Hayk

iTrader: (1)

If you're thinking of cutting and welding, you might as well replace the Y-Pipe with an aftermarket unit, such as Walkers, and adjust it to make a perfect seal.

The only thing I don't like about mine, which I found out later, is that their exhaust system is not protected against corrosion, like the Lexus one. Also, I believe the R&R caused an exhaust leak - still investigating.

Having said that, do NOT use an aftermarket Y-Pipe. I think your idea is much better in the long run.

hypervish

Sorry for the delay, here's the picture:

speedkar9

First off, OP: apologies for thread-jacking.

I had a look at mine today.

There's a hole in the mesh on the flexpipe itself, but the main leak seems to be coming from where the flex pipe just meets the rear pipe going toward the catalytic converter.

I measured the pipe diameter with my calipers to be 2.25" in the front and 2" on the rear, which suggests I'd need an adapter with the universal flex pipe. There isn't much space to clamp or even weld onto with the support bracket in front of the flex pipe attached to the sub-frame.

LeX2K

Eastern Catalytic makes a replacement for about $300 (search on Ebay for Eastern 40665) but not sure about quality. I can't understand why they made the catalytic and pipe all one piece, just stupid. Best solution is to get a shop to make a custom setup, done right you'll actually get a bit more power out of the engine as the stock one is not the best design.

The part from Lexus is priced at a comical $1000.

Mythotical

Almost! If you look at the after picture it looks like they had welded over the joint. The factory joints do exactly what I have done, The final bead of weld joins the inner to the outer. So in reality they have expanded the replacement pipe to fit over the singled joint overlapping it. What I did is weld the camry pipe over the inner wall then seal the outer wall to the weld.

speedkar9

Hey, I appreciate your feedback so far, but I can't seem to picture what you mean by the welds joining the inner and outer pipes. Do you have a picture or can you draw an illustration? Where is the pipe double walled?

Thanks

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

After buying a Walker Y-Pipe and having a shop install it and then reweld a flange, because it didn't fit right, I'm very close to $1000 in total. If I had known better I would have never purchased an aftermarket exhaust piece.

Somebody had a bad experience with Eastern as well. Unless you can do the welding and cutting yourself, I would stay away. The stock system is made out of double walled stainless.

LeX2K

The original exhaust I don't think is stainless, just aluminized steel. The exception is the braid covering the flexible section which is stainless. But either way I've had the same experience aftermarket exhaust parts NEVER fit right, sometimes they are close but not like factory. For that reason I don't even bother with aftermarket anymore.

I just spent $250 for a mid pipe on my Camry, aftermarket was $60 but useless because it didn't line up with the factory pipes (and hangers) worth a damn.

Mythotical

The pipe is double walled between the cat and the flex pipe. Slide the Camry pipe over the inner wall until the edge of it is about 1/8" from the outer wall's edge so you can overlap the two weld beads thus sealing the outer wall. I will post a picture as soon as I can, but you can barely see exactly what I have done.

speedkar9

Thanks.

Here's a quick sketch from what I understand from your description.



Are you saying you used one weld to seal both the inner and outer pipes together?

Mythotical

You can think of it that way, you just have to lay a second bead on top of the first bead but offset the second bead towards the outer pipe a little.

Nice drawing by the way!

speedkar9

Just updating this thread with my flex pipe replacement. I took it to a shop to get it done today for $150 CAD.

The flex pipe was leaking, as well as the around the "joint" where it meets the rear pipe.

Before:


They tried to put on the bracket back around the flex pipe but the welded pipe is too large a diameter and it won't fit. I'll see if I can rig up something to work with the remaining pieces of the bracket.

It was a bit challenging for them to weld it on the car, as there isn't much clearance above the pipe.

After:



The double pipe they mentioned was just the two Y-pipes butt joined together in the front. As you can see the flex pipe are single walled, albeit fairly thick.

Flex pipe close ups:



Notice the edge of the flex pipe where it joins to the rear pipe where its cracked and leaking:



The car drives quieter now, not as coarse as before. Will see on a cold start in the mornings if I still smell the exhaust.

Chuckinnj

I know this is a old thread but I thought I would offer this helpful advice: Stay away from the after market systems like Eastern Cat....... I ordered one from Rock and the fitment is NOT even close. Not one flange matched up and the flange leaks are driving me nuts! I am taking the system apart for the fifth time to make it fit, thank God I have a lift in my garage...... Do not attempt this job using aftermarket parts unless you have a lift.
I sorta knew this was going to be a biotch of a job because the old system came off in 10 minutes.