Exhaust leak? - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

Crand · 01-15-2023, 03:46 AM

This weekend I dropped my exhaust because I needed to get to the parking brake linkage which decided it had spent enough time being connected. About a month ago I noticed my exhaust randomly started getting louder on the freeway to the point where it sounded like I didn't have mufflers anymore and I pulled over because I thought something fell off the car. Everything looked okay but it was loud, still drove okay. I went home and looked around underneath and couldn't see anything out of place. I figured there was something wrong with the vacuum system back there which was keeping the actuators from directing the exhaust through the mufflers and it was just going straight through or something. I dropped the exhaust today and see the problem. Those ventilation ports are on the top of the pipes so if condensation was an issue, it would have been sticking to the top of the pipes. These seem to be right where the hangers are welded to them. I don't know if that's where there is just a bend or if there is another weld all the way through the pipe because it's in such poor condition. The passenger side pipe is cracked almost all the way through, it's only being held on by about 3/4 of an inch of material. Keep in mind I live in Arizona, I never drive this car in the rain, and they don't salt the roads here in the winter. I have no freaking clue why this happened but there it is. Anybody else have similar results with their car? This is from a 2013 1LE.

chevy pilot · 01-15-2023, 04:56 AM

Are they oem or aftermarket ?

0stones0 · 01-15-2023, 09:20 AM

Bizarre, to say the least.

Crand · 01-16-2023, 11:45 AM

This is the factory NPP exhaust. I had noticed a rattling noise coming from the vicinity for quite some time before those holes fell in completely and bypassed the mufflers. I googled that and noticed a LOT of people complain of rattles. I figured it was just rocks in the heat shields because that has happened before, but now I know it was pieces of steel rattling around in the exhaust. Wonder how many people have this problem but don't know because their car doesn't have 250k miles on it? This is clearly metal fatigue. Thinking of buying some 302 elbows and just chopping out that section.

Crand · 01-20-2023, 11:26 AM

Does anybody know what alloy the stock exhaust is made from? For some reason I thought it was 302 stainless but I don't remember where I read that. Most aftermarket exhaust uses 304 stainless so maybe that's what it is. Anybody know for certain which it is?

Mouse330 · 03-29-2024, 04:31 PM

Pretty sure OEM is 409

01-15-2023, 03:46 AM	#1
Crand Drives: away the ladies :( Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 235	Exhaust leak? This weekend I dropped my exhaust because I needed to get to the parking brake linkage which decided it had spent enough time being connected. About a month ago I noticed my exhaust randomly started getting louder on the freeway to the point where it sounded like I didn't have mufflers anymore and I pulled over because I thought something fell off the car. Everything looked okay but it was loud, still drove okay. I went home and looked around underneath and couldn't see anything out of place. I figured there was something wrong with the vacuum system back there which was keeping the actuators from directing the exhaust through the mufflers and it was just going straight through or something. I dropped the exhaust today and see the problem. Those ventilation ports are on the top of the pipes so if condensation was an issue, it would have been sticking to the top of the pipes. These seem to be right where the hangers are welded to them. I don't know if that's where there is just a bend or if there is another weld all the way through the pipe because it's in such poor condition. The passenger side pipe is cracked almost all the way through, it's only being held on by about 3/4 of an inch of material. Keep in mind I live in Arizona, I never drive this car in the rain, and they don't salt the roads here in the winter. I have no freaking clue why this happened but there it is. Anybody else have similar results with their car? This is from a 2013 1LE. Attached Images

01-15-2023, 09:20 AM	#3
0stones0 It don’t come easy. Drives: 2010 2SS RS M6 Join Date: May 2014 Location: WI Posts: 2,211 View My Garage	Bizarre, to say the least. __________________

01-15-2023, 04:56 AM	#2
chevy pilot Drives: 2010 2SS/RS A6 Join Date: May 2019 Location: Hki.Finland Posts: 955	Are they oem or aftermarket ?

01-16-2023, 11:45 AM	#4
Crand Drives: away the ladies :( Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 235	This is the factory NPP exhaust. I had noticed a rattling noise coming from the vicinity for quite some time before those holes fell in completely and bypassed the mufflers. I googled that and noticed a LOT of people complain of rattles. I figured it was just rocks in the heat shields because that has happened before, but now I know it was pieces of steel rattling around in the exhaust. Wonder how many people have this problem but don't know because their car doesn't have 250k miles on it? This is clearly metal fatigue. Thinking of buying some 302 elbows and just chopping out that section.

01-20-2023, 11:26 AM	#5
Crand Drives: away the ladies :( Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 235	Does anybody know what alloy the stock exhaust is made from? For some reason I thought it was 302 stainless but I don't remember where I read that. Most aftermarket exhaust uses 304 stainless so maybe that's what it is. Anybody know for certain which it is?

03-29-2024, 04:31 PM	#6
Mouse330 Drives: 2011 2SS, 2006 GMC Sierra Join Date: Jul 2019 Location: MA Posts: 245	Pretty sure OEM is 409