02 maxima exhaust options?
 

Hello folks,
SO I have an 02 Max with 160K stick shift.
The flanges at the cats are rotted that its leaking exhaust. My local muffler shop that ivr been going to finally said that they wouldn't patch it as they said a mechanic shop would have to lower the engine cradle to install new cats.

Well, truth I do work on cars and i have a car lift at home and I'm not ready to toss this car yet so I'd like to tackle installing a whole new complete exhaust . Yes, 160k miles . At first , I thought junk it, but then I came to my senses. I love this car and the engine and trans never gave me issues at all.

so, any recommendations for exhaust? I hate that aluminized crap that rusts eventually. For example, a Walker muffler I always end up replacing every 2 to 3 years.
so the job will consist of replacing everything from the Cats down to muffler so I'd like to see if I can get some stainless stuff. Obviously not looking to spend huge as it's an old car.
Also, would like to delete the 3rd cat as there's no 02 sensor on it so why have it.
So, again any recommendations for complete exhaust systems starting at the cats. I can get a break on pricing from ordering from Rock auto so thats the best I got.
also, recommendations on the job itself for anyone that may have installed new cats. Does the engine cradle have to be lowered?? I didnt think so. Also, my biggest fear is snapping bolts at the exhaust manifold and have this turn into a fiasco.

Thanks

Snapping exhausted flange holes isn't real that big of deal. Just drill them out and put a bolt and nut on. I just did it on a Astro Van. Took an extra 10 minutes.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/fits-99-200...53.m1438.l2649

Drilling with enough space is not a big deal. It's when there's no space in there. Have you done it on the maxima? Seems like a virgin under there to try to get in there with a drill without removing manifold from the head.

Well you can just cut the pipe at the flange with a multi-tool and drill away. I haven't worked on the max exhaust yet but I checked it out. Seemed a lot easier than the Ford Contour exhaust I worked on!

Lower the engine cradle?!?! Since when?

Right. The bolts on theupper side of the cats is what worries me. That flange you don't wanna cut as that's the exhaust manifold flange lol

Dennis, that's what the exhaust shop told me. I think they were full of shyt and just didn't want the job. I was actually looking under there and there's some room to get to the bolts with an extension so no need to drop anything. They should've known that. Hoping it all goes smooth not snapping those Ex mani flange bolts.

Hey OP looks like I'm in the same boat as you at the moment. I've got 201k miles on mine but the engine and trans is still going strong, so I wanna keep it until the engine stops working. Initially the resonator developed some holes from rust since the exhaust is original, patched those up and one day turned on the car and exhaust was loud. Crawled under there and found that the y pipe/flex area is all rusted/rotted away. So now, like you, I've been searching for replacement exhaust parts so that I can get this done myself. Still deciding if I should just replace the entire exhaust from the y pipe back, or just replace the y pipe and the resonator section since the muffler is still good. Trying to find the cheapest way to get this fixed is proving to be harder than expected. If you have any luck finding the parts for cheap, please do share. The cheapest I've found the y pipe section is on ebay here:

ebay y pipe I like this listing because it includes new gaskets and bolts. Only thing I'm worried about is if the fitment isn't 100% exactly the same.

Well if you want extra performance there are some exhaust out there If it's just a flange I would cut it off and reinstall a two bolt flange and copper gaskets from:
http://www.mandrelbends.com/

https://www.andysautosport.com/perfo...an_maxima.html

[]=3.5L]https://www.carid.com/2003-nissan-maxima-exhaust-systems/?filter=1&sub-model[Liter][]=3.5L

https://www.ebay.com/b/Exhaust-Syste...30/bn_94704293

sadly yea i got the nice warpspeed y-pipe aluminized and the flex pipe area rusted out in just under 3 years.

i bought it again so, i got 2 years or so to go.... =(