98 Forester 2.5 exhaust help

jokeyport7

jokeyport7

New member
After being pulled over this week by Lincolnville PD, I'm afraid I won't be able to wait any longer on getting my inspection, which means dishing out on repairs.

My exhaust is the biggest piece of the problem. I get a rumble between 2000-2500 rpms. The rest of the time it's normal. My muffler is in great shape, it's just the rest that has been attacked in our Maine environment.

My biggest question is: Who can I go to for exhaust work that will give it to me straight without taking me to the bank? Because let's face it: most peoples pockets aren't very deep right now (especially not mine). I don't trust my regular mechanic and want to know if anyone has a Subie mechanic in the midcoast area that's affordable.

 
Well exhaust work is relatively easy so if you want a straight price that's low then its your front yard. The question I ask is do you know what parts need to be replace?

The normal places for rust is the cat to midpipe flange or the hanger midway down on the midpipe. If it is just the midpipe then you can get one for around $100-$130 from a parts store(some are higher then others). I replaced everything after the cat for $200 using a Thrush Turbo muffler. I can't afford a mechanic so I have been forced to work on them myself and learn along the way.

If a shop does it and just puts a new exhaust system under it expect to pay $300-$400 for just replacing the piping.

If the flange on the cat is rusted out then its either weld a new flange on, price unkown(you can't buy the flange so modifying another one is your only option) or buy a new cat which will be probably another $400.

 
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Usually with the older cars the things that go bad are the cat flanges, resonators, and muffler flanges, the main portions of the exhaust systems stay good for a long long time. Meineke does a lot of stuff for our customers with exhaust issues. If they don't want to spend the bucks on Subaru stuff Meineke will sleeve their leaky parts for cheap. I think you can get your rotten cat flange and muffle flange sleeved and welded for less than $60. If you need a resonator just have them put one of theres on (more $) and ask them to weld it up and not clamp it.

Most places will give you free estimates. Ask to look at your car while its in the air on the lift and tell them to show you whats up.

 
I had a patch job done on on the central silencer a couple years ago (which seems to be the problem) but my mechanic welded it straight to the cat because the flange was wrecked. I'm going to see if I can sneak it through for inspection on Thursday.

@MikeyMeyagi: What do you have for parts? I might take the drive down....

 
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