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Exhaust woes.


womblingfree

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I picked up my Z from the body shop today, and a lovely job they did as well. Unfortunately they had some bad news for me. A few months back I posted a picture of my exhaust which was a bit squiff. Turns out that a knock I had from a raised manhole cover in Hackney has bent the exhaust underneath and it needs replacing. Ouch!! :stretcher:

 

Coming on top of a grands worth of bodywork and four new tyres this is the last thing I need!

 

So, as usual, I come to you guys for wisdom. I can get it fitted cheaply enough, hell I'd even have a go myself, but what exactly do I need to get? The guy at the body shop said if it was to be replaced the whole lot, including the cats, should be done.

 

So if some kind soul can give me a list of stuff to buy I'll give :pmzmanalex: and :pmr35lee: a buzz to see what they've got. A standard exhaust would be fine for me, but as I'm in the market, anything that would enhance performance?

 

Hackney council should be liable for this expenditure, and I'll be looking into claiming from them. But I don't hold out too much hope on that front as I have no idea of the roads name. Will spend a day cycling round looking for that bloody manhole cover!

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Hey mate. Whats the reason for the cats needing replaced? Surely if the exhaust is damaged then only the section which is damaged should be replaced. Have a look under with a torch and see if its visible. Take some pics and get them up. Someone will have bits of old exhausts laying around and will be more than happy to send them to you

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Hey mate. Whats the reason for the cats needing replaced? Surely if the exhaust is damaged then only the section which is damaged should be replaced. Have a look under with a torch and see if its visible. Take some pics and get them up. Someone will have bits of old exhausts laying around and will be more than happy to send them to you

 

Will do! :thumbs:

 

Not had chance to look under myself, the exhaust was loose on one side but I presumed it was just the support that had gone. The body shop set the exhaust back in place but warned their fix wouldn't last. Sure enough once I was back home the knocking had started again as the left hand side had broken free.

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Hey mate. Whats the reason for the cats needing replaced? Surely if the exhaust is damaged then only the section which is damaged should be replaced. Have a look under with a torch and see if its visible. Take some pics and get them up. Someone will have bits of old exhausts laying around and will be more than happy to send them to you

 

Will do! :thumbs:

 

Not had chance to look under myself, the exhaust was loose on one side but I presumed it was just the support that had gone. The body shop set the exhaust back in place but warned their fix wouldn't last. Sure enough once I was back home the knocking had started again as the left hand side had broken free.

sounds like its the y-pipe flexi joint? as the exhaust is a single pipe in the middle which joins onto the rear back box. Unless the back box is loose then it can only be the flexi joint. :thumbs:

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sounds like its the y-pipe flexi joint? as the exhaust is a single pipe in the middle which joins onto the rear back box. Unless the back box is loose then it can only be the flexi joint. :thumbs:

 

Is that seperate from the exhaust itself? The guy at the garage said the exhaust itself is also bent out of shape. What kind of cost am I looking at for an OEM exhaust and flexi joint?

 

Will post pics asap.

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The exhaust is made up of cats, a y pipe, a centre pipe and a back box.

 

The y pipe is the part which has two flexijoints on it - they can quite often go on the OEM units after a good few miles. Either there or the joint at the back box.

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Right, so I took the Z to my local Nissan dealership and they had a look under the car and took some pictures for me. Seems the manhole cover I scraped against shunted the whole exhaust unit back. Take a look:

 

P1010824.jpg

P1010825.jpg

P1010826.jpg

P1010823.jpg

P1010822.jpg

 

The exhaust's knocking against the heat-shield, and I'll be looking to fix it asap to avoid damaging that.

 

When I got the call to pick up the car I was told the Z 'requires complete exhaust system from cat to back of vehicle due to damage'. That was written on the report.

 

The price list was as follows:

 

Tube assy-exhaust, front - £302.94

Gasket-exhaust - £10.43

Muffler assy-exhaust, sub - £198.48

Gasket exhaust - £10.61

Muffler asy-exhaust, main £297.78

Gasket-exhaust - £9.81 x2

Labour - £80

Total: £1,104.07 :blackeye:

 

What happened next though was that I asked if any of the exhaust was salvageable. The initial answer was no, but then I was told that the cats were fine, the back box is fine and it was only the down pipe and centre pipe that needed replacing. Total cost of which would be bugger all in comparison.

 

I've been offered some bits of exhaust from a kind soul on here, but think that doesn't include a downpipe. If I was spending over £1000 on a new exhaust I'd be looking to get a Borla or Nismo rather than a vanilla OEM I think.

 

So, I need someone with a down-pipe and centre pipe then someone to put it all together.

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Your y pipe flexi joints have seen better days too but I have seen worse.

 

Mate keep the cats and just buy an aftermarket system which sounds/looks better at a fraction of the price or if you want a bit more noise throw some decats or HFCs on too. :thumbs:

 

There are a set of mongoose decats going on ebay just now for £25.

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Your y pipe flexi joints have seen better days too but I have seen worse.

 

Mate keep the cats and just buy an aftermarket system which sounds/looks better at a fraction of the price or if you want a bit more noise throw some decats or HFCs on too. :thumbs:

 

There are a set of mongoose decats going on ebay just now for £25.

 

So an aftermarket system would come with everything I need, including Y-pipe flexi-joints?

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It depends which aftermarket system you go for. Lets say you leave the OEM manifolds and cats on. You will need a y pipe, a centre pipe and a back box. Some aftermarket systems (for example the nismo come with all three parts) while others (such as scorpion) come with the centre pipe and backbox but no y pipe.

 

Just to ensure you are clear - the flexijoints are part of the y pipe. You dont need to order these seperately. In your first picture the 2 weaved bits at the bens in the y pipe (almost straw looking and eroded away) are the flexijoints.

 

No biggy if you pick a system that don't come with the y pipe - just order one seperately. I got the scorpion and bought a japspeed y pipe and decats seperately.

 

Hope this helps :thumbs:

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Right then, from my brief research a Scorpion exhaust kit's about £330 and a Japspeed y-pipe's about £180. That's the first hits on Google anyway, so doubtless can be found cheaper elsewhere.

 

The Scorpion's a good one then I take it? The Nismo seems really overpriced and the Borla appears to be a bit fiddly and prone to leaks. Love the look of the Japspeed y-pipe!

 

Hope this helps :thumbs:

:notworthy:

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i looked on Google again, and it seems that CATs and downpipes are the same thing, so the order would be 1 & 2, attach them to the y-pipe No.4, an then the centre pipe No.6.

Don't forget the No.5's between No.1 and No.4 as well as No.2 and No.4 and the No.7 between No.4 and No.6

 

If done correctly, you should have the local chinese knocking at your door with a bag full of starters...

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