I'd like to hear from early 5th genners running OEM exhaust, how its holding up on their cars.

 

looks fine to me, no rust. I managed to break the bolts loose easily when installing a b-pipe

however I should note i'm in CA

 

Exhaust is fine. Just a little rust on the outside of the pipes.

 

Well, My 00's muffler went at 72k miles (the front part of the muffler where the pipe joins the muffler body...the welds let go) so that had to be replaced. Then, just last week (after having the ecu reflashed last summer for P0420) the ses lite came on again for another P0420. The dealer replaced the front precat, a sensor and 2 gaskets for free. I think the cost for all those parts with labor would have been a grand if I wasnt under 80 k miles.
I guess I have one of those rare nissan dealers that actually try to take care of you if you buy the car from them.... Anyways...Now the exhaust is new.

 

Kostya its time to upgrade to a Frankencar catback..

 

mine is fine.. it was showing bit of rust so i painted the muffler with bbq paint.. looks nicer imo..

 

I agree...the flat black on the muffler does look good...the oem muffler I had put on has that, and it does look real good....makes the chrome finishers look real good back there.

 

I have 70K miles on mine, all still in good condition. Only problem I had was a rusting connector B-pipe to muffler. Guys at Budget Exhaust cut it out and replaced it with a piece of piping...

 

I'm keeping my car stock, saving for bigger things....just curious how good the stock exhaust was

 

One comment I heard in the past from exhaust pros is that Maxima's main cat and muffler flow very well even though they are factory... Just get rid of your pre-cats (Y-pipe mod) and if you can eliminate the crimp on the B-pipe after the resonator, you are good to go...

 

Another note is that the connectors between sections, e.g. Y-pipe to B-pipe, B-pipe to muffler are made of "regular" steel whereas everything else is stainless steel, and as such those connectors are prone to rusting, they are easy to cut out and replace by a straigh piece of piping (weld or crimp)...

 

I thought our stock exhaust was aluminized steel and not stainless... was it different for the 2000s?

 

Hm, interesting point. I was told that my 2K has stainless except for those connectors...

 

look at the pipes.. are they rusted somewhat then they are not stainless.

 

That is not an indicator. Even though steel is called "stainless" it will still have some surface rusting showing. If it was true "stainless", then we would never have to replace any exhaust components on stainless setups, but in reality it does eventually rust out...

 

you're not stainless, none of us are. i do agree though that the stock connectors and flanges rust more

 

Mine looks good at 86K. Might look into that y-pipe mod though.

 

Sorry, my bad then. I just went by what exhaust guys told me when they were fixing the flanges. They said everything else was stainless :-(

 

looks good still, I am selling my OEM cat-back

I just put the Cattman Cat-Back on, the OEM one just needs a new flange welded onto the muffler and it is ready to go.

The only reason I put the Cattman on is because I am doing a complete exhaust...

PM me if anyone wants it, it will go pretty cheap.

 

my exhaust on my '00 works great but its looks horrible..the pipes are rusted. What can i do? Put tips? or change to a catback?
the only thing is with the catback exhuast i just dont want the hum to be that loud.

 

Who will see the pipes?

I am quite angry people cannot see my new stainless system.... i would not worry about the look of the pipes unless ou want to be really **** (I can understand).

If you want to put the effort in you can paint them with high temp paint....

 

Well, if its not leaking, just let it be.... like upstate said, you could always paint or coat it, if its worth it to ya... you could also just get a used stock cat-back off someone else in the 5th Gen Classifieds... I sold mine there for $150 with only 30k miles on it.

 

would the stock exhaust work well with FI (low boost, everyday driving, etc.) or would u just rather get a new one? asking because of that y-pipe mod statement...if i put a y pipe would that be sufficient for something like a turbo

 

my oem exhaust is fine at 60k, but there is a little rust on the tips and that area

 

I would think the OEM cat-back would be ok for FI, i would get a new y-pipe to eliminate the pre-cats though.

this might be something you should ask in the FI section on the org.

 

I have a gxe and my dad has an se, the one on the se is the stock catback?

 

I've heard that you 5th Gens have an internal diameter of about 2" and even less at the bends/crimps. Aftermarket y-pipes are 2.5". Based on my limited knowledge, if you're talking really low boost like a stock VW/Audi 1.8T size turbo, those cars have exhausts with internal diameter of less than 2.5" and they seem to run fine (I have a 2000 Passat as well, wife's car).

BUT, from this article in the FAQs:

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....160#post960160

Try looking in the Stickies and asking in the FI forum cuz these guys know more than I ever will:

http://forums.maxima.org/forumdisplay.php?f=53

And I'm pretty sure that many of the TCed Maxs have 3" y-pipes and cat-backs...

 

I'm not sure I understand the question....

 

oo no i was saying that the se on the 00-01 have a muffle with what looks like a chrome tip holding them together. My muffler on my gxe jus has pipes. What is that on the se muffler is it only a chrome tip or is that the stock catback you guys are talking about. Or is this stock catback on the 5.5 gens only?

 

The only difference between the 2 you mentioned is the chrome tip... they are both stock cat-backs....

The "stock cat-back" is the factory standard ("stock") exhaust components from the catalyst converter back to the muffler (hence the name "cat-back").

 

Btw, time for some homework...

https://maxima.org/modules.php?name=FAQ

 

i see....... thanks

 

I may not understand most of the upgrades you guys are discussing here.

I have a 2K Max SE and was just told by the mechanic that the connections between the various exhaust pipes are rusted out. The exhaust was loud and I could hear the system bouncing underneath the car.

The connectors are not stainless steel. Entire system to be replaced.
$900. It sucks.