Xantia exhaust question

[DaveW]

My sons Xantia - 1.8i, 16v, Xreg (2000) has developed an exhaust leak where the front section joins the rear box and, based on previous experience, I suspect the flare and 'nose' of the connecting ends will have rusted away (the pipe looks dodgy at that end anyway).
Having looked at the diagram at - http://tinyurl.com/ypwmzy - it would seem sensible to fit the 'Pipe Connector' ref. CN474V (GSF call this a CATALYST REPAIR PIPE ) and a new rear silencer as the cat section looks OK and he plans to replace the car soon.

My question is - has anyone fitted this pipe and what is entailed ?
It looks like it will need to be measured against the old system and the old pipe cut off at the cat end to allow it to be slotted into the repair pipe.
Is there likely to be any other problem ?
Just like to be informed as this will have to be done outside, probably in the rain, and I would like to keep the time spent lying on my back in the wet to the minimum...


Dave.

[davek-uk]

First of all look to see if you can putty repair the joint. I managed to prolong replacing parts for four years that way. Unless it has badly rusted away, you'll find the flange on the pipe is rusting rather than the end of the silencer. With the clamp it has fitted it can usually be repaired pretty easily.

If the rust is too bad, the end of the pipe will be beyond repair and the end of the silencer may be rusted too. In this case replacement is the only option.

I tried a similar 'catalyst repair pipe' but from ECP. The bore was too large and I had trouble reducing it to seal properly behind the cat. So check the GSF part with care.

As I was keeping the car, I later chose to replace the cat pipe with a non-cat pipe. Replacing this was much easier and you also benefit from improved engine response.

The non-cat pipe wasn't much more expensive than the cat repair pipe.

[DaveW]

Thanks for the reply.

I had a crawl underneath the car and the joint is pretty badly rusted and holed so son has decided to fit (or rather that I will fit - kids, who'd have 'em) a new box and the repair pipe. As I said before, the old pipe is very rusty and pitted anyway. Like you, I have extended the life of a system with putty and tape in the past but, as he drives a fifty mile round trip to work each day, he wants a reliable repair.

As I understood it his car has to have a cat fitted, as noted in my initial post, it's a 1.8, 16valve petrol. My TD is straight through to the rear box so no problem there.


Dave.

[davek-uk]

You're right Dave, the petrols do need to retain their cat - so you have a limited choice. With my experience with the ECP repair pipe (which had a huge bore), I'd suggest you check the bore of the GSF repair pipe before you cut the existing system. You may need to extend the end-cuts so that the repair pipe is more flexible for clamping and as a result keep a longer end to the existing pipe. Let us know how you get on, it will no doubt interest others.

[howzat]

I have carried out this repair using the GSF repair pipe which fitted perfectly. To get the correct length of the original pipe I disconnected the joint at the silencer and moved the pipe to one side. Then fix the repair section to the silencer so that it runs parallel to the original and you can mark the original pipe where it should be cut . If you are worried leave it a bit longer than necessary and trim it back after trying the repair section.

It is probably a good idea to support the catalyst whilst cutting. I used a small angle grinder to do most of the cutting, finishing with a small hacksaw at the top.

Subsequently I fitted a gsf rear silencer which I cannot recommend as it gave a noisy booming sound at low speeds.

[DaveW]

Well I did the job today. No problems except for the fact that the car was on axle stands so not much room to work. Also I had to do this in an area with no access to an electricity supply so had to saw through the old pipe with a junior hacksaw ( not so bad though as there is room in the tunnel ).

The pipe supplied by Online Automotive (see link in previous post) was a reasonable fit - a little bit on the sloppy side but tightened down OK with a good dollop of Holts 'Firegum' (although I had cut a couple of extra slots).

The silencer sounds OK - no booming.

The price of the parts is good but they are just plain steel - no coating or paint but supplied with a 3 year warranty so that's OK by me. From my experience, most petrol exhausts rot from the inside outward anyway.

Thanks for all the replies.



Dave.