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Y Pipe is really Loose! 98 OBW


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I was working on my 98 OBW (w AT) , the Oxygen sensors (all this is in a separate thread) I happened to notice my Y- Pipes are really really loose. Not good. and there is no clamps left on anything!

 

I was going to try getting 4 hose clamps (maybe stainless) and trying that, but i was looking for advice from anyone who has dealt with this before. I started pricing replacement parts because it looks like from the down piece on the exhaust manifold to the connection to the front Cat is really shaky. all of a sudden the costs are adding up into the hundreds. HELP!

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If the heat sheilds are loose, then just find a board member or an exhaust shop in your area to tack weld them in a few places to quiet them down. That's not untypical of these exhaust's - it's much cheaper to repair them than to replace them. If the heat sheilds are rotted out then you can just remove them - try to save the one over the cat as it protects the passenger side inner axle boot.

 

GD

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No sorry I didn't explain myself well enough. Here is a diagram.

FRONTPIPE.jpg

 

  • You have the piece that bolts onto the exhaust manifolds. Amazingly those pieces look great and the exhaust manifold bolts even look good. I don't think that needs replacing.
  • Part D is the issue. Both the pipes there are loose. (there is no shield or cover) and they merge into the Y piece. I think this piece is around $200.
  • The Y piece goes into the Catalytic Converter. The is going to be a bear because nuts are completely rusted here. (BTW i did take note that the front Oxygen sensor is at the front tip of the first Catalytic Converter.)

I am trying to keep this running, but don't want to dump a ton of money into it because the car has like 175,000 miles on it.

 

Question? : Is the Catalytic Converter come in one piece or two? In other words is part C just a single piece?

 

 

this is from a 95 but pretty close thanks to the other thread listed below:

 

y_pipe_break-full.jpg

Edited by JGromada
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The actual Y pipe is a rare failure. The rusty part (inner part) is the actual exhaust. The non-rusty pieces are the heat shields and expendable.

 

 

Look for a used one.

 

I have some and am heading that way weekly - maybe 2 hours from you.

 

I usually get 50 bucks for them (single or dual port) and have several of each I believe still in the rafters. They are a bit of a pain to ship.

 

All used ones will have some heat shield issues as already explained.

 

Dave

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I think something is amiss in your description. You mention a loose/shaky exhaust but no leaks? How can those front exhaust pipes be so shaky but are not leaking, something isn't adding up? That's why everyone is saying this is probably heat shields.

 

If it's the heat shields, ignore them, they're not worth messing with. Rip them off and throw them away if they're beyond repair.

 

Either way - this is really simple - just replace it. Used ones are everywhere. Buying new y pipes is pointless, I'd never do that on this car. Sounds like Dave has you covered with that.

 

As for part C - those can be both I think. I think some (older ones?) are one piece and newer ones are two piece - but the parts are interchangeable still if you keep the "2 piece units" together. I could be wrong on this though.

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I still am not totally clear on your explanation - if you are saying that the pipe is cracked and thus "loose" at the red dotted line you drew then just weld it - I've had several like that and a good solid weld fixes them right up. I've done EA81's and EJ22's alike - they often crack at one of the junctions between the y-pipe and the cat. Poor weld quality of brittle welds due to the stainless cat housing.

 

GD

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Sorry everyone I am trying to explain but not doing a good job I guess. Here is a picture. (they say a picture is worth a thousand words)

 

ypipe.jpg

 

You see where that hose clamp is (it is actually rusted off now), On the other end you have the output of the exhaust manifold. That whole pipe is really loose , I can literally turn it like 15 degrees in either direction. the other side is the same. So i suppose because of the looseness there is an exhaust leak right here, and probably a threat of carbon monoxide as well i suppose. Any suggestions?

 

Is that actually a heat shield i am looking at up front? Not post cat!

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Good news - looks like a zero dollar repair to me.

