How do you fix and exhaust pipe problem

[sarsy]

I have a 91 accord dx, I have not put any type of hardware in it since I bought it used. So I do not know if I have a different exhaust pipe or if every thing is stock but on my back right tire when ever I go over a bump my exhaust pipe hits something on my suspenison well my muffler finally
broke from the stress and well I spot welded it to fix it temperaly but it keeps hitting it so and it wil break again. So do I have a the wrong exhaust pipe in or is my suspenion low causing it to hit it so pretty much how do I fix this any suggestions?



Also can any one point me in the right direction to get the right type of muffler and exhaust pipe to put in my car becasue I need a new one for sure and I have no idea where there is a good place to buy one.

I live in seattle

[batever]

something has to be very messed up for anything in the rear suspension to *hit* your muffler or exhaust pipe. The exhaust system after it emerges from the exhaust manifold on the engine is all on hangers and it's supposed to move up and down with the car's body.

The front of the exhaust is bolted to the exhaust header at the front of the engine.

3 feet back there is a hanger on the back of the engine block.

3 feet back from that or so there is a hanger behind the catalytic converter.

There is a hanger right at the muffler.

That's it.

How do you know something is hitting it in the first place? just because it's breaking? It could be just breaking because the metal is corroding and getting weak. As I recall, there's only one hanger for the muffler itselt, then a hanger near the "b" pipe flange that connects to the muffler pipe flange. AS the metal weakens, and the car goes over bumps and such, the exhaust pipe where it enters the muffler can weaken and break just from the up-and-down and gravity.

If you have a the correct exhaust setup, there's nothing anywhere on the car that should be *hitting* any part of the rear exhaust system.

If you could post a digital photo or do a better description of where exactly you are talking about I could maybe help you more.

[batever]

Any decent parts store can get you a specific muffler/pipe for your car. A muffler with rear pipe will cost you maybe $70-80. as a part. Then you will need the right gasket, and you will need the right length bolts.

You have a spot welder so I figure you are somewhat handy--but

It's a lot easier when dealing with exhaust to just have a shop do it. The hard part is getting the fasteners off, they get incredibly corroded because of the exhaust heat and often have to be cut off with a torch or with a cutting wheel. (torch is easier if you have one), or cutting a small slot in the nuts and using a nut breaker.

Unless you have a lot more free time on your hands than cash, have a shop do it.

[sarsy]

this is the outside view of my suspension area



and here you can see where the spiring is near my exhaust pipe which I think is hiting it becasue I could not get a picture of it but there is wear on the spring and the exhaust pipe where they have been hitting each other




and here is just a different angle for the suspension



so is my suspension broken or what

[C91BLX7]

Who ever did your exhaust is a dumbfuck.

The pipe is suppose to run under the the suspension not over.

[batever]

Holy Shit!. that is an amazing exhaust pipe run. It is completely wrong. So now I see why you are having the problem. Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory could learn a few lessons from whoever did that job.

In the first place, is that the back end of your muffler I see next to the strut on your right rear wheel? (looks like it)

If so, the muffler is supposed to be hung maybe a foot or so to the left of where it is. There is actually a little cutout on the rear bumper that shows where the end of the exhaust pipe is supposed to come out . If you look at you exhaust pipe, you will probably see that it's like one foot or so to the right of the cutout.

I'm guessing that someone tried to put a muffler for a differennt car on yours but it didn't have the right hanger, so they just improvised. A good muffler shop would have welded new hanger rods on the muffler so it would fit your accord, I'm guessing whoever did this job didn't do that.
There's nothing in particular wrong with using a different muffler, but it has to be done right, looks like it was not done right in this case.

** picture** It would be interesting if you took a picture from a couple feet behind the exhaust pipe/ bumper so we could see what's up with that.

**picture** can you get a picture (from the rear, maybe from slightly to the left of the rear exhaust pipe) that shows how the muffler itself is hanging from the vehicle?

That pipe that is going through the rear control arm? That is really messed up, the pipe is just supposed to run straight back from the muffler (basically) and back to the intermediate pipe flange. It's supposed to go under the suspension and well to the left of the wheel well area.

