Crappy driveway bit my exhaust :(

[Yoshi]

I'm not sure if anyone has the knowledge to tell me how bad this is, but here goes...

My driveway sucks.

It's uphill on the sidewalk side, reaches an apex, then slopes down toward my house. I hate it. Once in a while I scrape, but I always thought it was just teh brackets under the cat, so no biggie. Well today I heard that my car just didn't sound quite right at idle, so I jumped out and could hear exhaust leaking from the CENTER of the car :(

After a few minutes of cussing (since I only got my GReddy DD in february), I realized that the leak isn't that big, no tears, just bent a flange, so hopefully a muffler shop can fix this? (someone PLEASE say they can just bend it back and somehow make the flange's connection point flat again)

My question is this, what sort of power loss should this cause? The ole butt dyno tells me there's no difference, but my brain tells me that any leak in the system will cause air turbulence and somewhat disrupt the flow of the exhaust gasses. Can anyone verify for me? I'm sure there somewhat of a power loss, I'm just looking for a ballpark figure... I know that's tough w/o seeing the leak, but unless I poured colored smoke thru the EGT sensor hole, you can't really tell visually anyhow.

Cliff Notes:
- My driveway blows goats
- bent flange where the cat meets the cat-back
- power loss via exhaust turbulence?

[brianglawson]

wow that sucks man. but if the flange is bent and that is where your leak is i really dont see why a good shop couldnt bend is back and smooth out the area inside again it wouldnt be hard for them to fix that area since it is not in the middle of the piping or anything

my 2 cents(probaly worth nothing)
Brian

[kandyflip445]

Your butt-dyno is broken. A leak like that can cause up to a 99.9999999% loss of power. Luckily for you if you stick a Super Street sticker on your car it will make up for it!:bow:





































It probably isn't that bad really. Just get a shop to fix it. If worst comes to worst they can just cut off the flanges and weld on new ones.:D

[russian]

yea like he said, theyll probably cut it right at the place its bend and straighten it out then weld in back together. there shouldnt be a big loss if its a small dent, still depending on the size it restricts gas flow.

[Vatche]

well if it makes u feel better my muffler was dragging for an hour on my way home from LA to orange county, and it was sparking all over the place.....and my car was stolen 2 weeks ago today.....:(

[adey]

Given the multiple bends in any exhaust system, I honestly don't think this minor crimp will cause you any measurable power loss.
Good luck getting it fixed, though.

[zero.counter]

The loss of power won't be noticeable. But do take care of that bend A.S.A.P.

I had that happen with one of my old S13s and a 5zigen fireball exhaust. It was bent in the same area you described because of a s h i t t y location for a law firm I was going to, and I took it to the local, "Cortez and Brothers" muffler and tire shop. It was bent back slowly and they charged me $20. They used a heavy duty vice and pushed. ;)