Exhaust replacement (not the tips/muffler)

[pouncer11]

i was driving my 1990 q to work yesterday, blew away a some old fart in a 97 grand prix then went into work. when i came out and started up my car i noticed it sounded like one of those lifted trucks with the plastic balls hanging from the bumper. Its coming from just below the driver's side door. what should i do to go about repairing/replacing this. i want the quiet backkk. (i do plan to straight pipe it later, but i dont want my car to be loud because of a gaping rust hole/gasket problem)

[elwesso]

hmm probably your best bet is to take it to a muffler shop. Depending on the size and severity you may be able to use some of that muffler patch stuff as a short term fix, especially if you plan on putting on a full exhaust sometime.

[pouncer11]

everyone around here is telling me that infinitis are only repairable by the dealers. this is mostly because in this part of ohio an 87 mustang is a nice car, but in any case no shops will even do a tune up on the thing. i dont know anything about exhaust and i wasnt sure it taht was something i could fix, if i needed special parts or if, like you said a muffler shop would do.

[Rex]

Call an non-chain muffle place, ask them if they'll look at it and give a quote.

After the exhaust manifolds, it's basically "pipe" and other normal exhaust pieces. Nothing "dealer only" parts wise.

And before you spend too much time/money have you read up on and taken care of the Chain Guides?

[pouncer11]

Are you talking about the timing chain?

no i havent bothered with it yet. a friend of mine does auto tech stuff and ill save that for after i replace my two fuel injectors and stop the obnoxious rumble.

if you dont mind linking me to the chain guides that would be nice

[maxnix]

The timing chain guide article is in the Articles Forum and it is imperative you read it before you end up with junk under the hood, or worse.

All the rest, including even starting it, shoudl wait. Your car is on borrowed time.

[DrewQ45]

I ripped off my heat shields years ago due to rust (NY car). Eventually, the weld spots rusted through and I had to have a few sections of piping cut out and replaced. Shouldn't be too big a deal for any muffler shop. I'm thankful to be in ATL... undercarriage rust has been greatly retarded here because the roads are never salted, save the annual snowfall.

[lino]

Some previous threads to look at:

zerothread?id=238263

zerothread?id=172085

zerothread?id=174527

[pouncer11]

around how much did you have to pay?

also i dont know anything about timing belts/chains, and i cant find the article can someone tell me why its so important to have this done now. it was tuned up in october by the infiniti dealer and looked at/worked on numerous times, is this somehting they wouldnt mess with
Modified by pouncer11 at 10:45 AM 4/16/2008

[96Qowner]

Read the " Chain Guides (CRITICAL for 1990-1993): " section on Q45.org for the explanation of chain guides.

http://www.q45.org/techhelp.html

[DrewQ45]

around how much did you have to pay?

also i dont know anything about timing belts/chains, and i cant find the article can someone tell me why its so important to have this done now. it was tuned up in october by the infiniti dealer and looked at/worked on numerous times, is this somehting they wouldnt mess with

Modified by pouncer11 at 9:38 AM 4/16/2008

I think it lightened my pockets by about 80 bucks but I had a few other things done.

[lino]

If you don't have one or haven't already done so, download the Factory Service Manual from the following link. It's for the 1994 Q45:

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/Q45/1994_Q45/

Here is the link the the technical articles page:

http://www.nicoclub.com/subpag...l#q45

[pouncer11]

whats the difference on the 94s that i should look out for with the manual and btw im calling the infiniti shop now to see if theyve replaced the chain guides and if theyll do it for 1200. im about to run the car into a lake.

i was told by Infiniti of Dayton that my car was checked and repaired for the timing guide a long time ago. so im safe on that aspect, i jacked the car up, took a look at the exhaust and found out the right side has been repaired up in the front, the same place the left side needs it, there was a weld or something holding the pipe to the car and it looks to be rusted off, i used some muffler epoxy and a coffee can section to hold it down (works great for now) till i fix the injector. 50 bucks to fix muffler btw.

i would suggest that if youre not the first owner to check with the dealer's service dept about the history. they know where every spec of dust in my car is haha.
Modified by pouncer11 at 9:33 PM 4/16/2008