Potential exhaust leak?

[MaximusGradient]

So I've noticed what I think is an exhaust leak in my 2000 Legacy. Under moderate/heavy throttle I can hear a low rumbling from under the car, but it's not present when idling or just generally driving in the city/highway (I need to really romp on the gas, like when passing somebody on a two lane road).

 

The heat shield was loose behind the "Y" so I put a hose clamp there as a temporary fix, but it worked itself loose and has been buzzing for a few weeks now. Could the heat shield buzzing against the pipe conceivably cause an exhaust leak? I haven't had time to crawl under the car, so I'm still in the brainstorming phase right now...any thought would be appreciated!

[xrturbo]

You aren't going to really know untill you get under the car. Generally I have found the best way to check leaks is to have someone ball up a rag and hold it over the tailpipe while the engine is running while the other person checks for leaks.

[porcupine73]

One place to look is at the exhaust gasket donut after the rear cat before the resonator. Those can rust out and start leaking. If that's it, you can get a Subaru kit to fix it that includes the donut gasket, bolts, nuts, and springs (as all those will be fairly rusty too, and the bolts will probably snap when you try to remove the nuts).

 

Some pics from my job for this on '00obw:

[Reveeen]

BTW: If the Subaru bolts, nuts, and springs are too pricey (I have no idea) you can sub in the stuff from a front wheel drive Dodge (manifold to exhaust pipe), those kits are available anywhere (and cost about 4 bucks). I would go OEM Subaru on the donut.

[avk]

Just want to add that on my '95 Impreza, the flange on the converter side

rusted off and I had to replace it with a split flange (of laminated type).

The whole joint was held together by rust, because the donut is reinforsed with

a wire mesh, so there was some serious rust sandwich there.

[Turboduck]

On relatively new cars, most of the time is the gasket. On old cars .. it can be anywhere. Still, it's a two person job. Or, 1 person + 1 Heavy Brick Good luck