What a day!! & the scarey part is it's still young

[Colin C]

Nice start to my week. Changed out the engine oil over the weekend & as I recently moved house, I couldn't find a funnel to empty the basin of used oil. Left it in the porch area outside the front door so rain wouldn't get in it. On my way out the door at 06:30 this morning..... straight into the oil and spilt it all over the cobbelock outside the front door. Half an hour and 3 rolls of kitchen towel later I get into my car and set off to work. Pull off at a junction and the wheels spin........... wasn't really tearing off either just a bit top much throttle (probably as I only got the car last week and still getting used to it). When the wheels spun a vibration started. Found that my exhaust had broken in the middle (roughly under the armrest) and the front part is dragging along the ground. Didn't really have time to have a good look as I was already late for work. Will let it cool and have a look at breakfast. I'm preassuming it broke going into the flex section. Is this a weld joint or some sort of securing clip? If it does need to be welded does anyone know what sort of money we're looking at to get it sorted?

[Mustang]

Exhaust is in four distinct sections, manifold -engine to cat, cat, middle section, back box. Failure of the middle section (nearer the back of the car) is quite common, As a result of this it may be difficult to find a second hand replacement.

[kevinod]

Isn't it

- downpipes
- cat
- mid section
- backbox (incl pipes that stick out the back)

Manifold takes air into the engine?

If it's a flexi bit that it broke on it sounds like the downpipes, there's a flexi section right before (engine side of) the cat, which would be about under the armrest box as you described.

There's lots of guys who have replaced their downpipes (including me) so there should be plenty used downpipes available. You could even consider going with an aftermarket downpipe, like the Mongoose one (Ricerocketuk on here does them). They give better torque over the original ones, best performance mod I've done so far.

If the flexi bit has broke the chances are its rotten and you prob won't be able to repair it.

[Colin C]

Well I got under the car to have a look and tie it up to get me home today. From what I can see (& my knowledge on these things is fairly limitied) it broke in the middle section. Firstly I should mention that it's not a standard exhaust, it's a HKS super dragger (Have no idea if that makes any difference to the layout of the exhaust). The breakage is actually further back then I first thought. It's actually under the back seat. It seems to be just after a silencer of some sort. In front of the silencer there is a flange which is bolted onto what I've been told is the cat. Does anyone have any recomendations of some one to source and fit this section of the exhaust? One of the guys in work here also suggested just getting some piping cut and fiting it in in place of the broken section. Don't know how that would work out. Where the break occured there are signs that there had been a hole in the joint for a while. I had thought that the exhaust was a bit on the noisy side but put it down to the HKS being a noisy exhaust. I was considering fitting a mongoose system in a few months when the funds are in better order & I 'm considering just putting a quick fix with a bit of pipe to run me on. By doing this will it cause further damage?

[soc]

One of the guys in work here also suggested just getting some piping cut and fiting it in in place of the broken section. Don't know how that would work out.

Get a bit of flexible aluminium tubing and some universal clamps - that'll do the job for a few months. Won't look pretty but it should work - any half decent mechanice should be able to sort this for

[Myfeckin FTO]

Isn't it

- downpipes
- cat
- mid section
- backbox (incl pipes that stick out the back)

Manifold takes air into the engine?..........

Kev - You're probably thinking of the Intake Manifold.

The exhaust manifold would be the first stage of the exhaust -

Manifold into downpipes into Cat (or De-Cat) into Centre Section into Backbox.

[kevinod]

I don't see why it would cause any other problems... once the rest of the pipe around that part isn't rotten too of course. The sound coming from the exhaust might be a little different but that should be about it.

At the end of the day most of the exhaust is just piping to get the exhaust gases from your engine to the back of the car. There's the backbox and cat added into the mix but it's basically just piping.

[Colin C]

Get a bit of flexible aluminium tubing and some universal clamps - that'll do the job for a few months. Won't look pretty but it should work - any half decent mechanice should be able to sort this for

Sounds good. Thanks for the help guys. I'll give this a go and let you know how it works out.

