Date:         Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:10:40 -0700
Reply-To:     Evan Mac Donald <vanagon_dad@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Evan Mac Donald <vanagon_dad@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Re: Stubborn Exhaust leak
In-Reply-To:  <E7BCD6CC-1492-4D93-9FFD-E7EB0ADEC72E@xochi.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

Being a stubborn Scotsman, and very good with a wrench, I have never let anybody else touch my Beastie. My costs have all been for materials / parts. The last complete system I installed was only the three head-pipes, and an after-market muffler I welded suitable mating flanges to. That cost was $475 US. I have heard of folks walking out of muffler/mechanic shops with bills of more than $1200 US for a new system on their van. And that is not the "high-end" of the parts or the costs!

Michael Diehr <md03@XOCHI.COM> wrote:  Thanks for all the help -- after doing the RTV sandwich trick, it was
better but I can still hear and feel leaking, and I think it's in more
than one location. Looking more closely reveals that pretty much all
the exhaust gaskets everywhere are not much more than rust held
together by bolt pressure.

I notice that bus depot has a $379 special for a complete stock
exhaust system. I'm very temped to order that and stop messing
around with patches & fixes.

Any thoughts on the quality of the BD system? Is the cat in that OK
(I remember a prior thread where folks said that most aftermarket cats
are not high quality).

If I just take it to my mechanic and say "fix it" any idea what the
retail cost of a new exhaust system would be?



> 85 vanagon with exhaust leak at the junction between the two header
> pipes and the collector pipe (part #G on this picture: http://www.bus-boys.com/vanwasser83-91.html
> ) I removed the parts, sanded off the remains of the gaskets,
> installed new gaskets, bolted it back together and... it leaks just as
> bad as before. Took it apart again -- The collector pipe (G) seems
> ok, but the ends of the header pipes are pretty rusted, and I can see
> how it may be difficult for the gasket to seal. Tried some high-
> temperature metal gunk to fill in the gaps, then reassembled but
> didn't really seem to help :(. FYI, I put the metal side of the
> gasket towards the collector as that seemed the most logical and
> seemed to match the prior parts, though Bentley was not clear on that
> topic.
>
> I'm tempted to take it to my local mechanic, hat in hand, and say
> "make it work!" but I haven't entirely lost faith yet. Is the
> solution new header pipes? A MIG welder? :)