Troubleshooting Gutless Dodge 2500

Knight9 · May 15, 2011

orezok said:
Rockauto.com

Direct fit with Y pipe $192

Only problem is that it's over $200 to do "international economy" shipping to my postal code in Canada! :laughing:

Knight9 · May 15, 2011

B7510HSD said:
I would be spraying down all the bolts and or nuts now with a penatrating spray of some kind before you start this job it may help them come loose easier! :thumbsup:

For sure! I have some Liquid Wrench that I used on the O2 sensor nut. Seemed to work pretty well. Failing that, can a guy use impact gear on this stuff? I have a full set for it if I can get the wrench in there. Probably too tight.

tractorboy5500 · May 15, 2011

PB-Blaster works good too.:thumbsup:

RobertN · May 15, 2011

I have found:

- the easier it is to get to a nut/bolt with my impact sockets/gun, the less likely it is to break and require drilling, tapping, or complete replacement
- The harder it is to reach my impact gun and sockets in to the more likely it is to break things that are hard to drill, tap, bandage...

Otherwise, I love my impact gun and sockets

Knight9 said:
For sure! I have some Liquid Wrench that I used on the O2 sensor nut. Seemed to work pretty well. Failing that, can a guy use impact gear on this stuff? I have a full set for it if I can get the wrench in there. Probably too tight.

Diamondpilot · May 15, 2011

MikePA said:
Amen. I replaced the outlet pipes on a vehicle a lot newer than the OPs. 4 bolts, how hard can it be? I sprayed the bolts the night before and used an impact gun. Added heat. The bolts would not budge. The local muffler shop had to use a cutting torch to get the 2 joints apart. They also had the gaskets needed. Charged $60. Worth every penny.

On my 1st and 3rd car I replaced the exhaust myself. This is back in the days when you went to the parts store and got everything pre-bent. Took me 6 hours on the first and it always leaked. Cost about $100 back then for everything. On car #2 I had it replaced at Midas for $125. Then I got stupid on car #3 and thought I would do it myself. Again, all day and never was quite rite. I also decided to replace the shocks on that one. Got the shocks for about $60 and replace the rears in 10 minutes. The fronts took 10 hours, a few trips to the store, ect. Never again. If I would have had a torch and not trying to do it after work I would have gotten them off in 10 minutes each also. Just out of curiosity I went back to the same Midas and they would have done them for something like $30 more than I paid for the parts.

Live and learn.

Chris

dodge man · May 15, 2011

Pretty clean looking truck, good luck getting it fixed. It sounds like you are getting lots of good advice. I've done exhaust work and had it go easy, and also had problems. If the system isn't in that good of shape, its usually easiest to get the entire thing fixed.

Knight9 · May 18, 2011

Quick update. I took the advice and did some phoning to see what local muffler shops would charge to replace the catalytic converter. A couple of them will do it for $320-340 by welding in a universal cat.

Since the direct connect OEM type was $350 for me to purchase plus I'd have to deal with actually putting it in...I'm leaning towards that route.

Any reason why a universal (Magnaflow) shouldn't be put in?

Thanks.

wmonroe · May 18, 2011

As long as the rest of the pipes are in good shape i think that would be a good option. you don't want them welding to pipe that is going to rust off in a month.