[00:02] going to teach you how to replace a leaking exhaust in your vehicle in this case it's due to rust and i have two really good examples of this the first example comes from this jaguar listen to this
[00:21] sounds not only is this embarrassing to drive around but the fumes are getting into the car into the cabin and they are dangerous to breathe in so that's not real quick show you where the exhaust leak is coming from so if we take a look
[00:34] under the car you can pretty much right away tell where it's coming from right there at the flex pipe you can see the flex pipe over here has been damaged it's all rusted and right over here if we hit this area with some soapy water
[00:47] check out the exhaust gases bubbling up that soapy water you could clearly see and hear the leak right there so a flex pipe is a very common failure point on exhaust systems that causes leaks because this flex pipe moves and over
[01:02] time that movement combined with rust will cause that to separate and allow so you need another flex pipe and that's exactly why they have exhaust systems for sale like this for each specific vehicle that way you could swap it in
[01:15] on an exhaust leak and i'll show you how to replace that and the second common example of an exhaust leak isn't on this car it's on my pickup truck so car it's on my pickup truck so check this out
[01:33] this exhaust leak as well let me show you where it is and this is another common spot that exhausts tend to leak from and it's called the flange it's where two exhaust pipes meet and are bolted together the bolts are all rusted
[01:45] where we're getting the leak here and i'm gonna show you how to fix this without having to weld so let me show you all the tools and products you're going to need and as always i like to use common hand tools and easy to find
[01:57] done watching this video you'll be able to repair your leaking exhaust yourself no problem at all so here's some tools that you might need if you need to cut reciprocating saw works amazing it cuts through exhaust systems like butter if
[02:11] not don't worry a handsaw will work as well and you guys saw how much rust were on both exhaust systems so i highly recommend some penetrating fluid and a fasteners that you're going to have to remove that's what i already did and
[02:23] remove them compared to not spraying them down you're also going to want to have some heat heat is going to be your best friend when working on rusted fasteners trust me on that you'll see we'll be using this a lot so it doesn't
[02:36] in this case map gas burns a little bit hotter so it gets it a little bit warmer some surface rust we have common hand tools if you have a socket set a ratchet set hammer screwdriver stuff like that you're good to go and then a little bit
[02:50] less common is an extractor set probably gonna need this because again you saw look like fasteners anymore they didn't look like nuts and bolts this will help showing you how to use this we have a digital caliper that way we can measure
[03:04] the correct exhaust pieces because we need to know the outside diameter then we have one of these exhaust expanders you might or might not need this but i you need to expand the exhaust just a little bit and then finally we're going
[03:18] sure our repair is successful and we don't have any more leaks now exhaust a bunch of different ones we're not going to be using all these but i wanted types that you could use i'll cover all of them including some rtv that's
[03:33] specifically made for exhaust systems and i've used this before it works to need a dust mask and you can't forget about those safety glasses so let's get products you're going to need i'll be sure to link them all in the description
[03:47] so you can easily find them and now let's go under the truck and repair this leaking exhaust all right so before you begin working on your exhaust system you don't want to burn yourself working on a hot exhaust now with my pickup
[04:01] truck the exhaust is really severely rusted and the exhaust leak is between each of these two flanges where the two exhaust pipes meet there's no fixing this so what we're gonna do is we're gonna cut right here and we're gonna cut
[04:13] right here and cut that exhaust flange out and install one of these pipes that fits over both ends of the exhaust like that and then we can use exhaust clamps on each side to clamp it down and make sure there are no leaks now let's just
[04:27] it's bad on this side this is where your leak is you could buy something like this and only cut one side of the exhaust unbolt this and then put this flange on and that'll fix your leak but in this case this is so bad this will
[04:41] not work now i want to real quickly cover how to measure your stock exhaust so that you know what size exhaust pipe you need to buy to make this repair and this is actually very simple the only thing you need to remember is to measure
[04:53] exhaust pipes are measured from the outside not the inside so take your digital caliper clamp it on to the outside diameter exhaust on this side now if we look over here this exhaust is getting
[05:07] thicker so let's see what this is and all you need to do again open it up clamp it down and our exhaust on this side is two and a half inches so we go inches and that's exactly why i have a two and a half inch to two inch coupler
[05:21] measure the exhaust so let's go cut this out and install our coupler now we're going to want to cut this out as tight as possible so right about here and right about here that way our coupler could fit and overlap a decent amount
