Question About Exhaust Leak

[Mishakol129]

Hey guys. Some on here must remember I reported a strange noise under the engine. It turned out to be an exhaust leak. So here is a video of the discovery I made today after I took off the downpipe for the repair.

My question is about whether this stuff will work.

[Accrdwgnguy]

What stuff is that? Muffler putty? If so, no it will not work. get it welded or replaced.

[Mishakol129]

What stuff is that? Muffler putty? If so, no it will not work. get it welded or replaced.

Awww man, I was hoping you'd say something else.

Its not "putty" per say but sealant. I shall try this out and if it does not work then I will replace or weld.

[Losiracer2]

yeah, thats why you don't buy cheap Ebay shit. The made in china welds are not properly done and are the first things to fail along with the gasket that blows out between the header and downpipe.

The cheapest I would go is a megan racing header. I had good luck with that working out for the 4 months I had it until I upgraded to a GReddy header.

[Mishakol129]

yeah, thats why you don't buy cheap Ebay shit. The made in china welds are not properly done and are the first things to fail along with the gasket that blows out between the header and downpipe.

The cheapest I would go is a megan racing header. I had good luck with that working out for the 4 months I had it until I upgraded to a GReddy header.

The quality actually isn't that bad, someone on another forum said that its normal for aftermarket downpipe's to break like that.

This is what he said,

holmesnmanny -

You're not supposed to use that bracket with aftermarket downpipes cause they crack rather easily.

Me -

Really, then why do weld a place for the bracket to begin with? I thought you needed that bracket.

holmesnmanny-

They just put the bracket onto the pipe to make it appear stock. Normally most pipes just aren't made strong enough to support attaching the pipe bracket to the back of the block because it breaks quite easily on a strong shift.

[toycar]

Nah man, if you had quality shit it wouldn't do that.

Probably not what you are wanting to hear, but its the truth.

[Sordz]

You should have at least bent 2 pieces of metal to cover the holes then tried that filler stuff as a glue to hold the patches on. Then a clamp or two over the patches.

[Accrdwgnguy]

Oh that happened to the "ebay" header on my gf's Accord. Not enough weld holding it on. I welded the bracket back on, no issues.

Check out my ebay header rebuild : http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=180127

Sorry all I saw was a giant glob of that crud and had to say no.

[cb7rush]

Put it this way. If you buy that cheap "weld putty" crap its gona cost about 10 bucks. An exhaust shop charges about 20 too weld that. Mine was cheaper since i took it off. So you can either spend 20 or 30 bucks if you get the putty

[oyajicool]

When I installed my header bought on eBay, I noticed that mounting bracket was not lining up with the plate with two studs. So I knocked of those studs and flipped the plate so the holes would line up perfectly. Used two bolts and two nuts to secure. It was two-three years ago and it is still good.

If you stress or pre-load the metal, it will break in time due to fatigue.

[Mishakol129]

When I installed my header bought on eBay, I noticed that mounting bracket was not lining up with the plate with two studs. So I knocked of those studs and flipped the plate so the holes would line up perfectly. Used two bolts and two nuts to secure. It was two-three years ago and it is still good.

If you stress or pre-load the metal, it will break in time due to fatigue.

I didn't pre load it. Do think think it would be safe to run the car without the bracket?

[AeyJayCB7]

Whats wrong with using an a4 or a6 downpipe??. I would take it to a weld shop instead of wasting $10dollars on a temporary fix product.

[Mishakol129]

I have updates

Whats wrong with using an a4 or a6 downpipe??. I would take it to a weld shop instead of wasting $10dollars on a temporary fix product.

This is an a4 downpipe design, I think. The a1 design is only one pipe, the others are better flowing and have 2 pipes.


I just went and took the pipe to the garage shop where I live and they welded it. The guy welded it really good. Here is a video of the job he did,

Please let me know what you think:

[Mishakol129]

When I installed my header bought on eBay, I noticed that mounting bracket was not lining up with the plate with two studs. So I knocked of those studs and flipped the plate so the holes would line up perfectly. Used two bolts and two nuts to secure. It was two-three years ago and it is still good.

If you stress or pre-load the metal, it will break in time due to fatigue.

The metal is not stressed, the bracket fits just like an OEM one does. I don't need to modify it or nothing. Its just these ebay welds are very weak is why they break so easily. That's what I hear at least. The weld I received was a beast of a weld, very admirable and praiseworthy.

[oyajicool]

Since your bracket aligned well, you could say there's no pre-loading upon installation.
But it is safe to say, a bracket was under stress, let it be weight, vibration, heat and such, during normal operation.
Contrary to what you think, since your bracket had broken, it is also safe to say the stress was working against the bracket. It was more than the bracket can handle, hence it broke.

I hope your newly welded bracket is sturdy enough giving you a longer service life.

I guess my eBay bought header had goodly enough welds.