First Post - Introduction/Question

[FellintoOblivion]

Hi everyone. My name is Trent. As the title says this is my first post here. I was motivated to do so by an issue I am having with my car. I have a 1996 Pontiac Sunfire and the exhaust is about to fall off. Forgive my ignorance of specific terms as up to this point the most work I have done on a car is replacing a head lamp.

The pipe that goes from the muffler itself to the front of the car is divided into three sections and the first joint near the muffler is pretty much rotted away. The muffler is also in pretty bad shape so if I am going to replace the pipe I might as well do it all. I guess my question is, is replacing the exhaust something I could do with little to no experience? Are there any special tools I would need? The parts dont look too expensive but I know that labor would kill me if I took it to get fixed and I dont want to pay for something I could do myself. Any help anyone can provide would be awesome, thanks in advance.

Trent

[FellintoOblivion]

Did some more poking around and got some more info. When I said the pipe was split into three sections I meant there is the pipe from the muffler to the cat. converter (just found out thats what that is) then one from the CC to the engine. The CC would also need to be replaced since the joints on both sides are rusted and once I take them apart i dont think that are going back together. What is the pipe that runs from the CC to the engine?

[matt09524]

Replacing the muffler and cat should be easy. Piping is not expensive. You might have to weld some. The pipe that goes from the CC to the engine is attached to the exhaust manifold. If that is rusted out, its a pricey replacement cost. Other than that, a socket set, a pair of pliers would do the job. On mine, replacing the CC would mean a small weld job on the front because it has no attatching parts.

[FellintoOblivion]

Originally Posted by matt09524

Replacing the muffler and cat should be easy. Piping is not expensive. You might have to weld some. The pipe that goes from the CC to the engine is attached to the exhaust manifold. If that is rusted out, its a pricey replacement cost. Other than that, a socket set, a pair of pliers would do the job. On mine, replacing the CC would mean a small weld job on the front because it has no attatching parts.

Yea I shopped around and it looks like I cant get the muffler and pipe for around $50-60 each. It looks like the CC has the same coupling at both ends so I dont think any welding will be needed. If there is welding involved that pretty much means I am not gonna be able to do this myself. The attachement at the manifold is rusted but looks like I would be able to take the pipe off and put another on without replacing the manifold. Im really hoping I can take the pipe off the CC and put a new one on without having to replace the CC. The thing is though I dont want to spend the money on a CC (another $50-60) if I dont need one but if I DO need one and dont get one right away my car is stuck until I get it. Bleh.