Arcturus

Hello,

I know I have a cracked Y-pipe and took my Lexus to a recommended exhaust shop near my house.

They told me I need a complete replacement of my exhaust to the tune of $2500 CAD without the Y-pipe (I have to get that myself).

I live in Eastern Canada where we get a lot of salt, and the exhaust system did look rusted, but have any of you had to replace your mufflers? I thought these were stainless? When the car was up on the hoist I couldn't see any obvious leaks on the exterior, but they told me that they were damaged inside.

What are the chances of this being true? Second opinion?

Tom57

Without seeing your exhaust, I'd say you only need the Y-pipe. Are you getting any MIL codes? Are there holes in the mufflers? Is the exhaust loud? Are they saying you need catalytic converters too? My '01 is on the original mufflers and catalytic converters at 270K miles. Y-pipe was replaced.

Arcturus

Hi Tom.

Yes my car is quite noisy and it is very noticeable at idle. When I accelerate it sounds more like traditional US V8 so I know there's issues. I am also getting intermittent P0430 MILs. They put it up on the hoist today. I can see a crack in the Y pipe at front end of the car near at the end of the heat shield. The front cats are okay. But they want me to replace:

- Ypipe (Have to get this myself - they told me they'd have to go to the dealer for this part - probably going to be $2k here)
- Resonator ($680 CAD)
- Both mufflers (2 x $660 CAD)

The components do look rusted. The mufflers seemed to be noisy, but I cannot see any perforation. It is very hard to tell whether they are in fact damaged inside or this is normal. I remember 3 years ago when I got the car it was very quiet. They are marking up the parts significantly (2x) from what I can get on Rock Auto.

I'm wondering what is the best route to go. I costed out around $1500 CAD delivered to my door from Rock Auto, but these are mostly Walker components and I'm not sure of the quality. The shop said they could install my parts for $180 - it would mostly plug and play.

Have you or anyone you know done a custom stainless exhaust for this car? I know it would be expensive, but the winters are very harsh here and I'm thinking if I go traditional it may be doing this job over and over.

Also, can I delete the resonator and get them to weld in a section of pipe instead?

Arcturus

Any chance you could post a short clip of what your muffler sounds like at idle? May help to see if mine's the same.

Jks24

A custom made exhaust made out of 409 stainless steel from the 2 front cats back with a x pipe and 2 mufflers should be about $1000-$1500 thats in albany NY, so i would just get a custom exhaust made that seems like your best bet.

Tom57

There are a few threads regarding replacement of Y-pipe and availability. Here's one example of an inexpensive Y-pipe fix: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...d-and-new.html

Tom57

The '01 is out-of-town ...

Tom57

The P0430 MIL may be a bad O2 sensor, or it may simply be from the defective Y-pipe. The downstream O2 sensors really don't do much, however yours are very likely rusted thoroughly to the Y-pipe. Those may not be re-useable. The sensor wire connects up through the floor pan under the carpet near the transmission hump in the front seat area.

Arcturus

Albany is around 3.5hrs from where I live. You know any reputable shops in that area?

StanVanDam

I would suggest getting a second opinion from another exhaust shop. The P0430 code is likely from a small crack in the Y-pipe or a leak in one or both gaskets at the front of the Y-pipe. You can get a new Y-pipe for $200-300 on the Internet (and they come with a new catalyst), then pay any local shop 1 hour of labor to install it.

My P0430 popped up days before my emissions test was due, and I had no time to wait for a pipe to arrive from the Internet, so I was forced to overpay for a Y-pipe ($650) + 1hr of labor from a nearby shop.

Mufflers likely do not have anything to do with your P0430 code. Fix the code first, then if mufflers need replacing, those are easy to do. The exhaust system isn't so difficult as to require replacing all of those parts at the same time.

Also, if you think exhaust noise is excessive, then definitely do not delete the resonator and weld in a pipe. The resonator exists to reduce noise.

DshngDaryl

I think the extra noise is coming from the cracked Y pipe. After all, you are spitting out exhaust before it gets to the mufflers. I replaced the Y pipe on my car last month. It was not that bad. I used car ramps and some wd-40.


I put the car up on ramps
Squirted the nuts and bolts with WD-40
Borrowed/Rented an O2 removal tool from O'reilleys
while I bought new metal gaskets

Then it was just a matter of taking out the O2 sensors without disconnecting them (that makes things much harder) unbolting and re-bolting it on. When I unscrewed the O2's the wire just twisted. When I put them back in, I twisted the wires in the same fashion and when I screwed them in, they ended up straight again.


Since the exhaust hangs using rubber gasket like things, there is some play in there to move the parts around .


I would try to replace just the Y pipe and see if that resolves your problem.


P.S. I have a brand new Canadian Catalytic Convertor I was going to put on, but ended up not needing. If anyone would like to buy it for $120, US$ PM me

Arcturus

You know what to me the mufflers looked fine. Didn't see any holes so I'm going to call bulls**t on the garage and order me a new Y-pipe then check after.

Thanks for all your help. Would be a shame to order new parts needlessly.

Arcturus

Anyone have the part numbers of the gaskets for the Y-pipe? I assume I'm going to have to cut the bolts off, did you guys use regular bolts or does Lexus have a part number for them. Finally are there any accessories to replace other than gaskets and bolts for the Y-pipe?

Jks24

Yah man red line racing , rip mods, Bavarian rocket science, spraker motor sports, there's a bunch i cant remember the name but there's this shop in Schenectady that looks like a complete ****-hole then you walk inside they have supras, nsx, ****en gtr, i saw a 360 modena in there to if i can find the name i will deff let you know but those ones up top are great especially red line and rip mods, bavarian rocket science is mostly euros but they do bangen work also.

Tom57

Lexus typically has a part number for every part. Is this DIY or are you taking to a muffler shop? There's a parts diagram for the entire exhaust assembly in your earlier thread > https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...d-muffler.html