I'm guessing they did that because the initial muffler placement was wrong and way too far to the right of the car, sending the pipe into the wheelwell area. (!!!##@@88 that is amazing!)



I don't know what your intermediate pipe looks like, that could be messed up too, but I'm guessing not.

**picture **: Can you can take a picture of where the rear pipe meets the intermediate pipe flange? This would be maybe a foot or two forward of the wheel well area and maybe 2 feet in from the side of the car.

Ok, leaving that aside, and pending if you can post the 3 pictures I outlined above, here are a couple scenarios for a solution:

If the muffler is still good, you could have a muffler shop cut the pipe and repipe the muffler the way it should be. If i had a camera myself I'd post you a photo of mine, but i don't have a camera right now.

download a manual from this site for a 90-92 accord (, or hondahookup.com, or hondatech.info) and look at the exhaust diagram. that should give you an idea of how it should look.

It looks like you just have to buy a new rear pipe, attach it at the intermediate pipe flange/hanger, and clamp it to the existing muffler. Depending on how all that is connected, it may need to be cut with a torch. (if it's welded together) in which case have a shop do it.

If you can unbolt the muffler from the rear pipe (in other words, if it's clamped together not welded) and the rear pipe from the intermediate flange, I'd say you could do this job yourself just by buying a new rear pipe for about $80.

I'm looking forward to an update!

Good luck!

[totaldoughnut]

[QUOTE=batever;1686844]Holy Shit!. that is an amazing exhaust pipe run. It is completely wrong. QUOTE]

Uhhmmm... Thats a real nice 90 degree bend you got there. Is that mandrel bent?

[batever]

I looked at your pics again.

It looks like someone welded the muffler to the rear pipe. And probaly used the wrong muffler and wrong pipe.

Take a look at it and see if you unbolted the rear pipe from the intermediate flange, could you pull the flange throught the suspension/wheel well area? Or will you have to cut the rear pipe near the welds in front of the muffler to get it all out?

Either way, once it's removed, all you need to do is buy the correct muffler and rear pipe, gasket, and bolts and attach it.

A simple job but messy and strenuous if you're doing it on jackstands instead of a lift.

[batever]

The good news is, your suspension is probably fine. It's the muffler and pipe that you were gonna replace anyways that are fucked up.

[totaldoughnut]

Yeah, that muffler is definatley welded on. It looks to me like an old school exhaust person may have assembled this and didnt know any better. The old muscle cars with straight rear axles had the u tubes going over the top of the axles. Maybe someone didnt know any better. Or yeah, ignorance installed this. Is that car lowered? Just think if it wasnt and you decided to lower it thinking the exhaust was ok. Clunk, clunk, clunk, crack, followed by rice noises until it was repaired properly. Man, I love my west coast cb7.

[totaldoughnut]

Batever is correct, doing exhaust work on jack stands is miserable.

[Losiracer2]

i hope you can kinda get the idea, but yeah your exhaust piping is all jacked up. Its supposed to run under the suspension arms not over it. That's why you have a huge crease where the car is squashing the pipe lol. Here's what mine looks like:

[batever]

It looks to me like an old school exhaust person may have assembled this and didnt know any better. The old muscle cars with straight rear axles had the u tubes going over the top of the axles. Maybe someone didnt know any better. Or yeah, ignorance installed this. .

Interesting, totaldoughnut. So what you are saying is that it could be actually (misapplied) knowledge and craft, as opposed to mere wanton ignorance, that resulted in this exhaust job. That is somehow poetic.

[totaldoughnut]

Interesting, totaldoughnut. So what you are saying is that it could be actually (misapplied) knowledge and craft, as opposed to mere wanton ignorance, that resulted in this exhaust job. That is somehow poetic.

Exactly. The person that hung this system may have at one time been at the top of his trade and went the route that he thought was the norm. Ive seen it first hand plenty of times in my trade as a diesel mechanic.

[totaldoughnut]

Got to respect the old timers. Because we will all be there one day.