patching exhaust on a 1997 chevy 1500 truck

[ctc1111]

I wasn't sure were to post this so i put it up here. But i have a 1997 chevy pickup truck that is used as a plow tuck and utilty truck for our property management busness. And i started it up and then walked around back and noticed theres almost no exhaust comming out from the back and you can hear it leaking out from were the passanger and driver are placed. I could not see any holes or anything maybe they're ontop. The truck has a single to dual exhaust so theres one muffler but two ends at the back of the truck the muffler is not even rusted but everything else is. And its really loud inside the truck. I was wondering if i should pull the exhaust off and find the leak and patch it wtih either just a weld or a little piece of sheet metal welded over it depending on the size of it. Or if i could use one of those wide metal band clamps and just put that over it. Also i'm not sure about this since i've never done exhaust work but i was thinking also that maybe it could be a seal or gasket from the header to the exhaust because thats right in the area that i can hear it comming out of. Let me know any of your opinions on how i should go about fixing this one.

 

[chim]

I would replace whatever is leaking. The whole pipe is the same age - the present leak is probably just a month or so ahead the next one, and I sure would hate for you to take a permanent nap if the cab filled with CO when you try to keep warm this Winter.................chim

 

[txdon]

I agree with chim. CO is deadly and at the least will cause headaches.

That said, the city shop that maintains our vehicle fleet has a 110 MIG welder (flux core) that they bought especially for repairing small holes in mufflers. They clean the area with an angle grinder and filler-er-in.

 

[TonyV]

Sounds to me like you've got a leak where the exhaust hooks up to the manifold. This is not a job for amateurs! The problem is that once this joint starts to fail, the bolts that hold the flange that connects to the manifold start to severely corrode and are very difficult to remove. These bolts are only a fraction of their original thickness and will snap very easily if care is not taken. If they do snap off, you've got bigger problems, as the exhaust manifold(s) will then have to be removed and possibly even replaced. I had this same problem on a 93 Chevy 1500 a few years ago. Fortunately, the guy at the exhaust shop was able to get the bolts out...but they warned me ahead of time...no gaurantees. The guy worked for over an hour, heating with a torch and taking care to apply a little torque to the bolts until they finally all came out...whew!! This truck also originally had the two tailpipes coming off of one muffler. I changed that over to a single 3" pipe instead...better breathability and fewer parts. I don't know what Chevy was thinking on that one. Take the advice of the others that have posted and let a muffler shop handle this one.

...Tony

 

[Jagmandave]

Yeah, replace it all, your life is worth more than a few exhaust parts. also, most of the new stuff is made out of better material, it will last as long or longer than the old truck will. And muffler work is no fun, expecially if you don't have a lift and a torch to get the old stuff off. Take it to ye olde muffler shop and let 'em have at it...

 

[Highbeam]

I have your truck but one year newer. Same vortec engine with dual everything right to the muffler and then a single tailpipe. 4 O2 sensors and two cats.

The entire OEM exhaust is made out of stainless steel and the gasket at the ends of the exhaust manifolds are a 3 bolt flange style that is pretty prone to blow out.

If you aren't even feeling much flow at the tailpipe then something major has come apart. Take it in and let the pros fix it right. It is not worth the time.

I love to hear about a gov't shop that spends an hour to weld a rusted out muffler together to get a few more miles out of it. That guy's shop rate is probably better than 65 bucks per hour and his work will be worthless when it blows out a few months later.

 

[ctc1111]

what if i just bought a new stainless steel exhaust system and replaced it myself.

 

[TonyV]

Even if you replace the entire exhaust system yourself, your still going to have to deal with the bolts on the flange that connects it to the exhaust manifold. As I mentioned earlier, this is risky business. If you break one of the bolts....remember they'll be badly corroded especially if this is where the leak is....then you'll be dealing with having to try and get the bolt end out of the manifold. This is not an easy task and would require removal of the manifold from the engine, cuz your not just gonna drill these out with a hand drill!! If your determined to do this on your own, then at least start with these bolts and see if you think you can break them loose without snapping them. Perhaps you'll luck out with it.

Another thing that you may find is that you can't buy a complete exhaust system for cheaper than the corner muffler shop could install one. They of course deal in quantities and perhaps even bend a lot of there own pipes. I know this was the case the last time I considered installing my own exhaust system, but that was many years ago.

...Tony

 

[Highbeam]

I have bought and installed the "cat-back" exhaust systems with good success. Forward of the cats things become more difficult and expensive. The cats are welded in place and the pipe is bent and welded to be nearly impossible to remove without cutting it into pieces.

Get a free quote for repair from your corner muffler shop. The whole deal including installation will be much cheaper than that OEM stainless replacement system.