December - high pitch squealing. We secured it on better at the back box.
January - discovered hole in catalytic converter section where the pipe curls around and has a stick-out part where a bolt mounts it to the engine.
February - blissful ignorance, increasing sound from engine heard in car
March - as of yesterday, the car is roaring and it sounds as if metal is scraping along the ground when I accelerate at all! Really does sound like a tool box of heavy metal tools clashing together!!! I must sort this problem out.
Condition of the exhaust on my Panda: Unfortunately, the exhaust on my car has been subject to abuse from incompetent and/or lazy "mechanics". There is no flex joint piece, just a welded pipe. I suspect the main exhaust pipe going the length of the car is also just a welded job as it completely misses and does not join to the central mount points... NOR does the catalytic convertor part [which has developed a hole] with the bolt meet where it's supposed to.
The plan: I am considering biting the bullet and replacing the entire exhaust including catalytic convertor because,
1; we can't get it off without taking the whole exhaust out anyway given the fact most of it's welded together.
2; I'm told separating the cat from the front of the engine can be a tricky task given the huge temperatures bonding it together.. might need picked at to get off, leaving it in no shape to re-fit?
3; I'd like to restore the flex joint, it MUST be there for a reason... otherwise Fiat would surely have saved themselves the bother.
4; I would like the entire exhaust to be fitted CORRECTLY, taking advantage of ALL mounting points.
The only issue being the cost. I can source the exhaust parts for around £200 (see my attached screenshot) which since I don't have to pay for labour might actually not be so bad. I love getting things like this done but my car is 2005, 13 years old and I'm unsure if it's silly to fit an entire new exhaust system to an old car. Will I get use from it? My uncle who does a lot of the fixing maintains that the engine runs like a clock and the car will run forever with the way we've kept on top of maintaining it.
I understand that NORMALLY you'd just replace the single section with the issue but in my case it's all melted together in a mess...
And as a side question... what other benefits would a new exhaust bring? Surely the car would be quieter. Though I doubt it would run any better since this is essentially just a way of moving the fumes to the back?
So if you've read this far:
Should I replace the entire exhaust unit?
If so why / If not what should I do?
Any other tips?
Have I considered most of the parts here:
January - discovered hole in catalytic converter section where the pipe curls around and has a stick-out part where a bolt mounts it to the engine.
February - blissful ignorance, increasing sound from engine heard in car
March - as of yesterday, the car is roaring and it sounds as if metal is scraping along the ground when I accelerate at all! Really does sound like a tool box of heavy metal tools clashing together!!! I must sort this problem out.
Condition of the exhaust on my Panda: Unfortunately, the exhaust on my car has been subject to abuse from incompetent and/or lazy "mechanics". There is no flex joint piece, just a welded pipe. I suspect the main exhaust pipe going the length of the car is also just a welded job as it completely misses and does not join to the central mount points... NOR does the catalytic convertor part [which has developed a hole] with the bolt meet where it's supposed to.
The plan: I am considering biting the bullet and replacing the entire exhaust including catalytic convertor because,
1; we can't get it off without taking the whole exhaust out anyway given the fact most of it's welded together.
2; I'm told separating the cat from the front of the engine can be a tricky task given the huge temperatures bonding it together.. might need picked at to get off, leaving it in no shape to re-fit?
3; I'd like to restore the flex joint, it MUST be there for a reason... otherwise Fiat would surely have saved themselves the bother.
4; I would like the entire exhaust to be fitted CORRECTLY, taking advantage of ALL mounting points.
The only issue being the cost. I can source the exhaust parts for around £200 (see my attached screenshot) which since I don't have to pay for labour might actually not be so bad. I love getting things like this done but my car is 2005, 13 years old and I'm unsure if it's silly to fit an entire new exhaust system to an old car. Will I get use from it? My uncle who does a lot of the fixing maintains that the engine runs like a clock and the car will run forever with the way we've kept on top of maintaining it.
I understand that NORMALLY you'd just replace the single section with the issue but in my case it's all melted together in a mess...
And as a side question... what other benefits would a new exhaust bring? Surely the car would be quieter. Though I doubt it would run any better since this is essentially just a way of moving the fumes to the back?
So if you've read this far:
Should I replace the entire exhaust unit?
If so why / If not what should I do?
Any other tips?
Have I considered most of the parts here:
.
