Intermediate Exhaust Repair

Hey Friends,

 

First time over here. I have owned my '97 Legacy Outback (2.5L manual transmission) for almost 2 years now and it has been INCREDIBLE with almost no head aches; however, the pipe in the intermediate exhaust has split in the front right at the connection point (please see image).

 

I would LIKE to do the job myself. I have worked on cars for years but never exhaust related issues. In fact, I've never owned a car that had any exhaust issues until now.

 

Question is,

- How hard is the job?

- Any welding required?

- Jack stands on all for corners on the car or just on the front?

- Can I reuse the hardware or do I need to purchase the gasket and spring kit as well?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

- Warmly,

novice

you can get a exhaust adapter and clamp it down, but its not going to be tightest, gasket repair might help. welding is not great too, looking by the rust, the welds will probably melt through.

The gasket donut gets very rusty and brittle and isn't very expensive. The springs don't wear out but the bolts will rust solid and can break in my experience. Replacement is your best option.

If you can find a good exhaust shop they can usually fix stuff like that pretty cheap. I like to diy my stuff but i don't weld or bend, so I save myself the time on exhaust work.

Welcome to the forum.

 

You may be able to pickup an entire replacement pipe, and joint/gasket/hardware at your local pick-it yard. Then it's just a matter of undoing (more likely cutting) the old bolts, and bolting the replacement setup in place.

 

GLWY DIY effort.

A new pipe from flange to flange is probably about $100 at Advance Autoparts. The gaskets are about $5 each. The installation would be bolt on but expect to buy new bolts, washers, lockwashers, and nuts. You can probably get away with using the stock springs and all flex related hardware. I'd suggest grade 5 stainless steel. Expect to spend another $8 on hardware (5 bolts, 10 flat washers, 5 lock washers, 10 nuts). Double up on nuts. OEM nuts are a lot heavier than the ones you're going to buy to replace them, and the three bolts on the front flange are going to be pretty small diameter. All the bolts and hardware you need will be cheapest at a local hardware store or NAPA.

 

EDIT: Just realized this isn't a first gen, so I'm not sure how the flex section is on the Outback. Most of the post above still holds true, but you might not need as many bolts as the front flange may only have 2 OEM bolts instead of 3.

Job done. All is well. Thanks for ALL your help.

What did you end up doing for the repair?