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I don't have any doughnut gasket in my Legacy's exhaust... Matter of fact, it only has the cat to header flange. The rest is just one straight piece...

It's a craptastic repair job the PO had done.

 
CoupedUpSubie said:
I hate a leaky exhaust. The donut gasket sucks. I almost wish I could just have a regular joint there.
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The doughnut gasket and spring clamps are there because that's a joint that can move slightly when the drivetrain moves.

And they're a lot better than flex pipes.

Flex pipes are expensive and have to be welded in. If you have a leaky doughnut you just buy another and a spring bolt set. Maybe $20, half an hour of work, and it's done

Get a leaky flex pipe? $65 (at least) for the part, then you've gotta get in there with a welder.

I'll take a doughnut any day over a flex.

And, for the note, welding a straight bit of pipe in there is NOT the correct way to fix it. It will fail again because the joint can't move. So it just cracks.

 
You can have Meineke weld you up a regular 3 bolt flat joint, or sleeve it and have no joint there. Or sleeve it with a flex. I see hundreds of Scoobies with the sleeve no-joint-no flex where the donut joint used to be. The rubber hangers seem to soak up any excessive movement. Only problem is if you ever need/want to pull you trans or engine or do some exhaust work near the front you have to drop the entire system as one piece. Not a big deal. I do it a couple times a day with the help of a passer-by.

 
Its all good now. Just was a huge pain for a bit. When I put my new exhaust on I had to move the joint around a lot to get it to seat and seal.

 
That's what they make red RTV for
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I've never had a problem with doughnut gaskets sealing. Just make sure everything is nice and clean.

 
Chris said:
That's what they make red RTV for
default_smile.png


I've never had a problem with doughnut gaskets sealing. Just make sure everything is nice and clean.
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The repair job on the cat flange was a bit rushed and not as good as it could be but it works and was free. Also the seat of the midpipe wasn't quite right. It wasn't a OEM part so I don't expect it to be perfect.

 
Non OEM stuff that has to do with doughnut gaskets annoy me. In one day I went back to napa 4 times because they kept giving me the wrong gasket. Unfortunately, the old one was destroyed coming out.

I ended up going to the damn dealer. Then I got the right one.

 
Damn, sorry to hear that Chris, but good advice. I guess I'll get one from the dealer then too. I don't want to be going back and forth with NAPA getting the right part. Of course, first I have to inspect. I'm not even really sure that's the problem. That's just from me kneeling down, looking and pointing my Droid flashlight on it one night when it happened. I need to get it up on ramps and check it out thoroughly.

 
To check for exhaust leaks I pull a vac hose and squirt a bunch of engine fogger in the intake. Now, when you start it up you'll get a lot of white smoke. Have someone stuff a rag over the end of the tail pipe to build up a bit of pressure. Any leaks will be obvious by a lot of white smoke dumping out of the exhaust at the leak.

 
If the fogger isn't avalibal, have someone plug the end of the exhaust with a rag and listen for a hissing sound. Usually that works fairly well, assuming the leak isn't in a weird spot where it only comes up under certain circumstances.

 
When the car is cold, one person puts their hand over the exhaust while the other inspects the rest of the system. That's what my father and I do to check for leaks, then we go nuts with the MIG.

 
Flaps make everything better!

I want a "mid"flap like all them suzuki rally cars mounted like right behind the front doors

 
Flaps make everything better!

I want a "mid"flap like all them suzuki rally cars mounted like right behind the front doors

 
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