well it wasnt the flange itself, it was the pipe right after the flange that goes directly to the cat. apparently theres a factory weld maybe an inch or so after the flange and thats where it seperated. ive heard the factory weld doesnt hold that well and the backpreassure can pop it apart.

but my shop WAS gunna weld it, but they called and said that the two pipes dont slide into one another, they just butt up against eachother and so i guess that means they cant weld it anymore. so their just gunna replace it.


but ya know... the cat probably needs to be replaced anyways, im at 125k

Yeah sort of common for the cat flange to crack if not seperate completely. More than a few stories about that for sure. I don't think it has anything to do with back pressure though. Probably just that the cat is old and maybe a little clogged causing it to get too hot, then cool down. Enough cycles of that will cause anything to crack at its weakest point. Hopefuly you arent getting raped on this though. An oem cat is costly, and you can get it done for pretty cheap by getting a universal or labree, etc. cat/hfcat.

yeah... my shop said they found a replacement for 450 and labor is 150.

i dunno if thats rape or reasonable, but its gotta be done soon. ive got a driving day with my brother tomorrow against his 01 325i, haha

Thats rape.
http://www.labreemotorsports.com/products_vw.html

The labor seems reasonable enough though.

And if your state doesnt test emissions, ebay test pipes have proven to hold up for ~$100.

If saving $200+ on this isn't worth missing out on racing w/ your bro then go for it. Otherwise, you could do a ton better. What woule REALLY suck is to get that cat for $450, race your bro and lose, and then wonder if you could have won with a hfc or tp

I hate myself.

what is it a done deal?

yeah, it should be done this morning. im pickin it up after i get out of classes.

i dont mind it too much, the guy that owns it is a friend of my dads. he usually gives us a 30% discount, but we use him a lot. so i dont blame him for charging regular this time.

although maybe his quote wasnt including the discount yet. maybe that happens at the register.

$450 is steep if it's not oem. Ask him who supplied the part.

Your cat didn't crack from back pressure. It cracked because it's old.

$450 is an after-market replacement or used OEM. OEM cat from a dealer is $750 + core charge. $450 is definitely either a terrible deal on a used cat or an OE style replacement OR it's a BANGIN' deal on a new OEM cat!

Labree is $250 + shipping and it's a high-flow and high quality. OE style replacements generally sell for about $300, but then again, the shop has to make some money on the part too. At least the labor they charged you was reasonable.