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[o The Drizzle o]

Well... I was driving to the store today to get some iced tea, i have a 99 grand am se... i hear a big thump then it sounded like there was a damn monster truck by me. I pull off the road (luckily it was a neighborhood street) i knew it was the exhaust... got out checked under the car, sure enough the exhaust became disconnected from the engine on the rear end of the block (or side since its a 4 banger?). luckily i was only about a quarter mile down the road so i drove back with the fourways on keeping it around 1000rpm...  still sounded like a monster truck. now though... i dont know how to put it back on. it became disconnected right above the flex pipe part where it connects into the engine, i dont know if the flange (right name of it?) came loose of the welds cause the piece the pipe connects to is bolted to the engine with 4 bolts and has comes off... does it just need welded on? any ideas people?  

[_GhOsT_]

take it to a muffler place
alot of places will reattach for you for not a whole lot

[twistedsymphony]

if it fell off something rusted to crap or something broke... either way unless you know how to weld or have to tools to extract studs you're not going to be able to fix it yourself.

take it to a shop that makes custom exhausts they'll fix it for cheap

taking it to a normal mechanic/dealership they'll likely just want you to buy a whole new exhaust through them.

Custom exhaust shops are great, i've had complete exhaust systems built and installed  for well under $300... and I've had broken exhausts repaired for less than $30.

a new exhaust from the manufacturer will cost you well over $400 and honestly, it's not a good.

[o The Drizzle o]

the studs didnt break... that piece was still connected to the engine and came off after i took the 4 bolts out. now im left with that piece, and the pipe. does the piece that bolts to the engine just need welded back to the pipe?

[twistedsymphony]

the part that attaches directly to the motor is call the header

you should not have removed it because now you'll have to clean and prep that area of the motor, replace the gasket and in the mean time you risk damanging the internal parts to your engine (since it's pretty much a window directly into your valve train and possible the combustion chamber)

when I was working on my motor I place masking tape over these holes for this very reason.


it probably doesn't attach with studs.. most likely just bolts

however pieces down stream from that DO likely attach with studs where two pieces of pipe connect together.

every exhaust is slightly different and me not knowing much about the Grand Am I can't comment on what what they placed after the header.

you can weld it together if you like, since you have both pieces, you tell me does it look like it was a flanged connector that separated or was it a length of pipe that snapped in half?


you might not even be able to weld it if the metal is too weak, in which case that section would have to be rebuilt using new pipe.

ether way it needs to be done (or at least started) ON the car to ensure that the alignment is correct.

EDIT:
this might help you determine what part actually broke
http://newgmparts.com/partlocator/index.cf...playCatalogid=0

This post has been edited by twistedsymphony: Jun 23 2009, 07:06 PM

[o The Drizzle o]

well my dad came and looked at it tonight, turns out the pipe came loose from the flange is what i remember him saying, in the part diagram its part #7... at the end it goings into the piece that bolts and the weld just came loose and it dropped out. so, to fix it i need to get the whole pipe and converter off, which is a pain in the ass. where part 7 bolts to 8 there are 3 bolts... but they are rusted to hell and back. rusted solid. i was able to get one off, vice grips didnt work, nothing did. ended up saw at the bolt, go most of the way through, then locked on with vice grips and snapped the head off. gonna drill it out. tomorrow night my dad is coming back and is bringing his small air compressor and air chisel to get them all off and stop by napa to see if they have the piece in stock to just replace it. ill let ya know how it goes

[twistedsymphony]

in the future here is a tip for removing stuck bolts like this

take a torch and heat up the flange around the bolt, as well as the bolt head

take a candle and rub it in to the threads as best you can

the heat will wick the wax into the threads between the flange and the bolt

let it cool for a moment but while it's still warm try to turn the bolt out...

it should turn much easier  

[o The Drizzle o]

there was no even getting to the threads ha, it was rusted that bad. damn pa winter roads.
checked around, cant buy the part anywhere, so my dad is gonna take it apart and weld it back on then put it all back together

[o The Drizzle o]

got the bolts off, i got one off with vice grips a hacksaw and a file... my dad got one off with a cutoff wheel and the third off with an air chisel. got the piece out, luckily it can be welded and the two pieces had a groove where they lined up perfectly so it didnt even need to be in the car to get lined up. should have it back tomorrow, just gotta drill the old ones out and go from there

[twistedsymphony]

sweet, glad it worked out for you  

[o The Drizzle o]

all fixed now, doesnt sound like a damn nascar anymore ha. got welded back together, took a wirebrush to the ends of everything, put on new gaskets and never seize on all the bolts, tightened it all up and it sounds normal again. even took away a leak that made it sound like it had a turbo spooling up ha