chippychaps

There is a small section of Flex-Pipe right at the front of the car behind the engine (before the Cat. Convertor, I believe) that connects to the exhaust pipe. It has a hole in it that is causing my 1995 Max GXE to run really rough.

My Dealer told me that in these situations, they do not replace just that section of pipe, but the entire Exhaust pipe that the flex-pipe is connected to at a wonderful low price (sarcasm) of $995 Canadian ($725ish American).

Come on!! You gotta be kidding me.

A few phone calls later to try and track down the peice of pipe elsewhere, I have been told everywhere I've called that this piece is a "Dealer" item....in otherwords, the dealer gets to charge me through the nose to replace it, and then they get to take my arms and legs when I can't come up with this insanely criminal amount of money.

Does anyone know if I can buy any old piece of flexible pipe to replace this small section of Flex-pipe with the hole in it? If so, is it a relatively easy fix for the NOVICE Home mechanic. Maybe even just some duct tape over the hole? (I'm half joking, half serious about that).

Thanks for any help anyone can offer.

knight71

try a local scrapyard..try www.standardautowreckers.com
in Toronto.

Terran

iTrader: (6)

Time for an aftermarket Y-pipe. You'll get it for between like $180-400(US) depending on where you get it, and best of all it will perform better . Look into Budget and warpspeed. Budget's in canada somewhere so they may be close by if you're lucky. The reason the dealer one is so expensive is that they have precats, essentially mini cataltytic (sp?) converters. The performance ones eliminate these causing better exhaust flow and lower price.

*Edit* Duct tape won't work since it will just melt, but some exhaust wrap might.

Jay93SE

i was qouted $600 for a stock replacement, but I got in on the Warpspeed GD. Try contacting Budget exhaust in Burlington. Thay make Y-Pipes for the 4thGen. http://www.budgetexhaust.com/
$250.00 Can. for Stainless steel pipe.

Jepht20

iTrader: (10)

i was told by a meineke that they can replace flex sections with lined flex sections for ~$30. if it's just the flex section busted, why wouldn't they just do that?!?

i'd go with a budget y(f)-pipe if i were you as the other's suggested. goodluck!

chippychaps

Thanks folks for your responses. Unfortuately, I have no budget....at all.

Since it is just the flex section that has a hole in it, Could I just order a "STAINLESS STEEL EXHAUST FLEX COUPLER KIT" to replace this short section of the flexible pipe with the hole in it from somewhere like www.jcwhitney.com?

P.S. I'll check into the meineke (or simialr place) option as well.

boyzindahood978

Probably the best thing to do is to go to meineke like jepht20 said or go for a budget y-pipe. No need to get boned by the dealer.

Broaner

iTrader: (10)

If you can't come up with $180 you need a new job. Replacing just the flex section will decrease the flow even from stock because a weld can never be as good as the first one. If anything, fixing just the flex will hurt your gas mileage. Since your budget it so tight you don't wanna be doing that now do you.

chippychaps

Thanks for the vote of confidence. My job is fine thank you very much . Lack of budget for my car does not mean lack of money or a low paying job. Saving for a wedding while making mortgage payments is where I choose to allocate my budget.

Anyways, I got just the flex section of pipe done at Midas and they did a fantastic job. Mileage has improved greatly. If the welds deteriorate over time, I don't really care, I'll just do it again, or replace everything after my wedding.

Thanks again to everyone for their comments.

Jay93SE

I am in the exact same position as you. I am getting married in july. I still scraped enough together for my Y pipe. Fiance ****ed, but more powere is always a good excuse!

Eric425

Hey, you're in luck. I've seen people selling the stock y pipe, not just the little flex section, but the whole pipe for 20 bucks. Go look on the for sale section of the forum. You just want to replace the pipe, get the car to run again and you don't care about adding a little more power right? Don't waste your time getting an aftermarket y pipe.

Oh, didn't see you'd already had the flex section replaced. Nevermind.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

I disagree 100%. If you cut before the weld and use a slip joint for the new flex section. The end result is just as good if not better than oem. I personally cut off my old leaky Cattman Y flex, welded on a new one with new ball joint flanges, cut/welded on my new 4-gen hi flow cat and couldn't be happier. Much better job than most hack muffler shops do. And I'm an amataur welder. Just took my time. Even my butt-weld connections are clean. No flow restrictions inside.

Broaner

iTrader: (10)

Slip joints. Ha. Thats worse than anything. In your case it may have worked but I don't see how it will for any extended length of time. You can't get any better than OEM machine TIG'ed. A slip joint leaves much more room for expansion due to heating and will eventually crack even the strongest welds. I agree that a weld on the cat would be better than the flange that is present stock but I don't agree on the flex section.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Ah most good shops use slip joints. What room for expansion? I had to tap these two sections together to get them on. ie.. tight fit. And since the metals are of similar materials, they will expand and similar rates. I'm an amataur welder but I can assure you I got good pentration on my welds. As seen by the heat mark on the other side. Actually a slip joint weld is probably stronger.

