931fan

Hello,

I just recently replaced my mid stock muffler since it was falling apart and hung very low since all the pipe in and outlets were cracked. Got a good deal on another stock muffler bought the clamps and thought I'm done.

Now although the situation clearly improved I'm having problems with the mid muffler hanging low. The 'H' hanger of the mid muffler is pretty stretched since any of the donut hangers on the right side ripes within 1-2 days (yes, they were the right size!). So overall there is to much stress somewhere in the exhaust.

Both catalysts are fine and by no means loose. The only thing I could think of is that the short pipes between the cat and the mid muffler have been twisted maybe during an earlier repair, but I have to evidence of this. Do those exhaust plugs on the pipes point in the right direction?

Maybe someone can give me some advice where to look for. Attached some pics of the system. Had the car lifted for the pics but they reflect the situation when the car is on the ground

MacWorld

In the bentley they explain that all the mounts on the mufflers must be about a inch more toward the front of the car compared to the mounts on the body to allow for the expansion of the exhaust system otherwise it will rip through the rubber mounts

Otherwise I would recommend you to disassemble the front pipes both from the catalysts and the middle muffler then verify the catalyst's adjustment (and mounts). After that align all the parts with new rubber mounts (OEM!!!) and finally secure all taking care that it doesn't move while you clamp all down.

I had to do this kind of work on mine since it had no middle muffler when I bought it and I never had any exhaust issues since. Just take the time to think and verify all adjustments.

BTW the exhaust pipes should come out centered in the recess of the bumper!

931fan

The rear muffler is alligned correctly and I think exhaust has enough play to expand.

The basic question is: Why does the donut-hanger of the mid muffler hangs so low. I simply can not understand this. I have to use a car jack to push it up 2" to get a new donut hanger installed and I somehow doubt that this is caused by the old H hanger on the other side of the muffler.

My best bet are still the short pipes since the hang low as well. I hesitate to disassemble them since I fear to open a can of worms. The collars that hold them on the catalysts are pretty rusty, however the do not leak. So working on them may result in buying them new, since the collars may break ($250 each!, the collars of the pipes are not available separately).

MacWorld

When speaking about collars do you mean the one near the catalyst converter or those at the mid muffler? Those at the mid muffler can be bought from jobbers at about 40$ (or less) and the ones at the catalyst we (in Canada) can get generic ones at CanadianTire. Most parts store should be able to sell you the ones at the catalyst provided you know the external diameter of the pipes since there is more than one version. They should have 2 and 3 holes "flanges" and they will be in 2 parts that you join with the two provided bolts.

931fan

The collars are the parts that are used to connect the short pipes with the catalysts. The short pipes connect on one side withe the catalysts and on the other with the mid muffler. On the catalysts they are fixed bold steel. On the pipes they are made from bent sheet metal and sit loose on the pipe. Three bolts connect both collars

Those sheet metal collars can be bought separately but come only with the short pipes. The stealership wants ~ $ 250 for each.

You see the pipes on the second and third pics. They are the ones with the strange plugs. My feeling is that maybe should rotate by 180°, so the pipe ends look towards the chassis instead pointing downwards to the floor (see pic (2)). Neither the pics on Bentley nor the ones in the ETKA indicate how to mount them correctly.

MacWorld

I didn't knew they were bent metal on the UrS, mine didn't had any when I bought the car (the exhaust stopped at the cats and I had the 2 pipes and the rear muffler only without any hardware). I know what you mean by bent metal since it's that way on my '89 Jetta 16v also. Anyway, this part can be bought at autoparts store, it's what I used and it looks like this:



To align it properly I simply did some "trial and errors"

931fan

Great! These collars are exactly what I was looking for!

Any ideas about the alignment of the pipes? Should the point downwards or mor upwards (towards the drive shaft)?