The other day, while driving home, my exhaust suddenly became very loud. Upon inspection, I found that the exhaust pipe had rusted through and broken off at the muffler.
The muffle flange was intact, but the pipe connected to it had rusted and broken off completely.
To fix it, I had a few options:
- Repair it using a new pipe, keeping the old flange, and welding it back together.
- Replace both the broken flange and the muffler flange with a ball flange kit.
- Cut off the damaged pipe at the resonator and replace it with a new pipe (from the resonator to the flange).
I chose option #3 because I couldn’t weld and it was the quickest and cheapest fix (costing about $70 in parts).
I used a resonator made by Walker Exhaust (#54698, purchased online for about $63) and a Walker gasket (#31533). To secure it, I used a U-clamp ($4) and Permatex 80335 sealant ($2) at the slip joint. Though I might weld it later, this temporary fix is working well with no exhaust leaks.
I also made a step-by-step video for anyone facing a similar problem. It turns out this type of failure is fairly common, but fortunately, it’s an easy fix!