[05:34] exhaust seal we're gonna get so we don't get any leaks but this bolt is definitely in the way so let's remove it so i'm gonna use locking pliers to grab on to what's left of the nut and then get a socket on the rusty bolt head and
[05:47] let's see if we could get this loose without stripping it and surprisingly without stripping it and surprisingly this is actually working now we're going to do the same thing for the other side except this fastener is
[06:02] pretty rounded so it might strip so lock the pliers onto the nut and get the way this is gonna work nope this is definitely not gonna work grabbing onto this bolt because it's so rounded and rusted but don't worry i
[06:18] have a good trick to show you guys on how to remove rounded fasteners like this the trick is to use an extractor socket set these are awesome anytime you have rounded fasteners these grip onto the edges even if it's completely rusted
[06:32] completely round you'll hammer this on and those sharp edges will grab onto the to remove them now what we're going to do is we're going to use one size we're using a 15 millimeter so that means we're going to use a 14 millimeter
[06:46] the rounded bowl head so grab the socket and we wanna hammer it onto the bolt head so it bites down onto the bolt and then we could try unscrewing the bolt and as you can see the socket is grabbing onto that rounded
[06:59] removed all right so after you successfully is going to be on there good because we hammered it on there so it is biting down how do you remove it very simply
[07:13] just throw it on the ground and it will pop right off just like that so with could cut nice and close to our flange that way we could fit our coupler in our coupler isn't long so it's definitely
[07:27] important that we cut nice and close to the flange and it's also very important that we cut nice and straight so a trick to make straight cuts is to get some tape and lay tape down nice and straight just like that and then now you know
[07:40] you follow that line so i'll do the same good and now let's cut out our leaky flange so just to show you guys you going to use this hand saw and i'm setting it up upside down on this pipe
[07:54] then we can reconnect the blade and tighten it down like so good now i have and forth and to keep this cut a straight cut i'm going to keep the blade lined up with the tape and just saw until you're almost all the way through
[08:07] hold the exhaust pipe up so it doesn't just fall down when we're finished cutting it and then let's finish cutting this in half just to show you the difference for this side i'm going to use a reciprocating
[08:20] saw and like i said these saws cut through exhaust systems like butter and that tape helps so much to keep these cuts straight so out with the old and in with the new now what we're gonna do is we're gonna slide this over and we can
[08:33] this nice and snug but before we do that we need to make sure that we sand this this is all rusted and pitted and same slide this all the way down as well but we have to sand it and make it nice and
[08:47] smooth first so let's go do that and the trick with sanding is to use like 180 grit or something even more aggressive than that and what you're gonna do is gonna wrap it around like that and you're just gonna go back and forth and
[08:59] this is a really efficient way to sand pipes and tubes and anything around like this all right so with our surfaces nice and smooth we're able to slide our coupler onto both sides no problem nice and tight
[09:12] just like that but before we go and seal up this exhaust there's one thing i always like to do with an open exhaust like this and that is start up the car and see how it sounds all right here we go
[09:24] oh man i'm gonna let her warm up just a little light revs and then we'll shut it off and get this fixed up
[09:39] oh baby not a v8 but man i love the sound of a work okay so with that out of my system let's go and finish up repairing this exhaust so the exhaust couplers that you could
[09:53] buy are made just a little bit wider than the actual exhaust on your car so this is a two and a half inch exhaust this is slightly larger than two and a half inches so this goes on there pretty tight like that if it's so tight
[10:06] that do not hit it with a hammer right on the edge here because you will bend this exhaust instead get a piece of wood like this and hammer against the wood the whole exhaust piece so you don't damage it but in this case we don't need
[10:19] there and with that in place now we could grab our exhaust clamp and then we're going to clamp this right on the edge right here now you might be tempted to put your exhaust clamp on the bottom like that but don't do it for whatever
[10:33] reason something always likes to grab onto these studs and rip your exhaust out don't ask me how i know so always have it upside down or to the side like that that way if something hits it it doesn't rip the exhaust off since it has
[10:46] place let's get the nuts on these studs and hand tighten it down all the way and gonna tighten these up with a wrench and you wanna tighten a little by little on each side to evenly clamp down onto this exhaust pipe that way we have an even
[11:01] clamping force and it seals entirely around the entire exhaust beautiful so exhaust leaks because that's clamping down and it's nice and tight this is not going anywhere now let's get the rear exhaust pipe into the coupler and make
