Hey guys, my daily driver my cobalt ss. the flex pipe broke on it the other day and I need to drive the car. its leaking and sounds horrible. Stealership wanted almost 1,000 to fix it. MUST be a cheaper/better way to fix. Ideas?


thanks


Jason

 

buy a universal flex pipe.. go to muffler shop, fixed for less then $250.

 

i broke my stock one not to long ago. Spent less than 200 and ordered the catless 3' dp from zzp and a hour later i was done installing it.

 

Long story short, bought a universal flex pipe, had it cut and welded in, 6 months later it also broke. Just ordered the 3" to 2.5" down pipe from zz performance with the magnaflow hi flow cat. hopefully this fixes the problem. Tired of replacing broken flex pipes. I dont even race this car, just drive it to work and back and sometimes get on it. This is my DD, my fun car is the 300zx twin turbo.

 

After I cracked my flex pipe, I went to rockauto.com and I picked up a flex pipe section for 15-20bucks. I then got it welded in for about 60 more at a local muffler shop

 

i don't have a gm warranty but when my flex pipe broke the stealership fixed it free of charge, the car has a 80000 mile /8 year warranty on the flex pipe or something like that. but yea, free. hop on that.

 

I bet you dont have upgraded trans mounts. That's probably why it keeps on breaking

 

The stock downpipe has a warrenty on it. Yes, it is mainly for the cat, but I'm sure it will still be covered for a broken flex. It is in reality an emissions control device.

The stock downpipes are covered for 10 years 120,000 miles. You should have received a letter in the mail about it.

 

Don't be too sure about the dealer covering it. Mine wouldn't

 

buy one on ebay or from zzp, and have a local shop install it. You'll spend maybe 150 bucks total

 

Should be covered under federal emissions warranty. Dealer has to change it free of charge

 

sounds like a perfect opportunity to get a zzp downpipe

 

Correct!

They should....

I know my dealer would cover for sure.

 

When I purchased my car, the previous owner welded on a straight pipe to the manifold... well low and behold that weld busted... I then took my car to Mineke and had them weld on a flex pipe. 1 year later I blew through that flex pipe causing a horrible exhaust leak... So I've taken this opportunity to upgrade... just got the ZZP catted downpipe and header combo... I'm installing tonight. Hoping that ZZP has a better flex pipes then mineke.

BTW Mineke was 250... ZZP 450 for Header Downpipe and all gaskets and extra bungs for a wideband.

 

I know it should. I argued with them over the phone and again at the dealership that since the cat and flex pipe is only available as one piece that they have to replace it under the emissions warrantee. They said that the warantee only covered the emissions and since the cat was still good it wasnt covered. They said only option was for me to replace the whole thing at my expense. When I asked them about just welding in a new flex they said sure that was another option but they don't do it. Cost me around $80 for the bastards to tell me my flex was broken and they wouldnt fix it under warrantee when I was the one who went in an told them it was broken.
It's my daily so I didnt have time to escalate it up the ladder with GM. Instead I just went and got a new flex welded in. I bought it used and do all my own work so it was the first time I had it into a dealer. If you get regular service at a dealership or bought the car from them you will probably have better luck.

 

second thoughts... if you have already replaced your flex pipe with something else / tried to fix it, dealer might not cover it, either because its not stock (Which is why they will say it is broken) or you broke it more trying to fix it. not saying its not worth a shot though

 

4TMFL

 

same. Said the cat isnt bad, so its not covered.

 

Yea did it, it came today. 3" to 2.5" to the stock cat back. Makes me want a cat back all kind of bad though. Just dont feel like buying for the DD. Maybe this will change the sound a little hopefully.

 

Installed the new down pipe, makes my exhaust gargle, and picked up in the mid range for sure. Only thing I didnt like was the fact it seemed a little to short. But it works and so far so good.