Have a very slight blow in my exhaust. Around the back of the box. It's only audible on start up but it can only get worse...
I remember my Dad always repairing his old Cortina exhaust with special putty. Is this still a worthwhile job? I see Halfords do a 'kit' for £15 which is probably quite a few quid less than a new back box. I expect it isn't too difficult? How long could I expect a repair to last?
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The 'special putty' that your dad used all of those years ago was probably Holts Gun Gum. It is a thick horrible putty type stuff that basically fills over smallish holes and is only really good for temporary repairs. How long it can be expected to last depends on what you are trying to repair, how you apply it and also down to the use that the vehicle gets. It will never be as good as replacing the offending part.
That said I do occasionally use Gun Gum, mainly on an elderly relatives Renault 5 that is lucky to do 1000 miles per annum. The car tends to eat exhaust components and normally the first signs are little holes around where the pipe enters the silencer(s). If it is not too critical I tend to Gun Gum it up, to get it through the MOT as it is unlikely to fall apart completely before the next year. That way it gets another twelve months out of the exhaust component and saves some cash in the process that would otherwise in my opinion be wasted.
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needs an assesement of the corrosion
basically once a hole has formed its on its way to la la land
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if your keeping the car for more than a few months , id suggest you put the £15 towards a new exhaust
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It might be worth patching up one of the exhaust components just long enough so that you get the longest life out of all the rest, so that it becomes worthwhile to replace the whole system at one go. Sometimes an exhaust goes in one weak spot long before the rest fails.
But doing any patching is really only rock-bottom bangernomics, and starts you off on a road of endless and increasing scrabbling about underneath trying to trace holes. If you intend keeping the car, spin this exhaust out for as long as possible with a £5 tub of Gun-Gum, then put the saving towards a stainless steel system.
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It IS worth re4pairing if: it's a hole in a silncer box but not at a join.. The latter will fracture and fall apart soon. But holes in boxes are easily repaired with exhaust cement , a thin steel plate, some wire ; after wire brushing and rust prooofing around the hole.
Son's backbox ont his Peugeot 106 has lasted 3 years so far after repair.. looks good so far for at least another 1 year.
If it's not life threatening, why spend money when a perfectly adequate reppair can be done for next to nowt?
madf
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Thanks all, some mixed responses.
I think it's a failure at a join (rear of back box > mid pipe) but I have only felt it (not yet got right under and looked).
From what I can see without getting my trousers dirty, the box looks quite corroded on outisde - obviously original system (car just over 3 years old - 90k miles).
A glimpse at the paper shows prices for back boxes on equivalent engine sized cars as being about £40 at the local discount exhaust chain so maybe I should just get a new box. This does lead me to the follow-up questions which is can these bargain exhausts from the big chains be any good?
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As many will tell you you can get a huge range of thickness's of steel and grades of steel going into an exhaust.
Most of the cheapest will last 1 year with normal motoring, some come with up to a 3 year guarantee (fast fit places)... In 20 years of motoring with several cars, the Car makers exhaust seems to last 2 - 4 years + for normal steel in normal conditions, but normally costs more. However if you intend to keep the car more than 3 years and/or you live in a corrosive area (ie near the sea) then stainless steel systems will often be the cheaper long term option (I had a Corolla with a Stainless steel system which lasted the life of the car, ie 14 years).
But if buying from a big chain, I'd check to see what sort of length of gaurantee you get, if none, then check their competitors...However in my (limited) experience their exhausts never sound as smooth as the original car makers or as sporty as a specialist brand....it is often a case of you get what you pay for ....
S.
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I used to try to make exhausts last for ever, especially on my VW 411 whose exhaust parts were expensive and awkward to dismantle once seriously rusty, but even on Skodas whose entire system, very compact and all in one piece, used to cost peanuts.
A filthy, hand destroying job involving not only Gun-Gum which is corrosively alkaline but bits of tin and endless lengths of iron wire. Very few of the repairs ever lasted long. The tell-tale sound of an ill-tuned Edwardian racer would soon start up again, along with rattling and tinkling noises.
Hardly worth the trouble unless you are very, very short of money and don't mean to keep the car. I know what I'm talking about here.
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Change of plan!
Having rung around the usual exhaust places they all confirm it isn't in production as a patent part yet so they cannot supply. They were all suprised it had failed on a 3 year old car. Any idea how long it takes for an exhaust to come out as a patent part?
BMW want £220 to supply only. Local garage would fit it for £40. Hmm, pricey total.
I don't know where else to try so I think I will just have to gum it up...
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Aftermarket parts for exhaust systems only are produced when there is a sizeable demand to justify the costs of tooling and inventory. Most new exhaust systems should last 4-8 years .. so there may be a long wait as your car is only 3 years young.
madf
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That's pretty rubbish exhaust life for any new car - my wife's Toyota is on it 's original exhaust at 7.5 years old - local runs etc, usually not good for exhaust life ?
I'm on my original Nissan exhaust at 5 years old !
What car is this - you say BM garage - BMW or MINI ?
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with reference to patching exhausts , one thing to consider is if it fails , and the exhaust comes off [they usually seperate where the pipe enters a box] then when it hits the floor , what happens next ? my own experience :
vehicle 1 destoyed a back valance [fiesta]
vehicle 2 came off hit the road, i braked hard , [ to recover the exhaust ] what i hadnt realised was the "box" had completely left the vehicle, trouble is exhaust box came bouncing down road and "hit" back of van putting a lovely dent in back door ! [merc 508]
then i picked it up and burnt my hands !!!!!!!
oh dear !
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Do BMW only supply standard exhausts and not stainless? I'm amazed. My 11 year old Audi appears to have stainless. It is 11 years old and has done 180,000 miles. I have owned it for half that mileage.
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@fossyant - It's a BMW. I'm also suprised it's failed being so young but that's little consolation!
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it is definatly worth it in the short term but in the long term you should get a stainless system on it the stainless option should out live the car itself
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if u go on to a few website's one's that supply all different kinds of performance exhaust's you should find a stainless system for it quite cheaply
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Personally I find prevention saves a lot of money. A wire brush off of any rust and a coat of heat proof paint make a conventional system last years At least mine last >10 years so far...
madf
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