I'm in an exhaust dilemma!!! I need an exhaust system for my car, but I don't want to spend alot of $$$ to replace it. 95 Max SE with 129+K miles. Car runs fine; original exhaust system is failing. Metal braid around the flexpipe is falling apart and the flexpipe has a hole in it. I really don't want to replace the entire y-pipe since they are expensive. I was gonna try to have the flexpipe cut off and replaced. Does that metal braid need to be replaced? What exactly does it do? Is it a heat sheild of some sort??

I want to reuse the cat if possible and get a price for the rear assembly that includes the resonator and muffler.

 

The flex section is simply a section of pipe that is double walled mesh that allows the Y pipe, which is solid mounted to the engine, to flex when the motor shifts under load. It is necessary to prevent the Y pipe from separating from the cat under load. It could be replaced, but you will be looking at a significant cost unless you can do the work yourself. I've looked into the flex pipe and they run anywhere from $30 to $60 depending on the material and flex line quality. Of course you would have to have it welded in, which could cost you some more coin. It's your call, but when you can buy a stainless Y pipe for $200, it's a pretty easy decision to just replace the Y pipe IMO.

 

From what I saw when my car was last on a lift was that the metal braid actually covered the flex pipe. What I'm trying to figure out is if that metal braid cover is needed over the flex pipe.

Got prices from a local Nissan dealer; hope you're sitting down. Y-pipe = $686, intermediate pipe = $274, muffler = $249 and last but not least, the cat = $900!!!!!! So knowing that the stock y-pipe is over $600, trying to get the flex section repaired shouldn't be more than that.

 

Something to consider is will your Y pipe have enough metal left for welding. An 11 year old driven in the North may be too rusted for repair or is it worth repairing if it's going to rust through in another spot. My 97 exhaust was paper thin in spots. You might look at nissanpartscheap.com for discounted Nissan parts or autopartswarehouse.com for Bosal or Walker exhaust components for prices of the "standard" aftermarket components.

 

I don't know if you've considered it, but a y-pipe from warpspeed, cattman, budget or stillen will run between $200-$400 depending on if you're getting stainless or standard steel. These units are very popular on the .org, because they give around 15whp by eliminating the precats that are on the stock y-pipe. They include the flex piece you're talking about too. Your car will still pass emissions if your standard cat is functioning.

I would look at the aftermarket before going with Nissan OEM, just for the insane pricing alone. To get a full exhaust (y-pipe, cat, b-pipe and muffler) from warpspeed that will be similar in sound to the stock unit, you're looking at around $600.

 

Why would you buy any of those parts from Nissan? An aftermarket Y-Pipe (which won't fail inspection, but will be slightly louder) costs $200-350. You can have a meineke or any muffler shop fabricate a intermediate pipe and give you a muffler to put on if you don't want to buy an aftermarket cat-back (they're pretty expensive and are usually louder, especially with a y-pipe), and aftermarket is the way to go on the cat also. You can get it all done at once and it shouldn't cost more than $750 if you get aftermarket. Even if it doesn't last as long and is a little louder than stock, is that more important than money in your pocket?
Also the metal braid is important, it's what allows for the "flex" in the flex pipe.