LosDiosDeVerde86 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 99 LGT Limited - 50k Miles - Sedan - Auto So, my exhaust broke. What do i mean by 'broke'? well, the middle of the mid-pipe (specifically the resonator) complete broke off. My problem is that I don't know what I need to replace. I could definitely use some assistance. Please check out the exhaust diagram (i made) below. Figure A: What my car originally had Figure B: The greyed out dashed line is what broke off Figure C: The FSM diagram Notice Figure A has 3 cats, and Figure C has 2 cats. Can someone shed some light on this? (yes i'm sure mine has 3 cats, yes i'm sure i'm looking at the correct manual) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebugs Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 That's wild. Usually they come apart before the resignator and usually at the flange before the cat before the resignator. I've seen those 3rd cats before as well always on 99's. Must not be anything in them. When cats were worth something those still weren't. Also both O2 sensors are before that third cat. I have some used resignators here. I very rarely need one. I just happen to have 3 complete exhausts here. Don't know if it would be worth buying a used one and having it shipped. Can't be as expensive as a cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebugs Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Hey - due to emissions standards and such a lot of exhaust stuff is mandatorily covered longer than you'd think. Might be worth a call to the dealer. It's not a cat so I don't know what they may be able to do for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosDiosDeVerde86 Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Hey - due to emissions standards and such a lot of exhaust stuff is mandatorily covered longer than you'd think. Might be worth a call to the dealer. It's not a cat so I don't know what they may be able to do for sure. Thanks for the quick reply. What did you mean by "exhaust stuff is mandatorily covered longer than you'd think" (btw, embarrassing that I apparently made a permanent typo in my diagram) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 You don't need the resonator. Replace it with a solid section of pipe. Just weld in a section to replace it - no need to go and buy expensive exhaust sections from the dealer for a 10 year old car. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosDiosDeVerde86 Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 (edited) You don't need the resonator. Replace it with a solid section of pipe. Just weld in a section to replace it - no need to go and buy expensive exhaust sections from the dealer for a 10 year old car. GD that would work great, but the pipe actually broke inside the extra cat, so there's not really any place to weld to on the engine side. on the other hand, there's pleanty of space on the tail end. Edited July 7, 2009 by LosDiosDeVerde86 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 So lose the extra cat, and have someone with a bender put a slight bend in the replacement pipe. Cut the flange off the old cat and go with a straight section for that whole mess. If you want a cat - buy a $50 generic unit off ebay and add that to the mix. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosDiosDeVerde86 Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 So lose the extra cat, and have someone with a bender put a slight bend in the replacement pipe. Cut the flange off the old cat and go with a straight section for that whole mess. If you want a cat - buy a $50 generic unit off ebay and add that to the mix. GD hell no, i'm all about losing the cat. straight pipe'll do it. NOW, my last concern is how badly the flange between the tail pipe and midpipe are rusted together :-\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 You can always just cut off the bolt heads and replace them. The flange will seperate without the bolts holding it. I've had to do that even here in the PNW. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I just had the same problem on my Leggie 98 OBW. Mine broke at the same spot, right at the resonator. Only thing holding the pipe together was the shroud. As mentioned earlier to this thread, it is just easier and less costly to go to a muffler shop that cuts and welds in replacement pipe. Cost me about $65 total. I can't hear any difference in exhaust noise level with the straight pipe replacing the resonator. Don't let some muffler shop talk you into a complete new muffler system. Cost would be astronomical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdjdc Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 If you go to a muffler shop, be sure to cut that CAT off before you go. They absolutely will not remove it and put in a strait pipe. If you bring it to them already cut off and tell them you prepped it for them, then they may weld in a piece of pipe for you. They won't cut out the CAT due to regulations that prevent them from doing so. I had a 99 outback and now a 99 forester and neither of them has the third CAT so I'm sure it is totally unnecessary. You could also buy some flex pipe and use clamps to replace the section of pipe you are removing. Easy to do right under the car without removing the pipes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 If you go to a muffler shop, be sure to cut that CAT off before you go. They absolutely will not remove it and put in a strait pipe. If you bring it to them already cut off and tell them you prepped it for them, then they may weld in a piece of pipe for you. They won't cut out the CAT due to regulations that prevent them from doing so. I had a 99 outback and now a 99 forester and neither of them has the third CAT so I'm sure it is totally unnecessary. You could also buy some flex pipe and use clamps to replace the section of pipe you are removing. Easy to do right under the car without removing the pipes. If you look at the exhaust system diagram as first post, it is the resonator, not the cat that is the problem. A muffler shop will not have a problem of replacing the resonator with a piece of straight pipe. Yes, you are right, if it had been a cat, then the shop will not replace the cat with straight pipe. If caught doing that, the repair shop can get hit with a major fine of thousands of dollars by the EPA. A friend of mine who was in the muffler shop biz even got fined for misstakenly replacing a cat with a wrong cat. Don't even think about messing with the EPA at a shop level, they are nasty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdjdc Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 In his post he stated that the pipe broke off in the CAT, so there is nothing to weld to. He will need to replace the cat if he goes to a shop without cutting it off. I would be the one to do the modification before going to the shop If you look at the exhaust system diagram as first post, it is the resonator, not the cat that is the problem. A muffler shop will not have a problem of replacing the resonator with a piece of straight pipe. Yes, you are right, if it had been a cat, then the shop will not replace the cat with straight pipe. If caught doing that, the repair shop can get hit with a major fine of thousands of dollars by the EPA. A friend of mine who was in the muffler shop biz even got fined for misstakenly replacing a cat with a wrong cat. Don't even think about messing with the EPA at a shop level, they are nasty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 (edited) You can just bring them a pipe (cut long) and tell them you need it bent at an angle of X degrees. Then you trim either end and weld the sucker on or have a friend with a welder do it. Exhaust is just tubing - no more, no less. It's not rocket science to replace a bad section of pipe. Screw all the exhaust shops. I would rather do it myself - they charge WAY too much for what they do. And have you seen a lot of these guy's idea of a weld?!? My grandmother could run a bead better from her power chair. GD Edited July 8, 2009 by GeneralDisorder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosDiosDeVerde86 Posted July 12, 2009 Author Share Posted July 12, 2009 In his post he stated that the pipe broke off in the CAT, so there is nothing to weld to. He will need to replace the cat if he goes to a shop without cutting it off. I would be the one to do the modification before going to the shop let me clarify. there's no pipe on the south end of the third cat, it broke off right at the weld, but there's about 7" of pipe after the cat before the connection, so i can cut off the cat and still have about 7" to play with. i'm going to try to temporarily fix it today with a piece of flex pipe until i can take it back to my old garage in pittsburgh and have it replaced properly. i'm just going to get a straight pipe for the permanent fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 I've seen a number of Subaru exhaust failures directly on weld seams like that. I have just clamped them back together on the bench and welded right through the old weld to repair them. I've had header's snap off on both EA81 and EJ22 stock exhausts. In both cases I simply rewelded them at the failure point and have not had an issue. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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