Hello again, all. I heard my wife start her 5 tonight, and it sounded really loud. It has a broken flex pipe. I noticed that it is all one piece from the manifold, through the cat and flex pipe, down to the flange where it bolts on to the rest of the exhaust. Is there a system that is out there that can be bolted on that has two extra flanges for the flex pipe for easier/cheaper replacement? The weather here is really hard on flex pipes. I have replaced many flex pipes on my cars over the years. Sometimes I only get 2 years on them... This one at least lasted for the 4 or so years we have owned the car, but I am sure that I will be doing this job more than once while owning this car. It would be much easier to unbolt a section of the exhaust and replace it, instead of removing the whole exhaust every time.
2007 exhaust flex pipe broken
- Thread starter Geeshik
- Start date
I measured the factory down-pipe to the flex pipe and I would guess the O.D. to be 2 1/8 inches. The spread on the bolts for where the cat bolts on after the flex pipe is 4 1/8". This might help someone else at some point down the road. I gave in and ordered the pacesetter catted exhaust manifold because it said it was stainless and that it was made in the U.S. I'll keep the old factory exhaust and attempt to make a bolt-in replacement capable flex pipe on that for the next time.
Last edited:
The pacesetter setup came this weekend; seems like good quality. It even has the 3/8" thick flanges on the manifold and the outlet. After spending most of my day yesterday removing the factory setup, I am still scratching my head to figure out a way to make this an easier/less expensive replacement in the future. I did some measuring on the factory and the pacesetter setups. It seems like it is a pretty straight forward modification to get it to be able to accept a more standard replacement in the future.
The biggest issue I have seen is that the elbow on the bottom of the flex where the exhaust hanger is welded to it is pretty much a necessity. That got me thinking. The angle of the bend seems to be about 18 degrees on the factory piece, and closer to 22 degrees on the aftermarket one. I looked a bit online for a flanged flex pipe assembly with a similar bend, and I came up with one from the 2006 to 2009 Ford Fusions. It is a Walker part number 52436. I ordered one today to see if the flanges and the angle is correct. If not, it just happens that I have a 2006 Ford Fusion with a flex pipe on the way out. If it works, then I will just need to figure out a way to weld a hanger on in the same position as the OEM.
As I said, the Pacesetter setup seems nice, but I am a little concerned about how small their catalytic converter is and how deep the bung is for the first O2 sensor. I have my fingers crossed that when this is all done there will be no issues with the MIL. The other thing I noticed with the Pacesetter system is that it didn't come with a lower flange gasket. I had to go to the auto parts place and look one up. It is the ROL brand G731B-S, EG24731-001, G731-S are the three numbers. I have verified that it is the correct part.
The biggest issue I have seen is that the elbow on the bottom of the flex where the exhaust hanger is welded to it is pretty much a necessity. That got me thinking. The angle of the bend seems to be about 18 degrees on the factory piece, and closer to 22 degrees on the aftermarket one. I looked a bit online for a flanged flex pipe assembly with a similar bend, and I came up with one from the 2006 to 2009 Ford Fusions. It is a Walker part number 52436. I ordered one today to see if the flanges and the angle is correct. If not, it just happens that I have a 2006 Ford Fusion with a flex pipe on the way out. If it works, then I will just need to figure out a way to weld a hanger on in the same position as the OEM.
As I said, the Pacesetter setup seems nice, but I am a little concerned about how small their catalytic converter is and how deep the bung is for the first O2 sensor. I have my fingers crossed that when this is all done there will be no issues with the MIL. The other thing I noticed with the Pacesetter system is that it didn't come with a lower flange gasket. I had to go to the auto parts place and look one up. It is the ROL brand G731B-S, EG24731-001, G731-S are the three numbers. I have verified that it is the correct part.
Last edited:
A trick to illiminate MIL when going catless is to put a bung extender in between the O2 and exhaust to remove the O2 from exhaust flow. The monitor uses switch rate (lean/rich) between front and rear O2 sensors to monitor cat performance. The pacesetter manifold may have a deeper bung to ensure there isn't a MIL with their smaller cat. I would like to see pictures of you can post them.
