---
title: 'I Tried to Fix My Stock Exhaust and It Went Too Far'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=EAyF__P7DSU'
video_id: 'EAyF__P7DSU'
date: 2026-07-28
duration_sec: 443
---

# I Tried to Fix My Stock Exhaust and It Went Too Far

> Source: [I Tried to Fix My Stock Exhaust and It Went Too Far](https://youtube.com/watch?v=EAyF__P7DSU)

## Summary

A car enthusiast attempts to fix the quiet exhaust on his 2004 Volkswagen Golf R32 by disabling the vacuum actuator that controls an exhaust flap. The fix goes wrong when rusted parts break, leading him to order a full replacement exhaust system.

### Key Points

- **Car Overview** [00:09] — 2004 Volkswagen Golf R32 with a 3.6L VR6 engine, stock except tinted headlights.
- **Exhaust Issue** [00:38] — European model has a quieter exhaust due to noise ordinances, unlike the aggressive US spec.
- **Vacuum Actuator Fix** [00:52] — A vacuum actuator controls a flap in the exhaust; disabling it supposedly makes it louder.
- **WD-40 Attempt** [01:32] — Sprayed WD-40 penetrant to loosen rust on the actuator, but snapping the welds was a risk.
- **Welds Snap** [01:46] — Jiggling the actuator caused the welds to break, worsening the problem.
- **Remove Actuator** [02:27] — Plans to remove the vacuum actuator entirely to stop rattling from the broken piece.
- **Actuator Working** [03:44] — After WD-40, the actuator moves, but the top part is broken, making it hard to see the flap position.
- **Manual Flap Adjustment** [04:54] — Can manually turn the flap to open or close, but doesn't know which is which; tests by starting the car.
- **Bolts Break** [05:43] — Rusted bolts are broken off with a breaker bar to remove the exhaust section.
- **Ordered New Exhaust** [06:11] — Orders a Scorpion exhaust system (~$1000) that comes with everything needed.
- **Sound Demo** [07:16] — Shows how the car sounds with the broken exhaust; promises part 2 when new exhaust arrives.

### Conclusion

The attempt to disable the vacuum actuator failed due to rust, leading to a full exhaust replacement. The video ends with a teaser for the new exhaust installation.

## Transcript

This right here is a 2004 Volkswagen Golf R32 with the VR6 engine. That's a 3.6 L naturally aspirated beast. This thing is fully stock minus the fact that I tinted the headlights. Now, one issue I have with this car is
that I owned the same model but silver in America and it sounded aggressive. Like you could hear every single cylinder from that exhaust. It was perfectly tuned. But because this one was purchased in Europe, the exhaust
sounds like [ __ ] because they have noise ordinances.
on the exhaust because there's a vacuum actuator that opens and closes a flap. I heard, not confirmed, that this will make it much louder sounding like the US spec. If not, I'll take off the whole exhaust and do Milltek from the
exhaust and do Milltek from the cat-back. with. All right, so what we're working with here is this vacuum actuator. What
and plugged it with a screw. And they say to just tuck this away somewhere or zip tie it away. Now, this actuator, it has a tendency to rust and shut. So,
it should freely move back and forth horizontally like this, but it doesn't. So, what they recommended on forums was to spray it with some WD-40 penetrant, loosen up the rust, let it sit, and then try to jiggle
it. When I did that, I ended up snapping the welds when I jiggled it. So, that means it was completely rusted. Now, the issue with this is this actuator right here holds this lever that's broken off. And that lever opens and closes the
exhaust flap. Now, we're probably not going to be able to see the exhaust flap from here. Actually, I'm a [ __ ] Because normally the exhaust flap is here. This one is inside of here. So, the only way to see if it's working is
to cut it open and peek inside. So, I just need to figure out which way is closed and which way is open. And I think if I can manually set it, it might I'm going to do first though, so that I don't get the rattling from that broken
piece, is remove that vacuum actuator entirely with these bolts right here. If grab all of your wrenches that are close to that size. What I think I'm going to need to do is actually drop the exhaust off of the hanger. So, I need a little
off with these screwdrivers because I don't have an exhaust hanger tool.
little bit more room to get in there, even if it's just an inch or two. What I could even do is detach this hanger as well, which will give me even more room.
going to prop something under it so that it's not sagging all of its weight on it. I don't want it to crack as exhaust has a tendency to rust. So, we got to look for a something. Dog food to the rescue.
camera right here, get a better angle of what we're dealing with. Cuz I can't see from the top. All right. So, here is the
actuator. As you can see, after the WD-40 sat for a bit, it's actually working. You hear that vacuuming? But, because I broke the top part off,
now I need to see what the hell is going on here.
So, I got two of the screws out, but one of them is uh impossible to unscrew because the actuator rod is just in the way. So, here is one end, and then on the top is
the rod. So, there's like no no way to ratchet anything. [ __ ] I think I might just need to cut it off with an angle grinder cuz that's going to rattle, dude. [ __ ] it.
>> [clears throat] >> When you're cutting [ __ ] safety first.
right here. And as you can see, you can turn it to open or close. Now, I don't know which one's open and which one's closed, so we're just going
which one's closed, so we're just going to have to test it by starting the car. Both of them suck. There's a lot of rattling. I need to replace the entire
exhaust, probably from the muffler back, if not from the cat-back. I got to go be dad, play with the kid, put some more penetrant on it, let it sit, and see if it happens to work tomorrow.
is out. I had to resort to breaking off the bolts because I figured since the bolts because I figured since they're so incredibly rusted, completely corroded, this was completely locked on. I just took a breaker bar and
hammed it and broke it off cuz these bolts I can probably replace for a couple of bucks. And this coupling holds the front of the exhaust to the back of the exhaust, as you can see right there. We have the midsection of the car, the
resonator, and then the muffler with the two tips. So, what I've gone ahead and done is ordered the Scorpion exhaust system. It's about a thousand bucks from here to there, but it comes with everything. And
the hangers are in the right place. So, all I'm going to do is use this, get two new bolts and two new nuts, and it's going to be good to go. But, what I'd like to show you is how it sounds cuz it's incredible. Basically, how it would
it's incredible. Basically, how it would sound if it was a straight pipe.
incredibly aggressive because it's a six-cylinder engine. I'll do part two six-cylinder engine. I'll do part two when the new exhaust comes in.