Xsara exhaust leak

[_kid_]

Car is a 2000 forte 1.4 petrol.

I had a free mot done at Citroen last week, it passed but there was an advisory of minor exhaust leak. The car passed the emissions all well within limits. I always thought the exhaust is a tad noisy on startup, so i tightened the three nuts on the joint from the manifold to the front down pipe (front pipe gasket?)- It seemed to do the trick- but a couple of days later the noise is back. I don’t think it’s from the manifold gaskets- as when i tightened the nuts on the joint it temporarily did the trick. I also noticed a few strange side effects with his leak. There is a popping noise for the engine area every few seconds, the accelerator cable has a small but noticeable dead spot when moving from idle. Also the steering has a small but noticeable vibration every few seconds. All this disappeared with i thought i fixed the leak but it’s all back. Can anyone suggest any ideas - do i need to buy a new gasket or look at something else.

this is the lcoation from the citroen site (no 12)
http://service.citroen.com/docpr/AC/img ... 830050.jpg