Exhaust flange gasket woe.

Please hear my tale of woe, for I have spent too much time trying to fix my taco.
Have 1997 Tacoma, keep it in good shape. Oil change every 3K miles, oil filter, air filter too.
New tires, new windshield (twice), new quarterpanel glass thanks to theives, twice.
Lumber rack. So good, metal thieves stole my cat. Got replacement cat from ebay.
Be real careful because California, executive order cats only. Take to muffler shop,
ask to fix (thieves took o2 sensor too, easier to cut off that much with battery operated sawzaw)
Ask welder to "weld extra metal to cat" to make theft harder.
"No one will steal that cheap aftermarket cat"
Feel stupid. "Also your exhaust manifold is cracked and leaking"
Ask if he can weld that too.
"Maybe. $$"
Will deal with that later, need truck now.
~ months go by ~
Decide to fix exhaust manifold myself. Worst idea ever.
Got dorman aftermarket. Enter dark place when flange bolts shear off, have to drill them out.
Replaced exhaust manifold. Found obscure ERG tube gaskets, all together.
Felt like a pro, think maybe I'll fix oil leak in valve cover later.
Then things went bad.
Take taco to smog. Mechanic is a car whisperer. Opens lid and says:
"You hear that? shush, shush, shush. You got a leak."
"You can smell it too, the exhaust."
"Not going to pass, you fail already"
Whisperer twists my throttle.
"You hear that? SHUSH SHUSH SHUSH, a leak!"
Take it home, remove heat shield over exhaust manifold, feel around.
Flange between manifold and downpipe to o2 sensor and cat leaking.
It's the Y tube in pic related. Part 17410B.
Change it, I KID YOU NOT, 6 TIMES.
Nobody knows what size those gaskets are. I got all different kinds.
Help me tacofans, my registration is delinquent and I don't know how to fix this stupid exhaust leak.
Is my cat clogged? Is it not tight enough? Why? Help?

I went to Autozone, I went to the Dealer, I went on-line.
The dealer parts were the thickest but still leaked.
No one on-line has exact measurements.

The pipes are not cracked, the flanges are in good shape I think. Maybe I'm not nesting them?
Do the flanges meet or maintain a gap?

This is what I measured:
======
Measurements of 70961 (too small):
0.165" / 4.4mm height.
44.4mm ID 1.74in
57.30 OD. kind of loose. 2.25in

6/23 measurements from AZ: 2 9091706065 Exhaust Pipe Flange Gasket
0.195"/ 5mm height
49.2 mm ID
62.34 OD
TOO BIG OD!!
----
7/11 measurements from dealer:
4.8 mm height
43.4mm id
57.1 OD
=========
Autozone on left (after leaking, removed), dealer on right (not yet installed, now damaged).


Thanks for reading.

 

Get some high temp exhaust gasket maker. Slather it on there when you put the new gaskets in and be done with it. I had a leak where my cat bolted to the downpipe and the gasket maker solved the problem.

 

Word to your mother, nzbrock. Like many here, I do not sit idle when things are awry. Fate favors the prepared, hope is weak, will is unstoppable. I did measure the depth of the dorman exhaust manifold gasket recess, and found it to be 4.64mm. Verily, I find this to be out of specification and excessively deep. Of the many sure to fit my vehicle replacements, few came close to this depth and compression was key. So I did what many of you would do. I punted.
Here we see two sub-thick Duralast Fel-Pro 23561 Exhaust Gaskets, the first ones I tried, and after measuring their height, knew why they leaked. Using bicycle innertube as rubber bands, I enjoined two of these sub-depth gaskets and applied cyanocrylate, aka superglue, at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock on the inner metallic raceway. I very carefully coaxed the flanges together. With all of my might, I compressed this monstrosity between the flanges, and to my delight, the joint did not leak. Or so I surmise, the previous experience was clear, puffs pushed my fingers. I felt nothing now. So on the highway I went, gunned it, abused it. Tried to break it. I think I'm good.

Gave her a bath in celebration.
Not a bad looking girl born in 1997.
Thanks for the support my man,
Sean

 

I NEED more of your posts! Very entertaining, you have me laughing.

Glad you got it figured out.

 

Welp, I made a video of how tor repair a quarter panel glass that thieves seem to think is a nice way to rob you.
Frankly I'd like to Florida them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRGVRFHPmQ0

 

Why did it take you so long to figure out your fix??

With miss matched exhaust parts these leaks are quite common .

I have learned over the years to just stick with one exhaust parts manufacture if possible.

Different brands don`t play well together

 

Great thread.

 

I think www.seussville.com is looking for new talent....... hit them up?

 

how funny, i was thinking the same thing

 

Alarm! It did not work! Don't be an idiot and superglue two substandard exhaust flange gaskets together, mush them into place as hard as possible, and expect to pass smog. This project is my official dead albatross hanging from my neck, a gigantic tumor attached to my leg that I've been dragging around for months. The smog numbers were great, the old taco's cat is doing a good job. But the mechanic still smelled exhaust so I failed. Before I try this next stab in the dark, I want to know if I'm about to do something really dumb. How does this goo look to y'all? Says it won't harm o2 sensors, and I bought OEM gaskets again, which are a wee bit thicker but still not thick enough. Is it worth a try? If this fails I might have to get an OEM exhaust manifold just to get a good depth on the flange recess. Thanks for any advice or chiding, either would be helpful.

 

If the sealer doesn't work. Take the manifold to a machine shop and mill the flange down until the proper recessed depth is obtained.

 

I couldn't write this for a long time, I was at the end of my rope. The sealer didn't work, the bright orange spongy stuff turned to soot. I had taken this thing apart at least 12 times and tried many different gaskets. Then I saw this:

I was trying to see if I got all the sticky soot out before trying again. And I saw that I had cracked one of the flange taps. Now the whole thing had to come off, and this kind of made me happy.
And the reveal. Please bear in mind this exhaust manifold is about 1 year old. Looks like I need a new post for the reveal.

 

Also the state was after me, my registration was so out of date they forwarded it to the county tax collector so they could garnish my wages. I paid $177 after all was said and done. Apparently you can pay for registration without a smog. Anyway, I pull the manifold of and....

What the heck is that? OK, this is why this is painful for me. I changed exhaust rings on this thing for ages, months. I'm a blackbelt at it. And the manifold had a manufacturing defect? I blew a hole in the bottom? There is no way it rusted this fast, not in California. I had a deep dark decision to make. Should I really throw money at the problem and go to the dealer or just buy another aftermarket one. I found a really cheap aftermarket one and went with it. Here it is with the heat shield.

All happy and when it was all together I felt no puffs at all, smelled no exhaust, and took it to a Star-only testing station and passed!
So there you go, I finally have a sticker that will last a couple of months, and I've been driving it a lot. Gas is still stupid cheap.

 

Fuck exhaust work is all i have to say!! i had similar struggles getting the cat to muffler flange to seal down to the wire on getting my POS smogged. Took me 4 times to get it to seal.