Exhaust leak on 99 camry, how much to fix?

[wc1972]

Hi All,

My 99 I4 Camry has been for one year, mostly.
Two month ago, I went to have the oil changed and was told that there is a small leak on the exhaust pipe near the catalytic converter under the car (the Camry has California emission). I did not dare to ask how much it cost to fix.
Last few days, I could hear the exhaust got louder and louder, especially when I accelerate below 40 mph.
Could someone tell me how much it would cost to have this fixed?
Or are there cheaper alternative ways?
How soon will it get much worse?

Thanks a lot!

[carsrus]

Go to your local exhaust shop. The shadier the place looks the better. No mechanics or dealers or Midas or any of that bs.

If its the flex pipe expect around 100$. Here in Chicago I got mine replaced this year for only 80$. Thats about the most expensive type of exhaust leak. If its around the catalytic converter its probably the flange where the 2 sections of exhaust bolt together. Its a ~60$ repair to cut the flanges out and weld in pipe in place.

Get it fixed asap since it can affect fuel mileage.

[wc1972]

Thank you, Carsrus.
I was really scared to death. I thought of junking the car, as it might cost one grand or more.
I will start looking around for shops.

[JohnGD]

First check to see where the leak is coming from. It may be from a leaking flange gasket that's like $5.

See also:
New front exhaust pipe/flex installed Friday!

[mail2_jb]

unless it is rusted bad, couple of coats of PB blaster will remove the exhaust bolts if you plan to DIY the exhaust. I used an impact with 2 blasts of pb blaster and the bolts came out without any issues. If you looked at JohnGD's post, op ordered the exhaust from ebay. So unless it is a flange/gasket issue (which then needs a flange that you can get from any shop) and you can DIY, i don't think this is a tough job. I took my exhaust out in less than 15 min (nothing was rusted), to give you an idea and I was doing it the first time.

[wc1972]

I ended up replacing the flex pipe and the flange for $300.
$175 for the flex pipe, $125 for the flange. Not to bad considering the flange rusted completely and had to be cut off.
Other place quoted twice as much or more for new pipe+converter.

[Jawadali]

Originally Posted by wc1972

I ended up replacing the flex pipe and the flange for $300.
$175 for the flex pipe, $125 for the flange. Not to bad considering the flange rusted completely and had to be cut off.
Other place quoted twice as much or more for new pipe+converter.

I had a very similar issue lat week, so thanks for sharing your experience.

Yeah, the flex pipe assembly is quite expensive due to the integrated catalytic converter.

Did you have a new flange put in (welded in), or did they just cut it out and connect the pieces with pipe? If its the first one, I wasn't aware that new flanges could be put in.

Which flange did you replace? The one that connects the exhaust manifold to the flex pipe (at the front), or the one that connects the flex pipe assembly to the resonator pipe assembly?

Although my issue is solved for the time being, It's helpful to know for future reference (Especially since they started salting the roads today).