Ques RE: leaking exhaust header and related servicing...>>>

[wamanning]

so my 2001 sport has a leaky header - not sure if it's just a gasket or if the plumbing is going. car sounds a bit junkety. slowly getting worse. very slowly. at some point i'll have to nut up and get some exhaust work done, and i suspect it's not gonna be cheap.

so, gearheads, given the car's not-young-not-old age...is it likely that it'll just be a bad gasket? the big cost is labor, but i just want to know if the the bit that fails is generally the gasket or header.

if it does require new plumbing bits, would you just replace the offending part (e.g., just the header) or the whole thing from header to tailpipe?

just trying to get smart on how these things fail and what the reasonable course of action is so i dont get taken to the cleaners!

thx!

[R-Caddy]

I would look into the pipe-to-manifold ring gasket first, before removing the manifolds. Otherwise, passenger side manifold is easier to remove with the heads still on and the motor still in

[CateraMV6]

I would say its the gaskets as well as most of the system is stainless steel and doesnt really rust.

Mine has something like that too and its driving me nuts but no time to tear into it and see where exactly it comes from.

[JRomano]

Yeah I too have an exhaust leak coming from the manifold area, more so on the passenger side than the drivers side. Its not too bad though and once the engine and manifolds heat up after driving a couple minutes it seals itself up from heat expansion. I was guessing it would be the manifold to exhaust port gasket but without getting in there its purely speculation.

[wamanning]

exactly what mine does. after a minute or 2, it goes away when everthing expands and closes up the gaps. but that time to silence is slowly getting longer and longer. at some point i'll have to get it sorted lest i go crazy!

[TitanCTS]

Guys my cars does this exact same problem too.. But mine is minor... I've looked into it and it is the gasket that connects the cat. converter pipe to the exhaust manifold. The gasket cost me around $20.. Haven't changed it yet since I plan on changing both when I change my rear main seal. But it's not a big deal. Those gaskets are easy to change if you have a lift.

[RADman2000]

Wow! I had no idea this problem was so widespread! With me, it was the passenger-side gasket between the manifold and pipe. The car had the problem when I got it at 30,000 miles. I took it to Midas, figuring they were the "experts" in that sort of thing. They diagnosed it with some exhaust-gas sensor, noting that it appeared to be the manifold/exhaust pipe seal, then ordered the part. I went back a couple of days later and they put it on the lift. They used something that looked like a socket wrench with a 4-foot-long extension to undo the pipe at the manifold from underneath the car and then removed the whole exhaust pipe. They replaced the gasket, reattached it, and it's been sounding great ever since (>2 years). I think I paid about $200 (probably somewhat more than it should have cost--I figure about 1-1/2 hours of labor for diagnosis and repair + cost of part), but I was SO HAPPY to get it fixed for under $500/$750/$1000/name your astronomical Catera repair cost here.

Hope this helps with your question.

2000 Cadillac Catera (non-Sport)

[Cadi Cat]

wanna know about MY experience at the local MIDAS place... They quoted me 15 hours of labor to do this job. I called them idiots and walked out the door! The invoice was something about $1100 or so. Clearly they didn't want to do it.

[wamanning]

Originally Posted by Cadi Cat

wanna know about MY experience at the local MIDAS place... They quoted me 15 hours of labor to do this job. I called them idiots and walked out the door! The invoice was something about $1100 or so. Clearly they didn't want to do it.

if fixing requires pulling both headers, then i can see that sort of labour tally.

but the likelihood of that is slim, and that's assuming it's the header. as others have found, it can be another gasket further down the system and common sense says that it's not likely to affect both at the same time.

most "corporate" shops seem to be crooks, or at least do not have the customers best interest in mind. sad.