BinaryJay

Well it's not going to rust in that area again, and if all of the other areas not replaced are still fairly sound why would they spontaneously rust through in 1 year? The fix makes sense to me... obviously the pieces getting replaced are where the problem is worst and the rest of the exhaust provided they cut enough away if not anywhere close to failing won't fail any faster. No use replacing everything for 2 grand IMO.

Also, sure it'll look patchy but whatever nobody sees it and sure it's a lexus but it's not a show car or exotic in any way shape or form.

BinaryJay

Well it's freezing cold here right now, I started the car to the usual roar of an exhaust leak somewhere... looked under the car and saw steam coming out of a junction point which appears to be under a heat shield near the middle of the underbody after the catalytic converters. Quite a lot of it actually... pretty sure there is a big crack or hole going on under there.

Does anybody know what part of the exhaust is actually in that location? Is it the resonator? It's too freaking cold for me to want to jack the car up and remove the heat shield and start looking at it myself in the driveway so I guess I will take it to the exhaust shop for an inspection.

The car also smells like gas when I first start it up, I'm hoping that is related to this what appears to be big exhaust leak... maybe it's the exhaust getting up under the car causing the O2 sensors to make the car run rich? I've got no codes or real driveability issues though.

Simmsled

It will though. It will rust. The materials & process used on these fixes are not the same as OE. The metal and weld material is MUCH less resistant to oxidation.

Plus... welding rust is a recipe for replacement.

ryan78

iTrader: (2)

Jay - you're pretty much screwed no matter which way you look at it given Lexus of Canada's reaction to your CSP requests in the past. You may start getting P0158,202 or 2198 codes soon, which are O2 and ECU related. I'm in that boat now, with multiple misfire codes - 300, 301, 302 and 306 after having the CSP done twice on my 06 AWD, and then being told I need a $13k block replacement. My advice is to drive it through the sales room window. I'll call you from jail after I do that later today....

BinaryJay

P0158 rings a bell to me, I think that's what I was getting when water was going through the windshield cowl and down my firewall onto the rear O2 sensor harness. I'm pretty sure I fixed that because I haven't seen it in more than 6 months (?) now after I replaced my cowl with a non broken one.

At this point I think I am leaning towards not persuing that CSP at all any more, it seems like the more they mess with the engines the worse off they are.

Anyway, I'll bring it to a reputable exhaust place saturday morning... they're honest, they do all sorts of custom work and aren't just a typical jiffy muffler type place so they will give me the skinny on what a long term fix will be. I don't mind spending a few hundred bucks even if it will only last another 5 years or less... car gets driven very little so I am not that concerned about the engine and spending a few hundred bucks every 5 years to patch up an exhaust is still a lot cheaper than replacing the car with something else that will probably have it's own set of stupid issues anyway.

I actually kind of suspect I have a leak at the exhaust manifold as well maybe as well the huge leak after the cat. I actually have a video... frig eh... look at this ****...

charmz

jay- do it right the first time.

i tired patching mine on two separate occasions and it never held.

the guys at bullock have pre-fabricated piece that replaces the entire section to the cats from the headers.

all the holes in mine were under the heat shield

BinaryJay

I took it to Hot Rod Scotts, they fabricated a complete replacement out of stainless steel from the flange after the cats (where the O2 sensors go in) all the way back to the... I don't know what they are, they bulge out somewhere in the middle. They did it all on the spot in under two hours... it cost me $400 though, even though only one side was cracked I just told them to do both while I was there. And yeah it was all under the heat shields which are now history as well. Still $400 is a lot better than the $2000 I think Lexus told me just to replace one side with a new factory pipe which of course is the same non stainless garbage that will just go to pieces again.

They painted the weld spots with high temp enamel stuff. They seem to know what they're doing there and the guy said I wouldn't likely have any more problems with this for the life of the car and the rest of the exhaust is not prone to rusting out. Told me they see this all the time.

As a side note, I do like bullock city - they are a bit of a trip for me since I'm in bloor west village in west toronto but I take my car there for it's annual synthetic oil change and brake service. I just wish they weren't such a trek, but I would probably take my car there for other repairs.

Just out of curiosity what does bullock charge for this kind of replacement? I'm not sure what you mean to the cats from the headers because nothing before the cats has a problem everything was after the cats here... you had problems with something leading up to the engine? Are there even heat shields up there?? I'm not sure why there would be.

Anyway, the car is a hell of a lot quieter now and doesn't roar at me when I start it... I'm sure some people would think of it as a downgrade, the car no longer sounds like it has a V12. I gassed up on the way home after getting the exhaust repaired and had to drive across town today and I don't know if it's a coincidence or not but my average fuel economy for the trip was a good 3L/100km better than usual.

ryan78

iTrader: (2)

Jay - my GS is back at the dealer for the misfire issues for the third time, as I stated above. They informed me that I have the same exhaust issue as well. Oh the fun. I used to love my GS...

BinaryJay

Well don't let them "fix" it because their fix is replacing the whole exhaust. Also, yes, P0138 is back for me again... it popped on after a car wash. I thought I figured that one out, but I guess some part of the passenger side rear O2 sensor is getting wet and shorting something out but I still haven't figured out what apparently.

In all fairness, this car is 9 years old now (mine was built in 2005)... it's easy to forget it's that old because it doesn't look anywhere near that old. I don't think I've ever kept any other of my cars to this "advanced age" before so stuff is going to go on it that I never had to deal with before just from being old...

canatto

Jay, thanks for the good info! How is the Hot Rod Scotts fix holding up on your car? Me has had enough of that V12 sound and is about to hit the shop and get a "down-grade" too.

BinaryJay

Honestly I haven't really looked at it since, but I haven't noticed anything sounding off yet. I got the impression that if the welds were to fail even within a few years that they would probably fix it again for nothing or very little - they seem pretty free wheeling there.

I'll know for sure if it's holding up when the cold weather hits because that's when it became plainly obvious it was bad last year with the steam piping out of the bottom of the car.

Right now I'm getting ready to drop another big load of money into the car for new pads/rotors all around and brake, differentials and transmission fluids. After Lexus finally agreed to do the piston rings job on the car I suddenly feel a little bit better about investing in maintenance items on the car (in that, I no longer feel like I will have to sell the car any time soon).

CRowe14

This is the first time after reading a series of post, that I feel like the GS isn't the greatest idea. Between this, the multitude of noises that can emit from the car and all the brake issues I read about...I don't know...

erobgs

I'm in the same boat holes in the y-pipe by the heat shield. My dealer said the only option is a full replacement - $2500. Since it's a 2006 and probably isn't worth $8k, I'm struggling with the idea of sinking that kind of money into the car. I have a local shop I trust but they can't seem to find a non-oem part - are there options out there? A link to a product catalog or specific parts guide would be very helpful.

Othic

Go aftermarket
http://www.b2autodesigns.com/product...oducts_id=7093

erobgs

I'd love to go aftermarket but I should have mentioned that ours is the dreaded AWD version of the GS300.

Oh and I'm in NY which apparently means that some of the pipes out there aren't legal for us.

If anyone has a lead on an aftermarket option for the AWD 06 GS00 I'd jump at the chance to buy it.

Thanks for responding!