 

Your exhaust pipe is not rotating 15 degrees, you would have been posting a thread about a VERY loud exhaust leak.

 

By the picture looks to me like your heat shields, like all of us are saying, are loose. That hose clamp is not supposed to be there and was someone's attempt in the past to quiet the heat shields. They need to be screwed or welded into place. Clamps are temporary, I'd avoid doing that. Or remove the heat shields altogether, which I've done on quiet a few of my vehicles.

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Good news - looks like a zero dollar repair to me.

 

Your exhaust pipe is not rotating 15 degrees, you would have been posting a thread about a VERY loud exhaust leak.

 

By the picture looks to me like your heat shields, like all of us are saying, are loose. That hose clamp is not supposed to be there and was someone's attempt in the past to quiet the heat shields. They need to be screwed or welded into place. Clamps are temporary, I'd avoid doing that. Or remove the heat shields altogether, which I've done on quiet a few of my vehicles.

 

Fantastic!! so it is just a heat shield? this is such good news! actually i dont think it is a problem , just hear a little bit of rattling

 

(hey i love this board, everyone has helped me so much)

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yep, they just get noisy and annoying but are completely benign. I rip them off. But that causes catastrophic issues and you should never do it because things burn and die and blow up (disclaimer for all the anal people out there).

 

Yep. Rip them off (and they are a little tougher than yoiu'd think to get off).

 

Disclaimers for the non practical types with apparently deep pockets.

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yep, they just get noisy and annoying but are completely benign. I rip them off. But that causes catastrophic issues and you should never do it because things burn and die and blow up (disclaimer for all the anal people out there).
hey you just gave me my day back! i was going to the muffler shop today and now I'm not. I do have a small hole in the middle of the exhaust pipe, but I was planning on just doing a patch job on that.
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  • 6 years later...

As far as heat shields go, by all means; "try to save the one over the cat as it protects the passenger side inner axle boot.", GeneralDisorder said that and he is right! I had my passenger downpipe to cat rewelded at the cat to repair a leak and the tech removed the shields, leaving them off because of clearance difficulties made it too hard for him putting them back on. I now have a split inner passenger boot. Any one know where replacement shields may be found? I am guessing heatwrap because of the hassle with salvage yard shields.
 

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As far as heat shields go, by all means; "try to save the one over the cat as it protects the passenger side inner axle boot.", GeneralDisorder said that and he is right! I had my passenger downpipe to cat rewelded at the cat to repair a leak and the tech removed the shields, leaving them off because of clearance difficulties made it too hard for him putting them back on. I now have a split inner passenger boot. Any one know where replacement shields may be found? I am guessing heatwrap because of the hassle with salvage yard shields.

 

 

www.car-part.com or local yards. they won't separate with the converters often times (might even be illlegal), need a small shop you can deal with. 

some shops you might get away with stopping by, they wont' likely tell you over the phone...

i've bought exhaust components from out west before - they can be in great condition used beacuse of the less harsh winter treatments used in some places out there. 

so ask around, shops, pull it yourself yards, craigslist, post in the parts wanted forum here and subaruoutback.org or other high volume forums, local subaru forums?

 

i would just install Subaru OEM boots and forget about the heat shields. or do a quick search for a heat shield and forget about it if i get nowhere - OEM boots should last a few years, not worth dealing with a heat shield debacle

 

it's unlikely heat "caused" it alone. maybe it caused the boot to break in 2 months instead of 4 months.  it was going to break at some point anyway because 20 year old high mileage CV boots are consumable maintenance items. 

 

install new OEM boots and if you can wrap it there with some kind of ceramic exhaust tape - awesome.  otherwise i'd just ignore it.  I ran my 260,000 mile current OBW for 100,000+ miles without heat shields and had no significant boot issues for 100,000.  maybe I would have replaced the PS inner boot once, instead of twice, but at 250,000 miles i'm going to replace boots and those were aftermarket boots which don't last long on any lifted OBW/Subaru.  

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