Okay. Here are some pics comparing the two. I moved the braiding to keep the flex pipe together for the OEM one for my measurement/photo purposes. These show them from the top:
This shows the Pacesetter from the bottom. It has a smaller collection area, and a notably smaller cat. And it looks to be stainless, but it has the same magnetic properties of the OEM one, so I am guessing it is probably 409 stainless and not 304. The brackets and such that are welded on do look like they will accept the OEM heat shields with minor tweaking of the shields. They are pretty thin, so they are forgiving. I test fit a couple of them today, but there are some hardware discrepancies. If you order the Pacesetter, you will want to have a handful of extra M6 x 1.0 metric bolts that are 10mm long as there are no studs on the Pacesetter unit to take the factory hardware, if in fact yours are still any good. Mine were so rusty I was worried I would break them off, but they did come off with a little heat and PB blaster:
Bottom of OEM:
OEM bung for bank 1 O2 sensor:
Pacesetter bung for bank 1 O2 sensor:
Pacesetter manifold gasket:
OEM manifold gasket; I kinda like the way the OEM one has shielding on it's upper edge to help protect the plastic valve cover:
This shows the Pacesetter from the bottom. It has a smaller collection area, and a notably smaller cat. And it looks to be stainless, but it has the same magnetic properties of the OEM one, so I am guessing it is probably 409 stainless and not 304. The brackets and such that are welded on do look like they will accept the OEM heat shields with minor tweaking of the shields. They are pretty thin, so they are forgiving. I test fit a couple of them today, but there are some hardware discrepancies. If you order the Pacesetter, you will want to have a handful of extra M6 x 1.0 metric bolts that are 10mm long as there are no studs on the Pacesetter unit to take the factory hardware, if in fact yours are still any good. Mine were so rusty I was worried I would break them off, but they did come off with a little heat and PB blaster:
Bottom of OEM:
OEM bung for bank 1 O2 sensor:
Pacesetter bung for bank 1 O2 sensor:
Pacesetter manifold gasket:
OEM manifold gasket; I kinda like the way the OEM one has shielding on it's upper edge to help protect the plastic valve cover:
Last edited:
There you have it... I would like to cut just behind where the bank 2 O2 sensor goes and weld the flange there on both of them. I have to say the Pacesetter one seems better in that section because it doesn't use a kink type bend there, and it is a full 2.25 inches, as opposed to the 2.125 inches on the OEM one. The company that makes the flanges I ordered only has them in 2.25 inches, so I will have to build up that area a little bit with metal when I weld it. I wanted to get the Walker part before I make any cuts though, just to be sure the length will come out right for the standard replacement part. I am wondering if I could have just ordered the catalytic converter/exhaust manifold assembly for a Ford Fusion to begin with. I notice they have a really short exhaust manifold and a much longer cat though.
I have to say that the hanger they used for the Pacesetter unit seems pretty corny compared to the OEM one. Maybe I can add some material to it to make it a little more sturdy.
Oh, and I can also tell you that if you ever have to pull one of these off of the car, you will definitely not want to ever do it again. It was quite a job. I can see why some shops charge so much. The engine has to be supported, the passenger side motor mount has to be marked and completely removed. The engine then has to be carefully lowered and brought forward in order to make enough clearance. Then, if you have all of the brackets and all of the shields (except the one on the lower cat) removed, you can wiggle it out. It took quite a while.
I have to say that the hanger they used for the Pacesetter unit seems pretty corny compared to the OEM one. Maybe I can add some material to it to make it a little more sturdy.
Oh, and I can also tell you that if you ever have to pull one of these off of the car, you will definitely not want to ever do it again. It was quite a job. I can see why some shops charge so much. The engine has to be supported, the passenger side motor mount has to be marked and completely removed. The engine then has to be carefully lowered and brought forward in order to make enough clearance. Then, if you have all of the brackets and all of the shields (except the one on the lower cat) removed, you can wiggle it out. It took quite a while.
Last edited:
- :
- 2008 Mazda5 Touring
So EGR is through the exhaust gasket only on the #4 cylinder?