[11:14] then let's get the exhaust clamp on there hand tighten both of the nuts down down back and forth little by little to evenly seal the exhaust system and don't be afraid to snug these down pretty tight so that's all there is to fixing a
[11:29] soapy water and thoroughly spray down the connection to test it for leaks and let's go start the car okay moment of truth
[11:42] a lot better than before let's go under the car and take a look at it we'll spray that down and i don't see any bubbles coming out of this exhaust and let's check this side real quick
[11:54] see any bubbles coming out on this side either this is nice and sealed and it's nice and quiet too alright so our exhaust is leak free and sounds great no more embarrassing exhaust leak noise now
[12:07] because of imperfections maybe it's not completely round maybe there's a little bit of rust whatever it is what you would do is you would get a little bit of rtv this is specifically made for exhaust systems so you could use it on
[12:20] fine so with a cold exhaust take this apart put some rtv on the inside really using too much it'll squeeze out and then clamp it all together and let it sit for 24 hours before starting your
[12:34] car after 24 hours all those leaks will be sealed up by the rtv and you'll be good to go but this came out perfect so now we're done here and this is one way to fix an exhaust leak beautiful so we are leak free no more exhaust fumes in
[12:47] the cabin of the car and also listen to this nice and quiet it actually sounds really good now no more exhaust leak and we're good to go so let's back the truck out of here with its repaired quiet exhaust
[13:00] and get the jag up on ramps and just listen to that exhaust leak horrible next let's chalk off the wheels so it doesn't roll and we also need to lift the rear end up
[13:12] so slide a jack underneath the subframe and jack it all the way up the higher you get it the more room you have to work with the car jacked up instead of cribs and then you could slowly let the car down like that
[13:25] so with the car safely lifted up i'm gonna show you another method for fixing we're gonna be replacing an entire exhaust section and this is completely bolt on so we have two bolts right here we have a bolt right here for the
[13:38] exhaust hanger and then at the back there is another bolt right here with an exhaust clamp and then all we need to do is remove that remove the old exhaust it now this is a little bit more expensive so this was a hundred dollars
[13:51] an exhaust shop i asked them they said it would cost about 300 we're saving about 200 and that's pretty good that's a lot of money to save so get started and remove the old leaky exhaust and so you have an idea of where
[14:05] we are right here is the oil pan that's the front of the car and then if we the middle of the car we have our leaking flex pipe right here so this right here will probably be the most difficult part of this entire video
[14:18] because this is really rusted that bolt head is barely a bolt head anymore that nuts decent but there's not a lot of space here but that bolt head is like show you how to attack this first let's spray the fasteners down with
[14:30] this for the last couple of days but it doesn't hurt to do it again now this would be a waste of time to try to remove it from this side so instead let's try removing the nut on the backside which is in a lot better
[14:43] here and let's hit it with a hammer because hard impacts like this tend to break rusted fasteners free and that didn't work so on to plan b and that is to use our torch to heat the nut up until it's cherry red the heat
[14:57] expands the metal a little bit and this does two things it breaks that rust free more clearance so with this cherry red let's try again and that's what i'm talking about check that out nice and loose i can't believe it because this is
[15:11] rusted so let's remove the nut the rest of the way and be careful because it is hot then let's grab a hammer and a punch and let's hammer out that rusted bolt starting to separate the flange a little up and there we go the bolt is broken
[15:25] and now that the bolt's been removed look at how rusty this is all right so we got the nut and bolt off on that side now let's get this one off on this side to use the same exact process because we know it works so heat it up until the
[15:40] nut is cherry red then let's break it free with our wrench beautiful and finally loosen the nut the rest of the way and remove it rest of the way and remove it now we need to hammer out the bolt
[15:53] let's just press this out the rest of the way and there you go it's amazing how much heating up rusted nuts and bolts helps when trying to remove them and now our exhaust is disconnected from the flange so as you guys saw this thing
[16:06] was hanging on by a thread and now we have it completely removed from our flange here so now there's one bolt holding in the exhaust right here on an in the back that we need to remove and then we can remove this entire exhaust
[16:19] now we might as well heat this bolt up so we don't have any problems removing perfect and with the bolt broken loose let's remove it the rest of the way and then let's push the exhaust up and off the hanger and place it on a jack stand
[16:31] the front part of the exhaust completely unbolted let's follow the exhaust to the back of the car where it connects to the muffler good so this is the part of the by this exhaust clamp and that clamps it into this part right here which goes
