Hello everyone

a buddy of mine has a 98 a6 with a nasty exhaust leak.
i got the car up on jackstands, looked around, everything seemed in order, nothing loose or visibly broken, so i seafoamed the engine and found the exhaust leak coming from a crack in what looks to be a flexjoint on bank1.
it resembles a resonator and has a steel mesh covering.

what'd be the best way to fix this? can we just spot weld this? will welding it cause the flexjoint to freeze up? or can we just cut it out and straightpipe it? or are we going to have to just r+r the flexjoint with a new one?

thanks for your input.

 

Replace the felex joint with a new one -

 

what would happen if i just straightpipe it?

would it sound bad?
would it vibrate a lot?

the guy doesnt really care about his car, he just doesnt want to hear the leak anymore.

thanks for your input.

 

If you straightpipe it it will cause cracking somewhere in the rest of the system, most likely the exhaust manifold. That flexpipe is to allow movement and expansion/contraction. You can find universal replacements.

 

that's exactly what i was afraid of...

do you know of a good website that sells them?

again, i appreciate your help

 

Whats the pipe diameter and what length do you need? You can get them at the local parts store...

 

sorry to waste your time... he already sold the car and bought a 99 SSP crown victoria...and this car needs more work than the audi did

 

Unless they have Police "package" on them, the C Victorias are such pieces of... junk. I would pick any day an Oldsmo Delta 88 over that crap.

Too bad he sold the car. I indeed saw flex sections at O'Reillys (about $ 25).

 

Not at all, its what we're here for... Just sorry we didnt get a chance to get another Audi running tops...

 

How about wraping it with some hi temperature fiberglass cloth? like the stuff they wrap header pipes with. i had a exhust leak on a old rusty flange and wraped it with the cloth and then secured it with a wrap of stainless steel wire. Kind of a macgyver fix, but it worked and is still there.