- :
- 2008 Mazda5 GT
Holy cowl
. Or you can do it the easy way, there's always an (not always obvioud) alternative.http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123841829-2013-Mazda5-turbocharger-installation
That front bung doesn't look too deep to cause an issue. I thought it was the rear bung that was longer but after rereading I realize you said front. I would definitely get an oem style gasket for it. I've had bad experiences with that type of exhaust gasket leaking. Answer to above question, yes the EGR sources from cylinder 4 through a port in the head that leads to EGR valve. Gases are introduce through a second port on intake side beside cyl 4. EGR valve bolts to back side of head and connects to both ports.
Last edited:
The exhaust flanges made it here from California today. The flex assembly from Canada was going to be here too, but now the scheduled arrival date is not until Tuesday. : ( Now I have to crawl under my Fusion and measure to figure out where the flanges should go... Anyway, I might be heading back to work tonight to weld it.
The thought did cross my mind to pull the cowl, but if I remember right, that was quite a job as well. I pulled it once to do the re-torque when we were having clunking issues. I remember having to pull both of the wiper arms and all the plastic (eee, I don't like to mess with plastic if I don't have to). If you ask me, it's a horse a piece. Although time wise, it might be less of a struggle to get the 'manifold and friends' out. I am thinking it should be a bit easier to re-install it in two separate pieces once I have my flanges on.
The thought did cross my mind to pull the cowl, but if I remember right, that was quite a job as well. I pulled it once to do the re-torque when we were having clunking issues. I remember having to pull both of the wiper arms and all the plastic (eee, I don't like to mess with plastic if I don't have to). If you ask me, it's a horse a piece. Although time wise, it might be less of a struggle to get the 'manifold and friends' out. I am thinking it should be a bit easier to re-install it in two separate pieces once I have my flanges on.
Well, the flanges that came are incorrect. I was wary of the universal, and didn't like the slotted holes to begin with, however, this was my fault as I incorrectly measured the center to center for the flange. It is supposed to be 4.125 inches. I had quickly measured it at 4" and now realize my error. I have corrected my above posts where I mentioned this size. The max on the universal flange is 4.0149. I am now trying to find a way to either modify the flanges I received, or order a proper flange.
What really stinks is that the tig welders at work are out of gas. I have a small wire welder here at home, but it is stuck in the garage behind where my wife's car is sitting. I really need a 2-car garage...
What really stinks is that the tig welders at work are out of gas. I have a small wire welder here at home, but it is stuck in the garage behind where my wife's car is sitting. I really need a 2-car garage...
Last edited:
I was able to modify the flanges to accept a 4.125 bolt spacing, but it took a lot of time with a carbide reamer and a rotary file in my cordless drill. It made the edge of the flange really thin, but they should still work. I am a little discouraged right now because I drove my car up on a stump in the yard today and climbed under it to take a peek. The flanges look identical to the ones on the Mazda5, but the bolts seem a little smaller on the Fusion. The other difference that I noted was the angle. The Fusion flex pipe has what appears to be a 40 degree bend on the end of it, as opposed to the 20 degrees of the OEM Mazda unit, and the 28 degrees of the Pacesetter aftermarket unit that we bought to replace it. The angles are approximate as measured with my angle gauge and two of them could be affected by worn out flex sections.
From what I could measure with my tape measure, the length to the center of the elbow from the front of the flange (on the first cat/flex side) of the Fusion was 9 7/8" looking at it from the side. From the middle of the elbow to the back of the flex assembly measured to the face of the flange was 4 1/2". The Fusion definitely benefits from more room to work on the exhaust in the flex pipe area.
I could swear the flex pipe that I ordered looked much different than the one that is on my Fusion. Does anyone know if the Ford Focus uses the same flex pipe part, or if it has a variation with a different angle on it?
I picked up the aftermarket OEM style exhaust manifold gasket with the multi-layer stamped metal today from O'Reilly's. It is a Felpro part number MS96656.
From what I could measure with my tape measure, the length to the center of the elbow from the front of the flange (on the first cat/flex side) of the Fusion was 9 7/8" looking at it from the side. From the middle of the elbow to the back of the flex assembly measured to the face of the flange was 4 1/2". The Fusion definitely benefits from more room to work on the exhaust in the flex pipe area.