[16:45] the bolt holding in this exhaust clamp and i don't even know if you could call that a bolt anymore that is so rusted so there's no point to actually try to we're gonna do to make this go back quickly is we're just gonna cut this
[16:59] a handsaw like this to cut the exhaust clamp but i have a cutoff wheel which is way quicker just make sure any time you use a cut off wheel you use a full face shield because i have seen these break and go flying and it's not pretty so a
[17:12] full face shield is a must and check it out now the clamp is cut now this is so to hammer it off and i'm also going to pry on the side of the exhaust clamp just because it's really stuck on here one more hit should do it
[17:26] good and now the clamp could be removed next we need to separate the exhaust that's what i thought this isn't gonna this up good and now we can wiggle this back and forth until it's free
[17:40] completely disconnected now we can remove it from under the car and out remove it from under the car and out with the old and in with the new i love seeing those things side by side now before we install the new exhaust
[17:53] there's one more thing we need to do and that is starter up with an open exhaust and here we go let's see what she sounds like
[18:07] and once the idle drop down it kind of sounds like a v8 just a little bit it sounds like a v8 just a little bit it sounds really good
[18:22] the exhaust back on but we got to get it back on to finish this job so let's get back down there and reinstall the new the back of the exhaust and move forward because we have to slide this end of the
[18:35] exhaust into the exhaust pipe that's already in the car so let's get this the new exhaust in let's sand the inside of the pipe so that it removes any loose rust and makes it a lot easier to install good and now let's try to slide
[18:48] actually this is still a little too tight so to fix this we have an exhaust pipe expander just put it into the exhaust then use a ratchet to tighten it and as you're tightening it it causes the tool to expand and widen the exhaust
[19:03] just a little bit more let's remove the exhaust expander and let's try this sure you press in the exhaust deep enough that way there are no exhaust tempted to clamp this in but don't do that just yet because right now the
[19:18] exhaust is hanging down and we have to go to the front of the car and get that and the reason why we don't clamp this down now is because we want this to swivel and move and just be able to flex as we try to get the front in the front
[19:32] has the flange we need to make sure that bolts in nice and tight and even then after that's in we could come back here and clamp this down now at the flange important that we sand it down to make it nice and smooth otherwise there's a
[19:45] good chance we'll get exhaust leaks good so with that nice and smooth we're also prevent exhaust leaks since the original exhaust had a gasket on it now let's place but these are all rusted so i have some extra bolts laying around from
[19:59] other projects and let's get these into the exhaust flange and now we have a holds it in place and finally we can get the new exhaust lined up and hand tighten a nut on there so that it stays in place now we could
[20:12] tighten down each of the nuts a little at a time that way the exhaust clamps up don't need to make this crazy tight but definitely snug them up so it clamps all right so with both of those
[20:24] squeezes together nice and even on a nice flat mating surface this is going to be leak-free and this is all good to go now let's get our exhaust hanger on there so get the hanger in place and then lift up on the exhaust a little to
[20:37] exhaust and then finally we can get the bolt in and tighten it down until it's snug good and now this is nice and secure beautiful now the exhaust is all new exhaust all the way down to the muffler and the last thing to do is to
[20:52] clamp down on this exhaust so that it is leak-free so grab your exhaust clamp and remember you always want the exhaust clamp to face upwards so nothing grabs onto these studs and rips the exhaust out so we're gonna place it right there
[21:06] just hand tighten these nuts on here get the other one on as well with a ratchet so they're pretty tight but remember to work back and forth so that they tighten down evenly tighten down one bolt a little bit and just keep
[21:19] going back and forth so it clamps down evenly and seals the entire perimeter of the exhaust so we don't have any leaks at all so now with this tightened down let's grab some soapy water spray this down and start up the car to make sure
[21:31] down and start up the car to make sure we don't have any leaks more and really get it wet to make sure there are absolutely no leaks and this looks good not only do i not see leaks but i don't hear any either so this is
[21:46] the car and with this sprayed down you can see there are no bubbles and i can't hear any exhaust leaks either she sounds way better now so here's what it sounded way better now so here's what it sounded like before with the leak
[22:03] and listen to that difference it sounds amazing now also it doesn't smell like fumes inside the car which is very important so there you go i just gave you two different methods on how to repair a leaking exhaust that way you
[22:16] guys could do this at home yourself without using a welder now you have no now hopefully the video was helpful if it was remember to give it a thumbs up hitting that subscribe button and as always all the tools and products i used
[22:30] in this video are linked in the description