exhaust leak will not go away... advice??

[REDFIRE03SVT]

I've had an exhaust leak ever since I put my MRT catted H pipe on and it is driving me crazy... It is on the drivers side where the H connects to the exhaust manifold... I've used an impact to tighten the heck out of it and it still leaks... I took it to Midas and they took the whole H pipe off the car, lined it up, pounded it all the way on and really nailed it on with an impact. That made it somewhat better but now its pretty bad. The gasket is still good. Anyone have any advice on what to do? Is there any kind of spacer or anything else i could do to stop this darn leak?? I'm probably going to jack it up and work on it in a couple hours cause its really eating at me....:nonono:
thanks

 

[Redneckbmxer24]

you can get a donut gasket, and try that, dont know where to tell you to get it though.

with these type of flanges, it is very important to have each side tightened evenly. theres a good chances its not tightened evenly, and is causing the leak.

where in VA are you? i could probably take a look at it, and maybe fix it for you.

 

[scarface1]

I have the same exact problem with my H... I cant get the thing to stop leaking no matter what I do.

 

[RocMach1]

Feel your aggrivation. Same prob with my mid pipe. Been leaking ever since I put it on. Tried taking it off a few times and evenly tightening it but it still leaks...thinking of trying to find some kind of high temp adhesive and maybe putting some of that on the connection and tightening it to see if that can fill any of the gaps and stop the damn leak.

 

[EVILNSS]

HiTemp RTV and just put it around where it connect to the headers, bolt her up and call it a day...

 

[REDFIRE03SVT]

I'm in Arlington.
Do you think ford would have one of those donut gaskets???
It is hard to get it lined up evenly lying on your back in the driveway ya know hah..
its nice to hear im not the only one who cant get their midpipe to stop leaking..

with the HiTemp RTV, could I find that at Advance Auto? is there any technique to it or just lather it on there and bolt it up??

 

[TRBO VNM]

HiTemp RTV and just put it around where it connect to the headers, bolt her up and call it a day...

doesn't always work. I just took off longtubes from a Mach 1 because the guy was so sick of it leaking. the place that installed them put hi temp rtv on the heads, then between the gasket and header. still leaked.

for this situation, the midpipe could have been manufactured incorrectly, but it is hard to say without looking at it. if the gasket has already been on and compressed, I would not say it is ok. I replace that gasket between the midpipe and manifold every time it is removed. I keep them in stock.

since the gasket has a certain thickness to be compressed, it is possible that the piping on the midpipe and flange may not have been assembled correctly and it may still have a gap even after tighting the hell out of it. it doesn't take much.

 

[REDFIRE03SVT]

anyone wanna trade midpipes??
so im pretty much out of luck with this leak if the RTV doesnt work???
anyone know where to get one of those donuts?
its not off by much at all but i guess thats the way it is with all exhaust leaks

 

[scarface1]

I tried the rtv myself last weekend.. It did NOT work.

 

[REDFIRE03SVT]

http://www.need-4-speed.com/bassani.htm

number 8?

 

[RossA81]

Not sure if its the same case on cobra's, but the studs on GT's and on my mach have "shoulders" that prevent the flange from getting tightened up enough to seal well. Replacing the studs with ones that do not have shoulders will really let ya tighten it up.

Ross

 

[wheelhopper]

I didn't realize there was gaskets between the midpipe and manifold. I thought it was a compression fitting like the rest of the exhaust and tightening them evenly on the manifold would help seal it.

I paid an exhaust shop $60 to install mine. Having the car on a lift, the right tools, and some experience was worth it to me.

 

[BlackSunshine13]

What we got to work was to double the exhaust gaskets up with some HI-Temp RTV in between. I kept blowing the gaskets out with in a couple miles. Its worked for 5 months now so I am keeping my fingers crossed. Those things were getting expensive.

 

[IronTerp]

Not sure if its the same case on cobra's, but the studs on GT's and on my mach have "shoulders" that prevent the flange from getting tightened up enough to seal well. Replacing the studs with ones that do not have shoulders will really let ya tighten it up.

Ross

Beat me to it Ross....And on your first post. The most common cause of the driver's side leaking is due to the factory screw in stud backing out, thus preventing the mid-pipe flange from forming a tight seal. No manner of impact gun will fix this......Gotta take the Mid-pipe off and screw the stud in all the way.

Now, the passenger side is a different deal....That dangum factory donut can be a PIA and will break in a New York minute if a little brittle from age or misused. Next time I order something from Steve, I'm going to get about 5 of em! (unless I go to long tubes..... ;-) )

 

[sunburned]

Get longtubes

 

[Evil Bender]

I bought a piece of copper flashing for roofing from Lowes ,cut it to fit and that did the job for me. Also put a couple washers on the stud to get past the shoulder problem.

 

[scarface1]

there is no gasket on the driver side, and thats his (and mine) problem. I dont have studs at all in mine.... Damn this leak.

 

[FHATTCATT]

http://www.need-4-speed.com/bassani.htm

number 8?

+1!!!

From experience. Had the dreaded leak after putting a catted 2.5" h-pipe on. Billy (Wiseguy) told me to contact Bassani for this insert that he believed they carried. Bassani said they had the part- but that I had to go through a dealer. I called around and JPC in Glen Burnout, Maryland (Glen Burnie for those who don't know the area....) was willing to order it for me. Less than a week later Billy dropped the pipe, put the piece in-between the header and h-pipe, and no more leak.

I believe that this is the part-

DS 2V/4V X-Pipe "Donut" Spacer(Drivers Manifold To X-Pipe Flange)(8) $19.99

I think I paid about $20 including shipping.

EDIT: I thought that this would increase the likelihood of more leaking due to there being an additional place where there is a seal- between the header to the insert, and then the insert to the h-pipe, where before it was just header to h-pipe... but it sealed perfectly.

 

[Derek@Amazon]

best solution for this is it truely is the studs is to pull them off and throw them in the trash. replace with a stainless bolt.

while RTV works the EGT's will burn it up with the quickness.

 

[ReVviNg HiGh]

Mine is leaking too i think. I have a slight clicking noise coming from under the car and has been there ever since i swapped my midpipe out.