Exhaust Leak

[nookatee]

Hello,
I'm having some trouble with my exhaust sytsem. It seems there is a leak somewhere...but I can't pinpoint where it is. I think I will probably end up going to a mechanic, but does anyone know of a good way to figure out where the leak is? If it is of any help, the only clue i have is that when i start it up (when it's particularly cold, i.e. hasn't started for a day or two) there is a strange putting sound as the engine revs to life. After that initial burst of exhaust, that sound goes away. Any thoughts would be extremely appreciated.

[tomctx]

Originally posted by nookatee@Feb 27 2005, 07:35 PM
Hello,
I'm having some trouble with my exhaust sytsem. It seems there is a leak somewhere...but I can't pinpoint where it is. I think I will probably end up going to a mechanic, but does anyone know of a good way to figure out where the leak is? If it is of any help, the only clue i have is that when i start it up (when it's particularly cold, i.e. hasn't started for a day or two) there is a strange putting sound as the engine revs to life. After that initial burst of exhaust, that sound goes away. Any thoughts would be extremely appreciated.

[snapback]300534[/snapback]

What year and model car do you have?

[bigred318]

well a dude at my dads office turboed his miata and right before the turbo he has a pretty bad exhuast leak (yes very bad for a turbo car haha hes getting it fixed.) anyways with his exhuast leak we can hear where it is and feel it pushing out. i dont know if yours is that bad, and being under a car that is only on jacks while it is running isnt fun/or really safe... but if you really wanted to you could check atleast the catback by having someone rev and listening or even holding a piece of paper and moving it up and down your exhuast system to see if its bad enough to be creating a stream of air... its worth a try... check around the cat, and check where the exhuast hooks up to the header in the front of your car.

This may not even work but its worth a try!

David

[njtech]

If it normaly happens at start up when it's cold and goes away in minutes. It's probably leaking from the exhaust manifold or gasket.