Exhaust Leak at Flex Pipe

[Screamin'Screw]

Well all my backfiring has caused an exhaust leak at the flex pipe. Is the flex pipe a standard piece or part of the FM Kit?

[fwMiata]

have a straight pipe welded in its place, i dont know but ive never seen a flexpipe in any of the fm kits or pictures.. i know you can order racing mazdas dp with or without one.

[TurboDuane]

I don't have a flex pipe on either of my Turbo's.

[SPEEDRACER]

One thing to consider.....If you replace it with a solid piece, what will give if and when it does backfire again

[Screamin'Screw]

I talked to FM and they said it is part of their kit. It would cost $450 to replace. Ahh yea Right. Have these guys never heard of the TCB?!!?

I am going to talk with a few local muffler shops to see if I can have it replaced or have a strait pipe put in its place. There is really not too much south of the flex pipe. I have a high flow cat in there and then the turbo exhaust (nearly no back pressure). My guess is the year up north caused the flex pipe to weaken and my crappy running backfiring FMII caused the failure.

[fwMiata]

One thing to consider.....If you replace it with a solid piece, what will give if and when it does backfire again

itll shoot out teh back.

[channelmaniac]

Or split the muffler at the seams!

Car sounds nice & loud after that.

[TurboDuane]

Well all my backfiring has caused an exhaust leak at the flex pipe. Is the flex pipe a standard piece or part of the FM Kit?

My bad, I mis-read your post. I was thinking you had a backfire because of a bad flex-pipe, thus I was thinking you were talking about the intake side. I shouldn't be so hasty when reading the post.

Both of my cars do have a flex pipe between the down pipes and the Cats. You probably will want some sort of flex, because it allows the motor to rock without upsetting the rest of the exhaust. I'm sure your muffler shop could hook you up with a TCB deal.

Let us know, as we may someday need this as well.

BTW, you should do something about your backfire situation

[Sharpie]

$450 bones for the mid-pipe, wow! Hope nothing happens to mine. It does have a flex piece in it.

[Screamin'Screw]

I kind of chided FM about the pricing. They said the new pipe would flow a little better. Yea, Yea - I heard it all before. I said I have paid $450 for a WHOLE exhaust, what makes yours so special? Reply - Volume. Something to be said about that, but I didn't apply the whole tube of KY, so it still stings a little.

Anyway, I am going to take it to a few local shops to see what they will charge.

One thing I am going to do is take a whole day with a FM tech to get my fuel/starting/dieing problems worked out. If I can scavange a few more ponies in the process, all the better.

[Sharpie]

Take notes on what you learn.

I keep reading the LINK tuning manual hoping the Swahili, will someday turn into English.

[Flyin96M]

I have two on my FMIII and have had to replace both. I think the larger one was like $50, but I did it at the same time I installed the 3" exhaust. They will all go bad over time with the flexing, but I would rather that break than the downpipe itself. Go to Nick's Muffler, real good guy and honest. He also does outstanding work, but is not open on the weekend.