help with exhaust leak after x pipe install! Remove studs?

[9646gt]

Ok so first off I should note that I don't think the pipe I took off my car is the stock piece. It was a catted H pipe but with only 4 cats and I didn't really find any markings. I was under the impression our cars had 6 cats. Any way, I installed an O/R x pipe by Pypes and now I have a horrible leak at the drivers side exhaust manifold. I have the nuts as tight as they will go and I reused the stock gasket on the driver side as well. The pass side is perfect as far as I could tell. I bought this pipe used I might add. On the studs coming out of the driver side manifold there is a spacer/standoff deal with some threads coming out of it that the nuts screw onto. Are these spacers supposed to be there? Is this keeping it from sealing properly? The leak is horrible. Do I need to replace the studs in the drivers side manifold with bolts? The guy didn't send me any bolts at all and it looks like they are keeping it from seating all the way but I have no idea what bolts to buy!

 

[DBMSTNG]

99+ GT's have 4 cats from the factory. 96-98 had 6.

i had a leak too when i first installed my X pipe. how i solved the problem was that i got a new gasket, and tightened down the passenger side all the way before touching the driver side. that allowed the gasket to get sealed tightly, then i forced the X pipe to bend ever so slightly to match the other header by tightening the driver side. the spacers on the drivers side are supposed to be there. they prevent you from crushing the domed connector.

 

[9646gt]

Well I broke one of the studs off trying to remove it. These things are baked in and I tried using a stud remover and it jsut broke the stud. Any other ideas before I have to pay a muffler shop?

 

[DBMSTNG]

Well I broke one of the studs off trying to remove it. These things are baked in and I tried using a stud remover and it jsut broke the stud. Any other ideas before I have to pay a muffler shop?

buy new headers?

at this point it may not be worth the hassle to try and fix it. i would get a quote from a muffler shop and see what it's like. it may not be that bad.

 

[AdRock]

Well, if you hadn't already broken a stud... I would have suggested what we did with mine.

Pull back the moveable flange on the drivers side of the pipe. Then weld a bead on both sides of the pipe. Then double up on them to get them taller. This will stop the flange when you try to move it forward to put the nuts on the studs but leave enough room for the studs to come through enough. for you to get the nuts on them and tighten them down without the flange hitting the stud collar. The flange hitting the weldes will cause you to be able to tighten down like it needs to be. Sounds complicated but it's not. It can be hard to visualize though.


I've aslo seen some people use a dremel to open up the flange holes so that they fit over the collar and you can properly tighten everything.

As for the broken stud. Your best bet would probably be to drill it out and retap the hole for a little larger stud to be put in.

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

Drivers side leak? Simple. The flared section of the new pipe is hitting the exhaust studs. The nuts will still tighten up, but the pipe is not seat on the socket of the manifold all the way. You need to cut "V" notches in the flared section of the new H-pipe to clear the manifold studs. I went through this on one of my cars and this fixed it.

 

[mufflerman]

Broken manifold stud repair

Well I broke one of the studs off trying to remove it. These things are baked in and I tried using a stud remover and it jsut broke the stud. Any other ideas before I have to pay a muffler shop?

If your are going to to repair this yourself they make a product called the Hush studfix that is an easy, inexpensive part that is made just for this problem. They make one for cars & one for trucks. The web site is the hush studfix.com