Tail pipe fell off!

Sadly my exhaust tail pipe has fallen off, do you think someone can just weld it back on or am i gonna have to fork out for a new exhaust?

(please let it be ok to weld it on)

Thank you
Stephen

It will depend on the condition of the pipe and the box, but mine was welded some years ago and is still fine.

great, i mean it looks a bit rusty but i guess they always do.

How much did you pay?

Can't remember exactly, probably £10 or £15.

If the exhaust welding breaks off because of vibration or bad installation, probably it can be welded.
If the steel is rotten and thickness is greatly reduced due to oxidation, you need a new exhaust.

You can try the condition of the metal giving some taps with a screwdriver.

If it cracks or bents, it is too late to do a repair.

great info, i'll take a proper look.

so basically if its too rusty it'll be no go and i'll be looking for a new exhaust (or a new old exhaust)

Exactly.
Basically if it is too rusty any weld can't be good (you can weld steel with steel, not iron oxide with steel ).

It is possible to weld another plate to cover rusty parts, but it is only a short-life fix.

I've had a proper look and the exhaust is solid except for where it snapped off.
Do you think they can cut that bit off and well it on 1 inch shorter?

Thanks
Stephen

I think yes.
But the problem is basically on the silencer, not on the pipe.
The pipe is cheap and a professional mechanic can modify it adding a new part or shorteningit without problems.
Shortening can be a problem if the rubber support are in longitudinal position, and the support slips off.

I think the support will be ok as it swivels on an axis that lets the pipe be longer or shorter (not side to side).

Now i'll have to squeeze myself right under to look at where it came off the silencer.

El_Ventu wrote:(you can weld steel with steel, not iron oxide with steel )..

I'm hoping you're wrong, cos all i have to weld to is rust.....

I found pre 2002 exhaust pipes are cheap, as I have a post 02 I went for a full powerflow stainless inc 2 silencers for £90,

£90 for stainless? I think a lot of people would like to know where you got that. Did it include the cat?

not the cat, but I did pay £30 for a stainless decat pipe on another one
I had it made by powerflow Stafford, what I can gather is powerflow use independent agents accross the UK, Phil (powerflow stafford) would not copy a exhaust from a patten as I would of liked but gets it on his ramp removes the old one and builds the new one on the vehicle, you can have it as loud as you want, I had super queit, hence 2 silencers

find your local powerflow dealer and go and talk with them in person but don't book it via powerflow if you know what I mean

mines a 1999 so i will check that out.

Stainless sounds good but then a local scrapper says I can have an old one for £25.

Unless its in really good condition as in not very old, when you take an exhaust off, move it around, then refit it, you tend to find it shows up the thin bits sooner than you'd like. If some dude will fabricate you one and fit it for £100 i'd bite his arm off anyday. Crawling around messing with dirty rotten exhausts is a load of tosh, getting bits in your eyes, then finding out its blowing somewhere a week later. Pffft, canna be arse with that game if I can avoid it. Plus you'll need stuff like exhaust clamps and gaskets and paste etc.

I'm not full of money, also I'm a mechanic and I have some experience in welding and machining, I have a (cheap and not professional, but useful) MMA and MIG welder, at my job I can use MIG, TIG and MMA, but...
When my original exhaust pipe breaks off due to corrosion and wear, i prefer to buy a new one -or replacing it with a new hand made one- instead of repairing the old.

I tried to repair some old corroded exhaust, here we have salt on the street for all the winter, then exhaust systems suffer so much, but it last only a few thousand kilometers.

On my old fiat punto I do over 80'000km with the original one, modified installing in it a free flow pipe, but I started with a fairly new silencer, and I coated it with more than four layers of high temperature aluminum based paint.
After three years the casing starts to break off, but I had no problems because of the straight pipe in it, it support the casing even it's completely rusty.

On my autocaravan I tried to fix the old exhaust, so rusty, and I failed for three times, the last one I weld on it a plate to the rotten silencer and then the pipe on the plate...and it breaks another time (when I'm far from home, I was in tuscany, but I "fix" with some pipe clamps and I was able to return home).
From that time, I decided to buy a new one if the old is broken, and prior to install it I coat all the weldings with some high temperature paint.

Well my old exhaust is definitely not being welded back on as the silencer is too rusty.

A £100 stainless would be my favorite option, theres two powerflow affiliated garages within 25 miles with direct phone numbers so I'll ring them for a price and it would be nice to get the cat section done as well.

But from what i've seen £200 seems like the usual price for a stainless exhaust and I don't think thats with the cat !

Failing that I don't see how I can go too far wrong with £25 used one if it looks pretty solid.

Any tips on sealing the exhaust gaskets, can I buy a sheet and cut it to size or get a chemical gasket that squeezes from a tube like toothpaste.

Use Holts fire gum and don't bother with the gaskets it's cheap easy to get and works.

I use graphite gaskets between exhaust flanges...
I bought four DN40 graphite gaskets for my new stainless steel silencer.

cheap and easy

my favourite

stevelav wrote:cheap and easy

my favourite kinda woman

Shocking, my mind was purely on engine emmisions

If you live within reach of Salisbury, Wilts, There is a firm there called MANIFLOW,
and they make exhaust systems & are very helpful. When my tailpipe fell off, they made & welded
on a very nice stainless replacement very cheaply (can't remember how much exactly) &
did it while I waited.
The tel No. is 01722 335378

I've priced up a stainless one and its,£200

There's a normal one on ebay for £100 which I'll prob get

PFM wrote:It will depend on the condition of the pipe and the box, but mine was welded some years ago and is still fine.

I do wish I hadn't posted that - it sounds like it went again today! Grrrrr

Had a look today, the weld held but the pipe has rotted through. Will a bean can, gun gum and jubilee clips pass an MOT these days?

Take where I got mine done, they passed broken suspension leaf!