The flange rotted off the rear catalyst pipe, where the spring-loaded bolts are. thanks to subaru360 for diagnosis and suggested repair! I used a flange repair kit 1 3/4inch [autozone's smallest], shimmed to fit the 1 1/2inch [?] pipe and a subaru doughnut gasket. I replaced the springs and torqued them to be partially compressed. Although quieter than before repair, there's still some drumming.

 

took a look with motor running; repair not gas-tight so torqued the bolts snugntite, much better, but now springs are fully compressed and no flexing likely! Hope the next-weakest connections [~170K, looking pretty sad] don't break, in the now rigid system!

 

thanks for any advice/warning!

 

John

Edited February 10, 200917 yr by johnc
first post had inaccurate facts! sorry.

bump

iirc, someone posted he discarded the springs altogether.

 

on mine, the threads that stuck out beyond the nut rusted away, so there wasn't enough to start the nut on to the bolt. i needed one bolt and used one threaded all the way, no stop point. i torqued it almost all the way to fully compressed. it seems to be working.

 

i used to take my 90 nissan pickup in every 2 or 3 years for exhaust work. they'd cut out bad part and make a piece just the right size. that's probably the best solution. in those days it was 40 - 60$.