My HHR started sounding more like a tractor. I could not see the problem but I could feel the heat coming from this joint. As you can see it was rusted out.
I purchased two 2 inch pipe clamps at the local car parts store. They are Ni Exhaust Solutions "Split Flange". Each one comes with two bolts. They have to be pried apart and worked back and forth until they open and close. Then, open one side of both clamps and put a bolt through the closed sides. Then rotate them into place so the first bolt is above the fitting. Then close the flanges and install the lower bolt. It took me over an hour to close the lower flanges. If you can get them close to closed you can get a flat blade screwdriver in there and close them the rest of the way. Then install the lower bolt. That took a long time as well. One of the issues is the metal gasket gets in the way. I think I managed to damage the gasket as once it was together it still leaked. But at least the pipes were not going to fall off the car!
Here is the clamp once installed. It was hard to tighten the upper bolt as the socket set would not click in the short space.
 |
| Split Flange Clamps |
It still leaked so I covered the whole thing with J-B Weld "Muffler Weld" Cement.
 |
| J-B Weld Muffler Cement |
That solved the problem for now. I know that eventually I will need a new exhaust but for now the leak is fixed.
No comments:
Post a Comment