As far as I know TIG is no stonger than MIG. Just prettier if the welder knows what they are doing. Maybe motorcycle/race car frames are MIG welded.

I didn't weld on the cat. I welded on ball joint flanges(ie.. gasketless flanges).

If you can provide some links for me to read to back up what you are saying, I'd be happy to review them for my info.

Broaner

iTrader: (10)

I will look when I get home. TIG is tungsten wire feed while MIG is Magnesium. I'm not saying its bad to do your own work. In fact thats the best way but I think that a person cannot be as good as a machined TIG'er. The reason I mentioned the expansion factor is because the slag expands also. Magnesium is much more resistant to high change in temperature. Tungsten is ideal for heat change. It is not stronger but resists fatigue. Thats why Tungsten is used in lightbulbs. Just FYI, if your going for strength burn marks are not good because excess heat fatigues the metal. Regular amateur welding is perfectly okay for exhaust systems and the likes but is not as good for chassis. A good welder learns to lay down a bead while using as low an arc voltage as possible. Also, thanks for teaching me something. I didn't know that the joint you speak of is called a ball joint flange. I had one of those put on my rear section flange. Why is it called a ball joint because it doesn't resemble one much at all. Must be because one side slips inside the other. What type of welder do you have? How much was it? How often do you use it? Was it worth the investment? I'm asking because I'm seriously contemplating adding that to my slowly growing arsenal of tools.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

But you have to make sure you get pentration vs the welds just sitting on top of the metal.

Actually MIG now stands for "Metal Inert Gas" or wire feed type. But it has had different names over the years. I don't belive the wire I use is magnesium anyway. I have a wide choice of wire feed materials based on what gas/metal I'm working with.
http://www.ridgecrest.ca.us/~biesiade/weld.htm
One link I found.

It supports my theory of looking for heat marks on the other side of the piece I'm working on for evidence of good weld pentration.

My welding handbook has many references to the use of MIG welding for chassis fabrication. Anything from race cars to small airplanes.

Ball joint flanges. You are correct.

I have a cheapo 110 v low amperage/low duty cycle mig. It will weld up to about 3/16" thick steel. I use ar/co gas because I weld steel pipe mostly. MIG is extremely easy to setup and learn. I mean 10 min and you are putting down welds. 1 hour of fooling around and you are doing welds better than 90% of most hack muffler shops do. I have a Cambell Hausfeld but Miller and Linclon are better quality units. If you don't have easy access to 220, I'd go 110v. A 20 amp circuit is preferred where you are plugging it in. I have a 15amp circuit in the garage so I can't use the unit full power. But for the 14ga and 16 ga thick steel I use, it's more than plenty.

Worth the investment? You bet! It's fun as hell! But again, I got a cheap used unit for about $160. It's already paid for itself in just one job. ie.. the exhaust work I did above. I fiddle with it to make maf adaptors and custom cai intakes and whatever. Turbo piping is next.

Broaner

iTrader: (10)

Okay, so we were both right. I was wrong about the Magnesium though. I should have looked into it first, but that website does prove my original statement that amateur MIG is not as good as TIG. The lower temps needed to melt the material results in a stronger finished product. Also the part about allowing impurities to escape is very interesting. I'm not saying that everyone needs to go by a $50K TIG machine but it is better technology and thats what comes from the factory and probably some y-pipe companies because that is their business and they know what is best for a good durable product. I know Budget doesn't use TIG because they have slag up the wassu on their stuff but I'm guessing at least one producer out there uses it. You think Matt uses TIG on those tie bars he just developed? I doubt it but I'll ask in his thread.

Thanks for the info on the welder. I'll look into that soon. I'd like to be able to make my own stuff anytime I wanna try something.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

I think technically you are right. Tig might be stronger than mig when everything else is equal. But the quality of the weld is so dependant on the user. Mig is alot more amataur friendly. I'm a prime example. But like I mentioned strength is not an issue as even race cars use mig welding on their chassis. That's about the most demanding auto related application.
Matt uses a mig as it's easier and cheaper to use. Again, plenty strong. Exhaust stuff even has less load as it doesn't even have any load bearing duties.

What Y pipe maker uses for welding is more of a cosmetic issue than anything else. Looking nice is good but in reality, you never see this stuff anyway. It's under the car. As long as it made well and fits well for a decent price......

Broaner

iTrader: (10)

True. I'm finished. Thanks for the info on the tie bars. This definitely doesn't change the fact that I really want a tie bar.