not true,TRUST ME! If I had 276hp I'd be in heaven.But yeah,all this snow and salt has rusted my bolts underneath my car to round nubs.Theres no notches to even fit an air wrench on it.So I'm torching them off in about 20 minutes.Then I'll probably have to buy a new cat or tap some new holes in it so the bolts will fit.Wish me luck!
04-03-2004, 01:52 PM
#25
F***in ****ED!! Tried everything today.I woke up early and went to work on my car.Tried torching:nothing.Tried a freakin sawzall:nothing.NOTHING would get those bolts off.Now I can't drive my car cuz there's a huge exhaust leak and I sound like a Honduh with dually mufflers.Goin' to my last option,cutting the whole exhaust off and re-doing the whole thing.Now the only problem I have is getting a B-pipe and muffler with my empty pockets.I have $25 in my pocket and that just went towards the cat.Can someone help me out and sell me a b-pipe?? I posted a "WTD" in the For Sale 4th Gen forums,but no one ever replies.Can someone who looks at this sell me one,please.I might have the muffler section all lined up.I have the Y-the cat-the muffler...need the rest.Please someone help,I miss my Max! 
04-03-2004, 02:14 PM
#27
I was working on installing my y-pipe. I was able to get one nut loose with pb blaster and a breaker bar. The other nut just stripped in the socket. Is there any mini torch or something I can get? I called some places around here and they want $35-65 to just replace the nuts for me and I dont really want to do that.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
RealityCheck
4th Generation Maxima (1995-1999)
7
10-02-2015 06:34 PM
lrb6805
4th Generation Maxima (1995-1999)
7
09-17-2015 04:49 PM
Violator
4th Generation Classifieds (1995-1999)
1
09-09-2015 10:14 AM