Exhaust downpipe woes

[TrentSC 0]

[1992 2.0l 16valve 9A]

 

The join between the downpipe and the cat seems to have rotted (it looks as though it was poorly fitted 1+ years ago) and it's leaking exhaust fumes. Not much, but the local exhaust centre reckons it's a problem which needs fitting. I'm tending towards trusting their judgement because they don't have the parts and are willing to fit what I can source at cost, so they're not going to make much money out of me.

 

The problem I have is that nobody seems to stock the downpipe. VAG has one in stock for £350 including gaskets and that seems to be about it. GSF and ECP both don't list it as stock items and both choked when I quoted them VAG's price so I'm hoping I might be able to source an alternative.

 

The excellent and, if you'll pardon the pun, exhaustive exhaust thread suggests a number of good suppliers, but these all seem to be 'cat-back' systems, and I need a 'cat-forward' one, which is why I'm posing separately.

 

Can anyone suggest who I might be able to try?

 

Ta muchly.

[dirtytorque 0]

I had a similar prob on an audi 80 i just bought.

when i took both the top section of the exhaust and the cat off it was the cat that was split and the top section of the exhaust was fine,contrary to what I had previously been advised.

 

Are they sure its both sections ???

Not sure about the valver exhaust but isn't the join just held together with bolts and a gasket ring ?

 

I'll have a look on etka..

 

uno momento.

[dirtytorque 0]

yep front exhaust section,then there is a gasket and then there is the cat.

So they told you the front exhaust section is leaking?

[TrentSC 0]

yep front exhaust section,then there is a gasket and then there is the cat.

So they told you the front exhaust section is leaking?

 

The leak appears to be around the join between the cat and the front exhaust section. The exhaust guy seemed to think the join was rotten and as I've said, they don't sell or fit this part, so I tend to believe him (he has no axe to grind, after all). The cat was fitted a year or so ago and looks in good nick, so I'm guessing that the front section is probably original, and so is probably the culprit.

[dirtytorque 0]

ok,all i'm saying is that if its just the gasket that sits in between the join it will be a lot cheaper.!?

Anyway good luck with it.

 

 

cheers.

[TrentSC 0]

ok,all i'm saying is that if its just the gasket that sits in between the join it will be a lot cheaper.!?

Anyway good luck with it.

cheers.

 

That's definitely worth checking out, thanks.

 

My only concern is that if there's rotten metal around the join, taking a spanner to it to explore might make it even worse, but I might drop into one of the exhaust centres and get them to have a look.