I could swear the flex pipe that I ordered looked much different than the one that is on my Fusion. Does anyone know if the Ford Focus uses the same flex pipe part, or if it has a variation with a different angle on it?
I picked up the aftermarket OEM style exhaust manifold gasket with the multi-layer stamped metal today from O'Reilly's. It is a Felpro part number MS96656.
Last edited:
Well, Sunday I got a little frustrated with the wait and decided to cut the Pacesetter setup to accept the flanges with the best measurements that I could come up with. I took my Coplay Norstar M200-M welder down into the basement to weld them up and literally plugged everything in for the first time since I bought it last summer. I tried to weld the flanges on with some 308 ss wire and I was done before I started because the gas wasn't getting to the nozzle of the gun. It turned out that my welder broke where the gun's hose attaches to the unit and there was a massive leak there. I was a little frustrated. I tried to glue it after I had taken a flashlight and found it, but anyway, that didn't work either.
So now I am waiting to hear back from the welding supply store that I purchased the welder from (it does have a 3 year warranty) and I am also waiting until they get gas for the welders at work. The good news is that the flex pipe arrived from Canada today. It is almost an exact match to my measurements and that was a very good feeling to have that confirmed. So if we mod the existing exhaust manifolds with the flange, they will accept a standard replaceable flex pipe. I even test fit the pacesetter unit after cutting it and friction fitting the flanges, and it all worked out great. The only other thing that will have to be added to a replacement flex pipe is a hanger like the Mazda OEM units have. The one thing I could see is that if you have a heat shield that is coming apart, you might have to drop one of the little under-body cross-braces to get it to fit without chewing up the shield, but my stainless shields did great and I was able to rotate it into place with the hanger and all. The flex assembly I got from Canada is EXD (Exhaust Direct) part number X-2436. The Walker number is 52436 and is also on their part.
Here are some photos: First from Pacesetter unit cut.
Next is in the car from underneath with the manifold temporarily bolted.
Here are side by sides of the two new flex assemblies.
Finally the part number.
So now I am waiting to hear back from the welding supply store that I purchased the welder from (it does have a 3 year warranty) and I am also waiting until they get gas for the welders at work. The good news is that the flex pipe arrived from Canada today. It is almost an exact match to my measurements and that was a very good feeling to have that confirmed. So if we mod the existing exhaust manifolds with the flange, they will accept a standard replaceable flex pipe. I even test fit the pacesetter unit after cutting it and friction fitting the flanges, and it all worked out great. The only other thing that will have to be added to a replacement flex pipe is a hanger like the Mazda OEM units have. The one thing I could see is that if you have a heat shield that is coming apart, you might have to drop one of the little under-body cross-braces to get it to fit without chewing up the shield, but my stainless shields did great and I was able to rotate it into place with the hanger and all. The flex assembly I got from Canada is EXD (Exhaust Direct) part number X-2436. The Walker number is 52436 and is also on their part.
Here are some photos: First from Pacesetter unit cut.
Next is in the car from underneath with the manifold temporarily bolted.
Here are side by sides of the two new flex assemblies.
Finally the part number.
Last edited:
I welded everything up at work and it turned out pretty nice. I tig welded the stainless pieces for the pacesetter setup and mig welded the galvanized steel hanger to the steel EXD part. I put the catted exhaust manifold on her 5, added my flanged flex pipe, and away we went! The whole thing is working great. The only hangup I had was that my lower o2 sensor is really close to the flange, so I had to use a serrated 12mm x 1.5 thread pitch wheel stud type bolt on one side of the flange because a regular bolt wouldn't clear the sensor. Otherwise it worked well. Another thing I noticed after I got it all together is that Pacesetter must have coated the part with a wax or shellac or something because it is still burning off and creating a smell, but it is better than exhaust fumes, and I think it should be gone in a week or so. I still have to cut the oem pipe and weld a flange on it, but I can do that at my leisure now. First, I am going to put together a small shed with a sliding top to get around having my riding mower stuck in the garage every time a vehicle is being worked on.
