Drooping exhaust

[MikeoftheQuays]

Hi folks, had my 182 a couple of weeks now and thoroughly enjoying it (the fastest car I have owned before this being my '99 1.6 Corsa!). However I have a bit of a problem...

The previous owner has put on a Piper catback exhaust. It looks quite smart although it's probably a tad loud but the main problem is that it appears to be subsiding. I didn't notice at first so I think it's getting progressively worse. The right hand pipe, as you look at the back, is now an inch or so lower than the left hand pipe. I've given it a wiggle and it appears firmly fixed but the wonkiness irritates me!

I've had a look underneath and while the rubber mounting bits do look slightly perished and cracked it all appears to be in order. Any ideas what is causing this and if there's a simple fix? Can you adjust the mounting brackets in any way or are we looking at new brackets here?

If you can't tell I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to cars.... I'd take it in somewhere but paying for the car and 12 months insurance already has me living on Asda's own 10p noodles until payday....

 

[mwn11]

Itl be the mounts, either get new mounts which i think can be had for £10 each on ebay, they all use the same bracket but the 182 needs two.

Or ghetto fix it, put two sockets or pieces of pipe eitherside of the rubber to prop the mount up. If you join theres a guide in the guide section.

 

[mwn11]

 

[MikeoftheQuays]

Hehehe, that's pretty clever. I'll see if I can bodge something together like that as a temporary fix. I'm guessing that if it warranted a guide that this is a common problem?

Yeah I found the mounts on ebay. Looks like you can get the rear mount for under a tenner or a complete "kit" for about £40

What kinda job are we looking at here to replace them - Bearing in mind my lack of technical knowledge and lack of access to any sort of ramp/pit?

 

[Jamie86]

Rather than using the sockets take it off and fill all the space in with "tigerseal" leave it to cure over night then bolt back in.. will probably outlast the car!

Easy job with a jack that goes nice and high, just need a socket although cant rem the size tbh

 

[Dave.]

so u know mate i just had a piper exhaust fitted and had same problem, i have now had new mounts fitted and exhaust sits perfectly now mate

 

[Dave.]

oh and northwest performance are generally the cheapest place around, and delivered mine v v fast

 

[MikeoftheQuays]

Yeah I saw their page on ebay.

Best bet then I reckon is to see what I can bodge for the moment and order a couple of mounts. Still not entirely confident about fitting them myself but at worst I could have a garage fit them for me. Can't be too dear, you'da thought with a pit and the right tools it'd be a 10 minute job.

Cheers for the info guys.

 

[Dave.]

its v easy mate, took 10 mins

 

[MikeoftheQuays]

What, took you 10 mins or did you have someone do it?

If you did it, did you just do with the car jacked up? Not looked at the Clio's jack yet but I'm not sure I fancy working under the usual naff scissor jacks you usually get with small cars.

 

[Jamie86]

You can probably do it without even jacking the car up at all tbh just a bit of a squeeze to get under the car!

 

[Neat]

I was going to vist NWP to buy two new ones and fit them myself, it's not that hard. Instead I got them to do it for me - £25 all in. There's a satisfaction to doing things yourself........but when it's raining............getting bits in your eyes.......I couldn't be bothered

 

[MikeoftheQuays]

Got it booked in at NWP on Monday. They only charge a fiver for fitting so I figured they may as well do it.

 

[Neat]

The same conclusion I came to.

I will add that the rubber of one of my mounts (if not both - can't remember) has lots of small cracks in it (they were fitted earlier this year), but its not necessarily an issue, seems to be holding up fine. I think they're just one of those components that needs changing every so often - although lighter aftermarket exhausts probably put less strain on them.

 

[MikeoftheQuays]

Yeah the rubber on mine now looks pretty knackered but I've given the whole system a good shake and it still feels pretty solid. If the damned thing was on straight it wouldn't be an issue at all. Still, £25 isn't a real problem and NWP are only 45 mins away.

Cheers for the info!

 

[Neat]

No probs.

 

[MikeoftheQuays]

Got it done by NWP. Seem like good guys there, had a nice chat about the car with NWP Snr and spent a while admiring NWP Jnr's RS Megane.

The rubber mountings were pretty shot and the subsidence is mostly gone now with the new fittings but it's still not entirely straight. Not really sure how to progress now. It's only a minor thing and I can probably live with it but it'd be nice to get it sorted. I'm thinking that summat like the fix that mwn11 posted might lift it a little high as we're only talking 1/2 maybe 1/4 of an inch out. Bit of a b*****d that there's no adjustment in the fittings other than bending summat, redoing the whole shebang or bodging something with the rubber mounts.

 

[ABOO]

Like the NWP junior and senior bit, not sure Ryan will though
Good crew up there...

 

[MikeoftheQuays]

Heh, yeah, I only realised afterwards I never got their names. So NWP Jnr is Ryan then?

 

[st3ve]

Just bodge it with the sockets, some aftermarket exhausts are too heavy for the mounts so they will inevitably sag.

 

[ABOO]

Heh, yeah, I only realised afterwards I never got their names. So NWP Jnr is Ryan then?

Ryan or Matt. Ryan has dark hair, Matt red hair.

 

[Neat]

My exhaust still doesn't sit perfectly in the cut-outs - but a massive improvement on what it was.

We could do with someone designing an adjustable aftermarket mount.