Our car has an exhaust leak near the front of the car. I haven't nailed down exactly where the leak is because I'd like to wait for the weather to warm a bit before I get under the car. (Maybe the leak has something to do with that piece of mystery sheet metal I postedaboutearlier.)

Anyway, I've looked at the "usual suspects" Honda online retailers and I think the OEM replacement exhaust parts are prettyexpensive, so I'm looking for alternatives.

Naturally I'd like to buy parts that are going to last for the life of the car, so I'm thinking that maybe SS is the way to go. As each section of the exhaust system fails, I'd get a SS replacement for it. In a few more years the entire system would be SS.

It's been a number of years since any exhaust work was done to the car, so, because of the usually-difficultwork involved in separating and replacing individual exhaust-system componentswhile working undera jacked-up car,I'm also considering replacing the entier system in one shot. You know -do it, and forget it forever.

What do you think of SS exhaust system parts and do you have any recommendations for a part source?

I'ma practical cheapskate, so is there anycompelling reason to replace the OEMcast iron exahaust manifold? (I sincerely doubt if the leak is there.) Are SS replacement parts available from the cast iron mainifold back?

Will SS parts indeed last forever in a place where very little road salt is used?

Thanks for the information.

BTW, what is a "test pipe"? Is it some kind of catalytic converter replacement?

 

You can get the whole exhaust, from engine back in SS. As far as durability..SS beats out cast iron, and is also generally lighter. Forever is subjective too...let's just say the SS will last longer than the car it's attached to. And a test pipe is simple a straight piece of pipe that goes in the place of the catalytic converter, and they are not road legal, even in states without emissions tests. Although unless a cop crawls under your car you probably won't be found out.

 

Thanks for the information. I'll bet a replacement cat would be pretty pricey, so I figured that the "test pipe" may have been for that purpose.

Because I think the cast iron exhaust manifold will last forever, and it's got the O2 sensor on there already, etc., I'd like to leave the manifold in place and go back from there in stainless.

Inyour typical "catback" SS exhaust system, will the SSpipe that normally attaches to theSS exhaust header also fit on the outletflange of the OEM cast iron manifold? If not, is a SS pipe that WILL fit the OEM manifold's outlet flange available?

I know the following isprobably impossible, but I thought I'd ask anyway. I understand that most, if not all, of these aftermarket SS systems are intended to improve flow and, because of that,make the car's exhaust louder. My wife and I would actuallylike to have an exhaust system that is, if possible, even quieter than the OEM. Is this too much to ask? If it is, can SS parts at leastbe had which make the exhaust system about as quiet as the OEM?

Thanks.

 

Erm...very few aftermarket parts are more quiet than OEM. Try Apexi WS2 mufflers

 

Unfortunately better flow and quieter sound are mutually exclusive for the most part. Now some systems may be able to provide near OEM sound levels with a small amount of flow increase. Now since catback systems, SS or otherwise, are designed to attach to the cat, they won't have the length to attach to the exhaust manifold directly without that test pipe or a cat. Most cats though have the same type of flange on the inlet and outlet ports..so you could attach the exhaust system to the manifold, providing you found a way to make up for the foot or so of length in place of the cat.

 

Here's what I think our Accord's exhaust system looks like:

The piece I think really has to be replaced is pointed to by the redarrow -"pipe1" that attaches to the OEM exhaust minifold. I would like to replace the OEM plain steel unit with an aftermarket in SS, but I'm not sure that the pipe1 that you see in typicalSS header/pipe1 combo units will fit my cast iron manifold. It looks to me that most of these SS units have an elongatedtwo-pipe flange where they would attach to theSS headerand I'm pretty sure our car has one larger pipe flange where pipe1 attaches to the OEM cast iron manifold.

I'd really rather not replace the OEM manifold with a SS header, so I guess I may be out of luck to replace pipe1 with SS.

 

that first part is actually part of the exahust manifold. the stock system and many aftermarket systems are 2 piece. both parts from the engine to the cat are part of the exhaust manifold. Aftermarket catback systems, SS or otherwise only include the brown and green parts. IF you wish to replace the first part with an SS component, you'll have to get a complete SS exhaust header setup or have one custom made for you.

 

Thanks for the information.

Honda refers to that first pipe (red arrow) as "pipe A, Ex." They show the exahust maniforld on a separate page, along with the heat shield, brackets, and even the O2 sensor:
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...mp;vinsrch=yes

Considering Majestic's price of $198 USfor pipe A, I'll bet thatthelocalcost of pipe A alone is going to be at least $250 - $300CAD - not thatmuch less than the cost of a complete new OBXSS system. Of course aftermarket places will undoubtedly have that pipe for a whole lot less money, but it makes me stop and think anyway.

So I'm in a bit of a quandry about exactly howI shouldproceed on this job. Hopefully, the small leak I have at this point doesn't soon become a full-blown blah, blah, blah, blah before I have time to fully investigate the situation under the car and choose the sanest course of action for the long term.

Right now it's snowing here and there's a small pond ofsuper-dirty water on our concrete floor right under the car that's accumulated there duringthis year'slong winter of eternity, so this situationdoesn't get me too anxious to immediately crawl underour car.

 

The Honda parts manuals would show them as seperate pieces, since they technically are. But any aftermarket purchase products, OEM or otherwise will include both parts as the 'exhaust header'. You can get an SS setup that includes both pieces and will bolt right up in 45min for anywhere $100 to $500 depending on brand name. All you'll have to do is get a new gasket for the manifold and reuse the old O2 sensor. Here is an example:
http://www.aempower.com/ViewProduct.aspx?ProductID=238

As you can see it is technically 2 pieces, and is the exhaust manifold you showed as well as the "Pipe A" and includes the fitting for the O2 sensor, and will bolt right up to your cat.

 

I think the reason that the aftermarket placesinclude that second section as part of the"header" is that it still has two tubesfor part ofit's length.

In thecase of the OEM manifold, its one-hole exitflange is for the attachment of a single-tube part that Honda calls"pipe A, Ex." (I assume that "Ex."isan abbreviationfor "Exhaust", but I might be wrong on that.)

I guesswhat the part is ultimatelycalleddepends onwhether a single-tube (for its entire length)conduitcan reasonablybereferred to as a "header" or "manifold".

Personally, as ithas been referred toin every application I've ever heard of, I think the term"pipe", or even"tube", is more appropriate in the case of a single tube. Because it at least starts out with two tubes, the term"header" could be applied to those SS units.

When you think about it, what's the difference between the terms "header" and "manifold"? Is it that a "manifold" is a single-piece of metalhaving severalseparate channels,while a "header" is several separate pieces of tubing that areweldedtoeach other or to a commonflange? If that is the case, thenI think it would beinappropriate tocall thesingle-tubepart either a "header" or a"manifold".

Thankfully, asForrest Gump declared on several occasions,"that's all I've got to say about that".

I havea couple of other questions, though.

1. The OEM cast iron manifold on our car is an extremely beefy, heavy unit. I wonder if the exhaust noise is dampened by the mass of the manifold, vs the probably much ligher, thinner, SS header. In short, will the header buy itself be noiser than the cast iron manifold?

2. What about the heat shielding that's on the OEM manifold - can it easily be installed on the new SS header? Is it necessary to have shielding on the header at all?