How to spot an exhaust leak... (1 Viewer)

[mercfan]

I'm looking at a nice 40th Anniversary cruiser. I've been asking the owner a lot of questions. One of the things that came up is that one of the people that test drove his truck at some point thought there was an exhaust leak - how would you spot that? What are some of the symptoms of that?

Could it be that 'whine' or 'whistle' I hear sometimes when accelerating in one of these? There are no CEL codes at this time and it recently passed emissions control....

I should ad that I am working with the owner over the phone as he's on the West Coast and I'm in Denver, so I don't have an option to see it in person yet, but I will see it at some point.

 

[mickeyt]

put it up on the rack and look and listen to it

 

[Impreza]

Take a rag.
Cover the tailpipe.
Listen.

 

[remac226]

Midas will do a free inspection and they offer a "smoke test" for $60 here in SC. They put some type of smoke machine on the tail pipe and pump smoke into the system to see where any leaks are. I had one I could not find and they did it for me and found my leak.

 

[thestunts]

Midas will do a free inspection and they offer a "smoke test" for $60 here in SC. They put some type of smoke machine on the tail pipe and pump smoke into the system to see where any leaks are. I had one I could not find and they did it for me and found my leak.

You can also use that smoke machine to check for vacuum leaks. FYI.

But like most said, listen ... or "feel" for it, which is good on a cold system till it warms up

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

AFAIK, the ever-present whistle is not related to any exhaust leak.

 

[Tyler Durden]

If you know what one sounds like without an exhaust leak (that weird whistle), you'll be able to recognize an exhaust leak sound. I'd replace mine at the moment, but I'm not spending $700 on a cat-back or a couple hundred on one of the ones that I'll have to homie rig to get mounted (i.e. Ansa).

 

[mercfan]

I'd replace mine at the moment, but I'm not spending $700 on a cat-back or a couple hundred on one of the ones that I'll have to homie rig to get mounted (i.e. Ansa).

Would I fail emissions test if it had such leak?

 

[Cannon88]

Would I fail emissions test if it had such leak?

Not likely. I had a giant hole in my exhaust, and it somehow passed emmisions. I have since replaced my exhaust with a used one from a MUD member.

 

[Tyler Durden]

Would I fail emissions test if it had such leak?

Around Stafford/Northern Virginia...if they note an exhaust leak (of any kind), they fail your emissions test. The gasket for one of my oxygen sensors had rusted to pieces and was leaking (I was failed for that). I replaced the gasket and was good to go. I think it all depends on how attentive the technician is. :2cents:

 

[freshspecbluegt]

Not likely. I had a giant hole in my exhaust, and it somehow passed emmisions. I have since replaced my exhaust with a used one from a MUD member.

Really it depends where the exhaust leak is, upstream from the front O2 sensor could result in it running rich, which could fail you.

Leak upstream from cats could also contribute to high NOX.