Ok there's clearly a leak in my exhaust system, I can hear it. Got under the car yesterday and saw the flex was rusted a little. I thought that was where the leak was but then I fired up the car and it sounded like it was coming from the muffler. I'm asking the exhaust gurus to take a look at these pics and provide any feedback. I don't wanna buy a Y-pipe and still have the problem, is the the flex pipe looks broken, but inside it looked like another pipe was in there...

Here are the pics
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/prpatel/Maxima/Exhaust

 

Your flex section should be fine. Mine looked like that and it ended up being fine.

My leak was from the muffler, they did a crappy job welding the flange on so they fail all the time. I would take her to an exhaust shop and have them look at it, if it is the flange have them sleeve it for under $50.

 

almost all I've seen (including mine) have the leak right where the muffler flange is...it rusts through easily. It's the area where it goes over the rear axle.....I think that's it in photo 20.

also, the flex section on your factory ypipe is completely detached at one end - you know that, right? that shouldn't cause a leak necessarily, but it will eventually fail completely and you could end up dragging a pipe. My flex section broke like that too...

Time for either an aftermarket ypipe, or to have a shop put a new flex section on yours (should cost like $50)

 

the noise is from the b pipe/muffler flange. i have fixed them on both 4th gens. you can do it yourself for less than $10.

 

that's exactly where mine rusted and broke off.

 

Definitely all about the DIY...want to elaborate and what you mean. Thanks.

 

well if the flanges are good and the gasket is blown out, you can use rtv red to seal it up. problem is in most cases the flanges are warped and rusted to garbage. i ended up cutting off what was left of the flanges and bought two 2 1/8" clamps and a piece of 2 1/8" exhaust pipe. then just clamp the 2 pipes together and forget about possible leaks from gaskets. i have some pix of it all on my parents computer if you want to see.

 

If you could send me some pics that would be great...haven't really had much time to take a closer look.

 

 

Thanks for this picture... this hanger right there is CRAP and is pissing me off!! I had to have it welded twice this year!!!





http://filebox.vt.edu/users/prpatel/...%20(Large).jpg


Any solution for it??!!!

 

i had the same hanger rust off on my exas but i have no exaust noise

 

The only solution i can think of is to get a SS B-Pipe... The Nissan hangers and flanges are cheap steel and will keep on rusting off, welding it will only help for a short time. You cannot get a good weld on rusted to hell stuff.

 

yea i have a fix for the b pipe too. ill post them later. again a cheap DIY project... less than $5.

 

Pri63,

What, exactly, does your exhaust sound like? I think I may have the same sort of problem. My exhaust began to rattle now, it is just generally louder than before. There is drone at typical throttle and then the intake sound covers it up. Also when cruising around 2500-3500 rpm and I let off the throttle there is a delay, then the droning sound comes back. It almost sounds like back pressure would, I guess.

I hope it's a cheap fix.

Can anyone recommend any muffler shops? Should I go with chains like Meinike (sp?) or Midas?

 

heres the b pipe fix,
i think some people are going to chime in with some ghetto remarks.

 

Wow, thats ghetto

 

Well...tried the RVT Red gasket sealer, looked to work pretty well as the pics show


However, after that there was still some seriously banging( lowered on Progress with Stock struts, helped). Finally broke down and took her in to Midas. It definitely was the god awful flanges not where I had sealed it though.


Essentially the cracks you see there were causing the pipe to rest on the rear cross bar(terminology?), thus causing some seriously rattle probably due to the b-pipe hanger that rusted off and had to be rewelded a few months back. Having to drive to ATL tomorrow I had Midas fix it. They had a Nissan muffler(not Calsonic or variable like the stock SE) laying around so they put it on for $200.



its a little deeper(not used it yet). But the car looks like a$$ without the finishing tip.




Without any success in getting it off, I'll probably get a new one from Dave B. Might consider putting the stocky back on using the technique mentioned above.

 

I like your $10 solution, I just spent $120 to get mine welded, and he had to cut out the flanges and insert another piece like u did. I think this should be a design defect since so many people had it, mine is only 3 yrs old.

 

I've had several $100 here $100 there patch up jobs on my previous cars. If I have an issue with my Maxima exhaust it's going to be a Stainless Steel solution headers back. Can't wait

 

one of the hangers rusted off.. the one that is connected to a plastic piece, and i started to have clanging noise, took the car to Midas, and they put in another one, costed me $30 bucks. in the meantime, the guy showed me how the connector was rusted and said in a year or two, it will make some noise where i could hear it, he said he could put in new pipes and all that and would cost around $500, or could put a 'glove' (if i remember corrrectly, that was the word he used) over the rusted connector and will work fine for years to come, the 'glove' fix will cost around $100 or so.

 

Is there another hangar between the b pipe and muffler?

The flange and hangar just rusted through just as you all have stated. I cut and sleeved the flange and clamped the hangar.

However, the pipe between the flange and muffler is still kinda loose and it can contact the cross frame. I would have thought that there would be a hangar there but I don’t see any remnants of one.

Thanks.

 

I'm having this problem on my car, but the break was not at the muffler it was further up abotu 2 feet, so I think I can get a 2 " sleeve on both sides and it may work. Going to pick it up and try within the next few days because my car sounds like cr@p. Anyone else have pictures? Many of the ones on this page are not working anymore just wounder if anyone replaced the flanges further down with a sleeve. I have a 2k max, gle, but mine looks different for some reason. Maybe the pictures are just throwing me off.

I posted another thread

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=487767

for my pictures

Thanks

 

I wanted to add to this thread because my 2000 Maxima experienced the same problem. JSutter's solution worked perfectly for me. Total cost (excluding jack, jack stands, and reciprocating saw) was about $9. My exhaust is now quiet again, which was my objective. Thanks for the tips.

 

Definitely a 4th gen with all the room above the rear axle!!!!! U can go to NAPA and pick up a complete exhaust system from BOSAL for the cheap!