Exhaust rotting away...

[ian2120]

Hey everyone,

I've been a lurker for several months now, since I inherited my uncle's '94 Ebony, but I haven't had much time to post; I'm a senior in high school, and things can get pretty busy.

Having turned it from a garage queen straight into a daily driver within a matter of weeks has worked out better than I thought, but taking it to the dealer that has been seeing it for a majority of its life for the first time in my ownership today was a bit of an eye-opener. My entire exhaust system is shot. It looks like the muffler and tips are fine (which seems to be expected), but the rest of the system is rotting away, and I'm not sure how much more time I have before it starts to fall apart on me. I've heard that's what happens when a car sits in a garage barely driven for a few years though, especially one of the SVX's age!

So I have done a bit of searching around on here, and I know that plenty of people have done modifications and repairs to the exhaust system but I'm wondering what my best possible options are. I would love to keep the stock sound, so I don't want to put in any unnecessary resonators, but if there is a cheaper route that will work just as well, I might just have to take it.

Could anyone please help lead me in the right direction?

Pardon me for not being completely car-literate, but I'll get there

EDIT: I took it to the shop mainly because I needed an oil change, but also because I have a brake squeak at one particular pressure, but the mechanic said that my brakes look good. Also, was a rattling, that I thought was the heat shield between the exhaust and the driveshaft, but unfortunately that was not the case!

The mechanic gave me an estimate that replacing it would be ~$3300, and that some of the parts were probably discontinued.

[Sean486]

Originally Posted by ian2120

The mechanic gave me an estimate that replacing it would be ~$3300, and that some of the parts were probably discontinued.

I would take it somewhere else.

[SVXMAN2001]

ian, welcome to the forum. Where in NY are you located...PM me if you like if you don't want to disclose publicly.

As for discontinued parts, all exhaust parts are "readily" available. Meaning you can purchase them but it may take some time to source them depending on where they are located.

First question is....how do you know you have an exhaust issue? Seems that you didn't realize this till the shop told you. An exhaust leak is noticeable. The common parts to rust are the pre catalytic converter pipes (there are very expensive parts appx $400 each - you have two).

I have a 92 that lived most it's life in the east coast and the entire exhaust from the main converter back has stayed in tact. This part of the exhaust is made from quality steel and is unlikely to rust away unless exposed to extreme winters (disclaimer - there are always exceptions).

I wouldn't rely solely on the dealer's claims. You may just need to have new gaskets installed. A little more investigating on your part may be necessary. When owning an SVX you will ultimately become more interested in cars and doing your own work...if nothing else than to save $3,300 for an exhaust. Owning a SVX while in high school can seriously limit your cash flow...hope you don't have a gf! j/k

[ian2120]

Originally Posted by Sean486

I would take it somewhere else.

I was expecting a reply like that

I only took it there because he has seen the car a lot; I was told by a customer at the supermarket where I work that there is a mechanic (much closer to me!) that has had, and has worked on SVXs in the past, so I may try to contact him tomorrow.

[ian2120]

Originally Posted by SVXMAN2001

...hope you don't have a gf! j/k

Conveniently, the SVX has filled that need I'm in Orange County, NY by the way, and I took it to Curry Subaru in Westchester, which is right by where my uncle lived.

I did look under the car when it was on the lift, and it wasn't a pretty sight; much of all of the pipes looked rusted, but a couple of the areas, particularly near a joint approximately midway through the car. I wish I could tell you more specific than that!

EDIT: Pardon the double post. Thanks for your quick replies!

[SVXMAN2001]

The real OC, ha! I went to school in Goshen. The exhaust will look rusted, these aren't CA cars where they will look nice and shiney underneath. But it's primarily surface rust, not all the way through.

I know exactly where you're talking about with the rust spot. That is very common and has happened to me on multiple svx's. It's the weak spot. I've found that the pre-cat pipes are relatively thin steel/material wise.

[Jay Wrix]

oh, do what I did, i cut the cat out to prevent further damage, it was hangin by the heat sheilds, so i ran two straight pipes, extremely loud! but beautiful
I got sick of it, and well, fixed it.... and on a limited budget so much more tourqe!

I dont know if it changed the sound, but it can be done for less than 200 bucks.

it sounds very good, and is extremely quiet, no kittens, just the one resonator,

if ya cant do it yourself find a decent local exhaust shop they should be able to help out cheap





edit, my car is a 92, with no OBD IF you have a post stream o2 sensor ( i dont know if the obd2 cars had them,) this is an o2 sensor behind the cats you will throw codes,
my car had the two infront to control fuel mixture, keepin it simple, people have made some boxes to mimic the signals, to keep the light off and trick the car to running, we had to
do this when we converted a 2.5 liter cougar to a 3.0 and made it a monster=)

also, my car is "off road use only" lol. and would never pass emissions testing, thankfully, michigan and the motor city dosnt care!

[Sean486]

Unless it is loud, or fails inspection I would leave it as is.

[ian2120]

Originally Posted by Sean486

Unless it is loud, or fails inspection I would leave it as is.

The main thing that tipped me off is that I have developed a rattle at low RPMs... When the car starts cold, and when accelerating from a stop. I'd like to think that the exhaust is the cause of this, but now that I think about it, the rattle seems to come more from the front of the car than the rotting joint that I mentioned before!

[SVXMAN2001]

High probablility that your heat shields are loose and/or your pre-cat/main cat has deteriorated (the insides become so brittle and end up breaking apart causing the common buzz we are all unforutnately familiar with).

[Jay Wrix]

take a grinder and carefully cut the sheilds off! they buzz bad I only left the ones on my headers, they split in half and can be bent outwards to stop the rattle, it drove me insane, ive only got a sheild left, over the muffler and its now loose, i just havent felt like cuttin her off, i wanna remount it....

take your hand, or a rubber mallet and smack all of them, if they move, theyre proably broke.

I used a coathanger as a temp fix, speaker wire, and now, well the pic shows it

[ian2120]

That's what I had suspected. When I took a look under the car today, I did look at the heat shield, but it looked ok to me. But my untrained eye might have missed something

So it looks like I should look for an exhaust shop nearby to have a look at the car for me?

[SVXMAN2001]

I would, as Sean stated earlier a second opinion would be a good idea.

[dennyo]

Don't forget, here in the beautiful vampire state if it came on the car when new it needs to be there to pass inspectionGood luck. If your in the lake george region look me up.

[Conn SVX]

The heat shield gets a tiny crack almost un noticeable. It will rattle at 2,200 RPM you can tell by tapping on it ( when it is COLD of Course )
My car had the cat go and I was told to replaced it with a Magnaflow cat # 94007 . I heard others have done it. The Exhaust pipes ,as stated , are thick. They can look very rusty and still be solid. If it is not Loud leave it be. If the "Vampire State"has that Rule than you might be opening up a real can of worms.