Exhaust Leak Service & Repair

[diamondjoe]

Hi Everyone,

I need a bit of help with my stock exhaust, and I can only find performance exhaust info in the forum history.

The Rig: 1990 YJ Laredo; 4.2L; 5-speed manual; stock except for the Blazer heater upgrade (which is awesome)

The Story: I spent the weekend replacing exhaust piping in an attempt to resolve an exhaust leak.  I replaced the tail-pipe and the front pipe.  I retained the muffler and the catalytic converter.  For the muffler'/tailpipe connection I used aluminum tape and pipe clamps to achieve a seal.  For the front exhaust pipe (which is flanged) I used Loctite gasket maker.

Once the job was complete, everything was bolted back together and torqued, I still have an exhaust leak.  In fact, it's worse than before.  now I can definitely see exhaust coming out of the flange between the manifold and the pipe.  As well, I believe I have some coming from the flange between the pipe and the cat.  I don't really have the time to re-do all of my work from the past weekend.

Can anyone suggest a quick way to determine the exact location of the leak?  Is there a quick way to repair a leak?  Is there a fast, reputable shop in the N.E. which won't rape me on shop labour?

Thanks in advance,
Joe

[BlackYJ]

I have used minute muffler a few times with no issues

[diamondjoe]

Thanks!

I went to Minute Muffler and they were great.  Excellent work quality, pretty close to cost estimate, and quick to call when they found something "above & beyond" the quote.

Highly recommended.