exhaust noise problem

My wife recently had a small accident (after I just fixed her car BTW :) She ran her 93 V6 camry into a curb when she was attempting to take a left. It was very dark in this area and she misjudged the length of the lane which terminated in a 6 inch curb. It ended up damaging one of the tires (new) to the point that it will need to be replaced. From inspection underneath, it looks like she ran it up on the curb a good 3 ft. The lateral engine support beam is all scraped up, and directly in the center it seems a little dented in. However, I don't think it was bent. Directly behind that engine support, the exhaust header pipe got dented in as well. I removed the heat shield to see how much damage was done to the header pipe itself. From what I can see, it appears to be dented in about 1/2" (a soft dent, not a hard crease). I can't see any other evidence of a hole, although it's possible part of the pipe seam may have been compromised. When I run the engine now, I can hear what seems to be increased exhaust noise near the front exhaust manifold. I can't see any evidence of an exhaust leak.

So, here's my question: Is it possible that 1/2" dent in the header pipe underneath is causing enough pressure change or restriction that the pipe off the front exhaust manifold is now resonating, causing the changed exhaust noise, or could this actually be a leak? I assume I will need to replace the header pipe nevertheless. Any advice is appreciated.

thanks

davemac

Reply to
davemac
Loading thread data ...

This is just a follow-up to what I posted earlier. I ended up replacing the front exhaust pipe myself. Got one from a junk yard cheap. Sounds fine now. I think what happened was that one of the flexible couplings got damaged. It was definitely compressed a bit compared to a normal one. I don't know exactly how they achieve a seal on those things, but I can see how it may be susceptable to this kind of impact.

Turns out both front rims were also bent in the collision. Total damage was about $500, my own labor. Had I taken this to a dealer, I'm sure it would have been at least $1500.

davemac

Reply to
davemac

In lieu of no one else caring.....good work !!!

Reply to
phil

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.