QUALCO Muffler Weld - Exhaust system repair

Anybody here used the above mentioned product ?

I applied yesterday some amount of it on my exhaust system in my junky car but my concern is that this stuff does not harden. I left a small blob of the material on the parking lot to compare how it hardens on my car and this morning it had thin layer hardened on the surface but when I pressed harder my finger plunger into the blob, which turned out to be wet and soft inside.

If this is how it works on the muffler system I do not like it! I was in the understanding this is kind of polymer, similar to epoxy, which hardens on its whole volume, but it looks like this is a solvent type stuff which hardens trough the surface evaporation. When the surface hardens, the deeper layers do not and stay soft.

Any advice?

Reply to
Pszemol
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Yes, here's some very good advice for you:

Find a quiet, calm place. Close your eyes. Clear your mind of extraneous thoughts. Now spend 30 seconds pondering the difference in temperature between a parking lot and an engine's exhaust system, and then 30 seconds pondering whether you just asked a stupid question.

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Don't worry about it. You're obviously not trying to do a quality repair here or you would have just bought new pipes. But I suspect that the product you are using is temperature activated.

Now if you're trying to patch a hole in a running pipe, the best thing to do would be to take an empty beer or soda can, cut the ends off and slit it lengthwise, and clamp it over the pipe with two hose clamps after smearing the inside of it with muffler epoxy. Seriously.

good luck

nate

Reply to
N8N

Where did you grow so rude, punk ?

Imagine this - the repair I did is in the place, where the vibrations from starting the motor might destroy the connection/seal...

I was counting on this seal to harden BEFORE I even start the car. When I start the car and wait for it to heat up it might be too late for the seal to harden.

Reply to
Pszemol

The repair is in the place where two pipes link: the exhaust manifold pipe and the rest of the exhaust system - just under the car... There is a broken weld on the front pipe. The pressure and vibrations are quite strong in that place so I could not start the engine for heat activation on wet stuff for obvious reasons: the exhaust would blow out the wet, soft stuff out from the gap or the vibrations would break the connection. I do not need to use the car over the weekend so I will let it dry more before I do the initial test of the heated system.

Or... I will try to heat the exhaust pipes locally with a small torch to avoid exhaust gasses pressure buildup and vibration but use heat to harden the seal.

Thanks for the idea with the bottle - but it would not work in my case!

Reply to
Pszemol

Oh, I just re-checked the instructions on the back cover and I know now why I did not start the car but expected it to harden on its own. It reads at the bottom with capital lettering: "DO NOT START ENGINE UNTIL REPAIR IS THOROUGHLY HARDENED"

So I guess I will be fine. Maybe I put too much of this stuff and the bottom layers just need some more time to harden... We will see.

Reply to
Pszemol

Please try to overlook that rudeness. And don't feel singled out! Frequently a source of some good ideas even though often predicated with flames (whose damages apparently are unfelt by sendor) toward the poster; often highly theoretical & apparently without experienced practice. Seems that such opportunities inspire given responses. Admitting that both exist, hopefully we can utilize the pluses & overlook any minuses. BTW: I agree with your analysis about the test & the possibility it was too thick. Good luck & please let us know if it works. It would indeed be nice to know if such a successful product exists. s

Reply to
sdlomi2

Well, it all started when you asked a patently dumb question.

If you're counting on exhaust glue to hold your car together, you've got much bigger things to worry about than poking finger-holes in globs of exhaust glue on parking lot tarmacs.

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Poor advice. Then he'll never learn to stop asking stupid questions (i.e., the kind that can be answered all by oneself with just a few moments' additional thought or, as another poster pointed out, reading the instructions in the first place.)

Why, thank you.

Grow a thicker skin or stop reading my posts -- problem solved. Also, the letter "o" doesn't make even a cameo appearance in the word "sender".

*chuckle* I've had more different kinds of grease under my nails than I care to try to count, but here's the thing: it's of no consequence to me what you think of my advice. Like it? Hate it? Think it's all theoretical and impractical? Don't make no nevermind to me. It costs $0.00, whether anyone follows it or not, same as every other piece of advice given out by every other poster to Usenet.

Yeah, the amazing exhaust paste that glues together a car that should've been in the junkyard three years ago. It was actually available for about

6 weeks back in 1972, but Big Oil found out about it, bought up the patents, paid the inventor a great deal of hush money, and shelved it right next to the 300mpg carburetor.

DS

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

If you consider my question too trivial for your Greatest Expertise then simply do not answer and move forward to a question which will be much more challenging to your so bright mind...