[Myfeckin FTO]

......... I had thought that the exhaust was a bit on the noisy side but put it down to the HKS being a noisy exhaust. .........

Well -we know now why you felt your exhaust was so loud - http://www.fto-ireland.com/forum/phpBB2 ... php?t=3247

As previously mentioned the HKS exhaust has a very limited lifespan- I know a couple of guys down here in Limerick that could do a quick fix but thats exactly what it'd be - when the HKS rots -it really rots - you are certainly better off going down the road of replacing from the Cat back - you will just be throwing good money after bad otherwise.

I will have my present RSR exhaust (centre section and Backbox) up for sale in the near future if you have any interest in it. Not looking for very much and it could get you out of a hole.

[gtoirl]

Sounds like where my one broke a while back, I got a number of a guy from the fellas at ice tronix, his number was 085-7261957. He put the car up on a lifter, dropped the exhaust, welded it up, added a couple of strengtheners to it so it would not go again. He charged something about the £20 mark, can't remember excatly. Give him a call! He also said it would not break again after this weld job and if it did he’d fix it for free.

[Colin C]

will have my present RSR exhaust (centre section and Backbox) up for sale in the near future if you have any interest in it. Not looking for very much and it could get you out of a hole.

Give me a shout when you have your new one in and I may be interested in taking your old one off you.

Sounds like where my one broke a while back, I got a number of a guy from the fellas at ice tronix, his number was 085-7261957. He put the car up on a lifter, dropped the exhaust, welded it up, added a couple of strengtheners to it so it would not go again. He charged something about the £20 mark, can't remember excatly. Give him a call! He also said it would not break again after this weld job and if it did he’d fix it for free.

Thnx a mill. I'll give him a shout and hopefuly he can sort me out.

[Colin C]

Checked it out & I can't get it welded due to the position of the break and the condition of the metal around the break .So it looks like I'm going to have to get a complete middle section from the cat to the back box. Does anyone have any of these in reasonable condition (changed due to an exhaust upgrade maybe!), they'd be willing to part with?The guy in the exhaust place I went to said he couldn't find any spuriuss (apologies for the spelling ) parts and that a genuine Mitsi part would, at a guess probably cost near 400 quid. For not much more then that I could get a new performance system from the cat back. If it does come to that where are the best places to look? So far I've checked camskill, hostile performance & ricerocket. Sorry about all the questions but lastly, what sort of shipping charges and delivery time have people who bought from these before had?

Quote:
Sounds like where my one broke a while back, I got a number of a guy from the fellas at ice tronix, his number was 085-7261957. He put the car up on a lifter, dropped the exhaust, welded it up, added a couple of strengtheners to it so it would not go again. He charged something about the £20 mark, can't remember excatly. Give him a call! He also said it would not break again after this weld job and if it did he’d fix it for free.


Thnx a mill. I'll give him a shout and hopefuly he can sort me out.

I tried this guy but can't get an answer. His message minder is also full so it looks like that phone may now be out of useage.

[Dave]

i think everyone here can vouch for Ricerocket and Camskill, i think Ricerocket maybe a little cheaper postage wise cos i think Camskill charge that little bit more, but in saying that anything that i've ever had delivered from both has been delivered in a couple of days, 3-4 at most.

[CJ]

Colin, pm steelroe (Rory), its quite likely he has what you need, he's based in Kerry.

CJ

[Colin C]

Couldn't get a 2nd hand part so ordered my new mongoose unit including decat today . Is it easy enough to install the cat for the NCT and then switch back again?

[kevinod]

I believe so, just 2 bolts on the downpipe side, and iirc just 2 at the other end too. You probably need to have something supporting the back while you have it unbolted though, or it'll just fall on the ground at one end.

[Kace]

Couldn't get a 2nd hand part so ordered my new mongoose unit including decat today . Is it easy enough to install the cat for the NCT and then switch back again?

Simple job as long as you can get under the car.