GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

2007 Vibe here. My first thought is that a hole has rusted through the muffler or a pipe, but I grabbed a flashlight and did some quick peeking and feeling around and didn't see anything.

Here's a quick video I took when I cold-started it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADuG3iOmEe0

From the sound of it, it seems like it's coming from somewhere on the right side, but again, I couldn't find anything obvious doing my quick peek.

Yes, right side, that's where the exhaust is

Check the flange that couples the over axle pipe to the muffler pipe. Those always rot first. Just redid mine last week. The previous fix lasted 2.5 years.

jayoldschool wrote:Yes, right side, that's where the exhaust is

Haha, well to be fair the exhaust exits on the left side.

I'll check out that flange and see what's going on. Thanks!

Yes, the rest is nice stainless, so the flange is a weak spot for sure. You can order a repair piece for it, but it's really easy to just slice the pipe on the upstream side with a sawzall, then remove the complete pipe/muffler/tail and take it to the bench. Then, slice off the rest of the leaky part. You can then weld on a piece, or slip a piece over and clamp it.

Ok so I checked the flange and it looks to be fine. The front connection looks a little cracked, but there doesn't appear to be a hole there and it's still solidly attached.

Check the top of the muffler, I found holes in mine where I believe there were spot welds made during manufacturing.
Steve

Have the car running and hold your hand close to the surface of the exhaust pipes, muffler, etc. that is in the area of your sound leak. If you feel exhaust gases blowing out or an increase in temperature along with air movement, you have found your exhaust leak. You may also hear the sound change as you pass your hand over the leak. Be careful not to burn yourself. You do not touch the hot exhaust surfaces with the engine running. Just hold your hand about 1 to 2 inches way from the hot surface. Noises like this can come from the smallest leaks that you may not be able to see or they can be in an area that you can not see. Put your hand around the pipe. The hard ones to find are the leaks that are in the flex couples on exhaust systems. And of course follow all safety precautions when working under a running vehicle.

Ok so it turns out the flange gasket was bad. The pipe and flange were all still connected just fine, but the gasket was leaking. However, the flange was so rusted out that I decided to just cut it off and replace it with some regular pipe. Took it to a welder and got it all taken care of! Thanks for the help!