My gaskets at the bottom of my up pipes are starting to leak. I checked around them the other day with my hands and there is no soot around the upper pipes/ Y pipes or any feel of any exhaust leaks there. The only place I could feel any is down at the bottom gaskets. Starting to feel the truck laboring a lot. I pulled off the rubber intakes and the turbo fins all still look good with no play. I can still hear the turbo a bit too. Dont want to risk ruining it by high egts.(If mine are going higher due to the donut leaks)
Problem is:
I wont be able to afford to replace the uppipes and Y pipe until spring with the international pipe kit.

So would this work?
Cut the 2 bolts where the bottom donuts are and replace them with a new chevy donut & bolts? I know this would be a temp solution, but only looking for them to last until spring.

Also, when I do replace the pipes, I see taking the turbo off is the best bet. I would be replacing the Y pipe as well, so instead of coating them for days with pb blaster and hoping they come out, could the pipes be just cut off and taken out that way quicker? Is there another reason for making sure you get the top bolts out except for if the part is not being replaced? I think doing this would save a lot of time if the bolts werent wanting to come out easy.

Attached is a stock photo showning where I feel leaks.


Thanks!

Jason

 

That's pretty uncommon to see leaks at the lower connection. Seems like that's just a flared fitting with no gaskets in there. Are any of the bolts loose?

You can remove the Y collector with one of the up pipes still bolted on, cutting the bolts or other pipe off would be fine if you're replacing all the parts anyway. Depending if you're in the rust belt or not, the bolts may or may not be as hard to remove as you're afraid of.

 

Moved to the 1999 - 2003 7.3L Powerstroke Diesel forum.

 

there is no gasket at the bottom...just a flared fitting and 2 bolts per side

 

There aren't any lower sealing gaskets. Like Chris said they are metal to metal, so if they leak you will need to tighten or put new bolts in.

When you are ready here is a link to save you money on them.

Riffraff Diesel: International Bellowed Up-pipes

 

Bolts seem tight on the bottom. I will look closer and see what is going on. I thought there may be a donut there as well.

Thanks!

 

Thanks! Already have your link for them bookmarked and they are on my to do list this spring

 

Honestly, its a mungrel job. If you are going to take em off due to a leak get the bellowed pipes from Clay and be done with it.

 

I am hoping to have it last until spring when I can afford to do it along with the edge/juice setup. Just dont have the spare funds right now to do it so was hoping for a temp fix. Will look more tomorrow and see what is going on there at the flanges.


Not looking forward to doing them though lol

 

I hear ya there PEI . I've noticed an exhaust leak too but I can't seem to see any soot on the firewall or feel any leaks anywhere . I'm in desperate need of doing the up-pipes but dread doing them . My leak is already pretty bad and can't imagine how much worse its gonna get the longer it goes without being fixed . I don't have the funds to fix it yet now . My fuel mileage has really dropped because of my exhaust leak too .

Can anyone tell me of any other bad side effects of having leaking exhaust pipes . I try not to get into the skinny peddle to much with it being so LOUD . I'm sure starting my truck at 5:15 am is not going to be like by my neighbors too .

I'm thinking of trying to find the FELPRO gaskets to see if I can quiet it down somewhat .

 

Probably a dumb question, but could these be temporarily caulked with some hi-temp rtv?

 

Just poor mileage and higher egt's.low boost = less air and more fuel

 

The stuff would be blown back out soon as you start. Same as things like the muffler tapes/cements.. not worth putting on.

 

At the bottom up pipe, you could cut or find a piece of header gasket, remove bolts slide gasket in tighten down. It might work?

 

It might slip through and end up in your turbo too. Bad, bad plan.