You are dead wrong. I did read instructions more than twice, once already in the store. And my question was not on the subject "to turn on or not to turn on the engine". My question was to find somebody using this product before and willing to share his/her experience about hardening too slow and on the surface only. Make some minimal effort and read OP before you add your two cents and completely miss the target...

He was not only not on target but gave me WRONG advice to turn the engine before the seal hardens. Also, his wrong advice for him was so "obvious" that let him think my question was "stupid". Some say there is no stupid questions, there are only stupid answers, and yours or David's was one of them. Bunch of smartasses thinking they are the smartest on the Planet.

Once again - not interested in the thread then do not take part in it. Unless you are attracted to flame wars only... then good luck to you.

Reply to
Pszemol

What do you see dumb in the "Anybody here used the above mentioned product ?" question, punk ?

No, I am not counting on glue to hold my car together... Only to hold exhaust pipes together, it was design to do just this.

Reply to
Pszemol

I see you are on the mission here to teach people not to ask "stupid" questions like the one asking for people having first hand experience with the product in the subject... Since when this is your newsgroup and you feel responsible for the other people questions ? Not interested, move on...

You are not only rude, but also suffering from a low esteem syndrome if you have to point out typos in other people writting... What a jerk!

You are simply the best! This counting kinds of grease under your nails must be another way to heal your self esteem problem, I guess...

Reply to
Pszemol

Better read those instructions again for the first time, there, guy. Exhaust paste isn't meant to "hold exhaust pipes together", it's meant to act as a sealant for very minor leaks in clamped joints.

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Good luck. I've not yet seen a patch with the goo work that close to the engine. The muffler cement crap works ok near the muffler, but doesn't work worth sh*t near the manifold. Either weld it or learn to live with it.

You might find a muffler shop willing to weld it for less than monkeying around with that muffler cement crap. As you can probably guess, I don't bother with it anymore.

Ray

Reply to
user

You are probably right - it will be very hot up there... And the pipe craced on the weld, so maybe welding would be a better idea. But so far, the cement-crap cost me $2.99+tax so I guess it will be really hard for me to find a welder who can weld it for less ;-)

Of course, I did not start the engine yet... And this could tell me pretty quickly I need to weld it and the lesson will be learned - thank you for your opinion.

Reply to
Pszemol

I did test the repair today. Started the engine, run it about half an hour and the exhaust was at its normal temperature - the glue/cement holds ok, looks like it hardened fine. I drove couple rounds around the block and everything is fine so far. I am curious how will it stand the normal ride, with regular speeds, potholes, sharp turns and regular road vibrations.

I guess I will see this soon. I am going to come back here and write about it in a week or so. Let you guys know if this stuff is worth the time.

Reply to
Pszemol

$2.99+tax + you can't drive your car for two days + how many hours wasted? Heck, you probably coulda bought a $99 stick welder by now and fixed it.

So, did it hold? I bet it blew out in less than two minutes or the first time you revved it up. That stuff is useless for patching pipes.

If you want to do a cheap patch, take a Coke can, slit it, lather the inside with muffler cement and take a couple of hose clamps and attach it to the pipe. I've done that and had it last for a lot longer than it should have.

Ray

Reply to
ray

I do not consider this time "wasted" at all. I find car repairs entertaining more than passively watching TV. Watching TV whole afternoon - that is a big waste of time, but milions of people around the world do it without thinking a lot about it :-)

Well... I probably could if I was in business of fixing cars... But I am not :-) I can afford to take this car and repair it properly but if I can have some fun doing the repair myself, to learn something new and save some money doing that - the heck I will do it :-)

Well... I don't want to judge it prematurely but so far it holds fine. I drove for some time Sunday and nothing bad happened. I drove my regular route to work today and it is still fine. So if you would put some money on your bet you would loose it.

This is a good idea, but the place it happened in my car, it would be impossible to use this trick. My exhaust pipe cracked on the weld where the flange was attached to the 90' bend exhaust pipe. Not on the sied it is connected to the exhaust manifold but on the rear end, where it meets another flange and there is a rubber donut between flanges.

If the glue does not hold I plan to try to unscrew this short 90' pipe and get a new one - or weld it taken out of the car... Maybe I will have a chance to have some more fun learning how to weld myself :-))

Reply to
Pszemol

I have better luck with soup cans. The new Coke cans melt too easy....

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
Reply to
Mike Romain

ok. your car, your life, your money. and it may hold up for a bit, but you'll probably still find the general consensus around here is that the muffler cement makes a lousy patch, doesn't usually hold up, and you'll probably have to do it again - and this time properly. There's nothing wrong with bailing wire and duct tape fixes, but you have to know what's ok to fix with that and what's not worth it.

Ray

Reply to
ray

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