Ned Flanders Posted November 25, 2009 Report Share Posted November 25, 2009 My Buick sounds so loud when you step on the throttle. The engine has always been noisy but now it sounds crazy. Only when I'm giving it gas, though. I spot-checked the muffler and exhaust and it looks fine. Would this be a sign of compression loss? The car has less than its usual power but seems fine once you get it going. The LIM was replaced in March, the computer in July. No codes are being thrown. Idle is also getting rougher... Air filter and PCV are new. I know this is a noob question but I have nowhere to work on the car and limited resources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89SupremeCutty Posted November 25, 2009 Report Share Posted November 25, 2009 bad exhaust gasket between the front pipe and manifold? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to eaton Posted November 25, 2009 Report Share Posted November 25, 2009 bad exhaust gasket between the front pipe and manifold? i have this problem! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted November 25, 2009 Report Share Posted November 25, 2009 bad exhaust gasket between the front pipe and manifold? i have this problem! I fixed this problem on Saturday!!! Biggest pain in the ass evar!!!!!! No seriously, its a bitch. First off, the angle is terrible. The pipe bends upward above the steering rack and into the exhaust manifolds, so the bolts are very annoying to get to. You'll need two extensions and a flex elbow. Once you start to get them off, you'll realize that the bolts are not only rusted, but also spring loaded (more on that later). Once you get the original bolts off, you'll have the brilliant task of getting the old gasket off, or what's left of it. The problem is that you can't see a damn thing under there because its all under the shade of the engine. I managed to do it with a hammer and a massive flathead screwdriver. I hammered a cut into it and peeled the rest off while holding a flashlight in my mouth. No joke. The next part involves sliding the new bushing over the engine side of the pipe so you can fit the flange over it. If your exhaust is anything like mine (which it probably is), you'll find that there isn't any room between the flange and the engine side pipe, and that you'll need to pull the exhaust pipe back somehow. I parked my Bonneville behind the regal, got a huge truck strap, strapped one end to the exhaust pipe and one end to the Bonneville's subframe, and tightened the living hell out if it, and managed to pull the pipe back 1/4". Of course, use extreme caution if you decide to do this, as your car will probably be up on stands like mine was, and the last thing you need is it falling off the jackstands while you're under it (aka, pull your parking brake). Once you get the exhaust pipe far enough, you can move the flange around a bit. You'll never get the new gasket directly onto the pipe unless you remove your entire exhaust. The only way to do it is to fit it inside the flange, move the flange over the pipe, and somehow slide the gasket onto the pipe while half of it is inside the flange. This all while you can barely fit your hands in there. This part took me a good 20 minutes after I figured out how to do it. Once you get the gasket back onto the pipe, you have to figure out how to get the bolts back in, which as I mentioned, are spring loaded, only this time, the new gasket places the flange a slight bit farther back than the old rotted gasket. For this part, I attached my truck strap to the pipe and also to the regal's subframe and tightened that flange as hard as I could against the gasket, and after 45 minutes of trying, I couldn't get the old bolts back on. You have to turn them while pressing the spring down, but it gets better. The stock bolts have two threads; a smaller one and a bigger one. You'll feel victorious as you start catching the first thread, but you'll soon start cursing when you realize that you're just spinning freely and that you have to line up the second thread perfectly, while exerting a large amount of force on the spring, while turning the rusted bolt at the same time. This will easily leave you with no skin left on your fingers, and you still won't have the bolts on. I ended up going to Lowe's and picking up new bolts. This also poses a problem. The thread is 10x1.50, but the only available lengths are 75 and 100. 75 is almost the same length as the original bolts, but the head of the bolt is smaller in diameter than the stock bolt, so you'll probably need a washer, which means you'll probably need the 100 length bolt, which means you'll need 5 more washers (per side), and to cut about 1/2" off the bolts so they aren't too long to clear the exhaust manifolds. What should have been a 30-60 minute job took me well into 4 hours, but in the end, my cabin doesn't smell like exhaust fumes when I remote start the car, I don't hear a constant repetitive screeching noise when the engine vibrates, and now the exhaust noises only come out the back of the car. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to eaton Posted November 25, 2009 Report Share Posted November 25, 2009 mine should not be to bad. changed the motor 30k miles ago alomost! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted November 25, 2009 Report Share Posted November 25, 2009 mine should not be to bad. changed the motor 30k miles ago alomost! Mine was the original at 212k miles. It started going bad about 15k miles ago... Its a job you really only ever have to do once, and thank God for that. Oh yeah, and your EGR valve gasket could also be leaking, causing quite a lot of engine noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to eaton Posted November 25, 2009 Report Share Posted November 25, 2009 im pretty sure its right at the spot where the downpipe connects to the crossover/back header.. (i have pace setters on my car) it was just a metal piece correct? if so i brokeded it putting the headers in lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted November 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2009 The EGR is cerrtainly something I can handle...the other thing, yikes. I will have all the time in world to play with it over Christmas on nice level ground (I live on a hill here). At least people know when I'm coming these days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 i dunno about all that, but that gasket between the manifold and dp was pretty easy to change on mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 i dunno about all that, but that gasket between the manifold and dp was pretty easy to change on mine. Enlighten me as to how you did it, and on which car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 Are you speaking of the donut gasket? If so, on the Z34 I had to replace it. Jacked up the car, tossed it on stands, undid those crappy ass bolts, pulled out the old one, slipped in the new gasket, then slowly worked in the old bolts. My car was a rusted out Michigan car. Took me all of 30 minutes since I had to hold the exhaust up myself while I also was trying to put the bolts back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 i dunno about all that, but that gasket between the manifold and dp was pretty easy to change on mine. Enlighten me as to how you did it, and on which car. Are you speaking of the donut gasket? If so, on the Z34 I had to replace it. Jacked up the car, tossed it on stands, undid those crappy ass bolts, pulled out the old one, slipped in the new gasket, then slowly worked in the old bolts. My car was a rusted out Michigan car. Took me all of 30 minutes since I had to hold the exhaust up myself while I also was trying to put the bolts back in. yupp. it was literally that easy. Those bolts werent rusted on mine so that helped. its just two 15mm bolts with two springs. and this is on my 1994 olds. it was very simple to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91LuminaEuro Posted November 27, 2009 Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 I replaced the donut gasket on my lumina a long time ago. It wasnt that bad at all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 I must have some freak of a car, because those bolts would not go back in no matter how hard I tried. No matter how hard you pushed the bolts in, the second row of threads would not catch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWeb80 Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 it's even harder w/ my larger Down Pipe.... I won't even go there.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 Adam, i have a 2.5" downpipe and its still easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWeb80 Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 I made mine, so when it curves off the donut, I made it a bit too tight and it's very difficult to get a wrench in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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