Removing axle-back?

[naossoan]

Hi guys,

I just bought a Tanabe Medalion Touring exhaust for my 3Dr HB Yaris. Just got it today, it looks great!

I was trying to get the stock exhaust off and I'm just not having any luck with those spring-bolts that connect it to the main pipe.

I've got the car propped up on some axle stands with the rear right wheel off.

I got myself all in there in a sitting/bend over position with my ratchet on the bolt to try and keep my arms as tighlty into my body for as much strength as possible. The problem is, since it's so tight in there you need an extension, which I've put on, but because of that if I try to reef on the handle of the wrench, I pull the exhaust sideways along with it.

I'm afraid if I just do that I'm going to break something, so I've been using 1 hand on the sort of pivot point of the wrench to try and keep it centred, and pulling only with 1 arm. I'm not having any luck getting those damn bolts off.

I've lubed them up with WD40 and I'll have a crack at it again tomorrow, but does anyone who has put on an exhaust have any tips for getting those bolts off without any power tools?I bought a hell of a long wrench as to get more leverage on it, however I failed to notice it's a 1/2" drive and all my sockets are 3/4" drive so I need to go pick up an adapter whenever I get a chance (all the stores closed now). So maybe that will work if I can give that a shot.

Any help? Thanks.

[DARKSCOPE001]

not sure how the yaris exhaust is held togeather. (havent been that far back yet) but normally exhaust is held togeather by a flange. one side has a stud the other some nuts. First off get something better than WD-40. To bad you dont live close to me I would loan you some kroil.

But there are several other good penetrating sprays, I have tried, PB blaster, Liquid wrench, and limited experience with crc freeze spray thats supposed to be really good. also I have heard acetone and ATF are supposed to work

Soak it, multiple times a day, for a few days, also it doesent hurt to brush off as much crud as you can from the surface to help the penetrating oil get in there

Many times a torch will help. I invested in a propane torch (helps sometimes but is pretty low temp compared to the big boy toys and takes forever to heat up the part your working on) but for little exhaust nuts you should be ok with a propane or mapp gas tourch. just be carefull if its near the fuel cell.

Tap on the part with a small hammer (when i say tap i mean hit it but not so hard your going to damage the exhaust components) sometimes the hammer blows will "shock" the rust and free its grip. Its going to be tough im sorry, I did some exhaust work, on another car (mine was right off the exhaust header. My exhaust studs were so corroded they had to be cut off then bored through with a welding torch thank god i "knew a guy" it cost me a beer. But soemthing that far back and on a car this new it should be easyish.

Good Luck
Sean Scott

Remember, that bolt didnt get stuck in one day so dont expect it to come undone in one day. its going to fight you. best thing to do is just soak the shit out of it with penetrating oil.

[SAV912]

White lithium grease is your friend. Your BEST friend is a small 50/50 mix of acetone (generic nail polish remover) and ATF (automatic transmission) fluid. They will separate if stored for a long time though, so only mix a small amount and use it up. Also, like above, tap it with a hammer as well.

Hope this helps.

-C

[yaris4062007]

Walmart sells pb blaster for under $5.00.
I used on axle bolt , it came right off. :-)

[DARKSCOPE001]

I cant stress enough that heat is your friend. also sometimes one penetrating oil (PO) may work in some situations and not in others. I have found that PB works good on the big dirty grungy rust. and liquid wrench works good on the galvanic welding rust (like aluminum rims on steel rotors)

Good Luck. Worst case you could cut the bolts. drill, or bore through them. and use high quality through bolts to hold the flange togeather. IDK why car companies use studs anyways. Through bolts only require to be cut off and punched out. Studs have to be saved.

Good Luck
try a few different things and keep at it. This will take time. and dont go crazy on it. exhaust is not a strong part of the car.

[yariSB86]

i believe a 9mm socket fits over those bolts. i had to use a "small" breaker bar for some extra torque. they came right off. if your going to use a breaker bar, i suggest you use alloy sockets (for use with impact drivers).

Edit: i also jacked my car up so i could crawl underneath comfortably. more room is always a plus.

[WeeYari]

Go to Canadian Tire and get an electric impact. They have a sale on right now where you get the impact free when you buy a complete set of sockets for $100.



My electric impact has quickly become one of my most valuable tools.

I have a Medallion as well. You're going to love it.

[thebarber]

pb blaster + impact gun = new axleback on your yaris

[naossoan]

Thanks for all the tips guys, but my long handled ratchet did the trick. Yay leverage! The handle is about twice as long as a standard sized ratchet handle. It was on sale at Canadian Tire for like $20.

Anyway, now I have another issue. I got the new exhaust all bolted on, but I've run across another problem.

Back story: The reason I'm putting a new exhaust on, is because I ran my car off the road a while back, but I haven't been using it because I've been using my other vehicle, 4x4 (Manitoba winter, heh) but the weather is getting nice again so I'm getting my Yaris run ready.

What happened was I went off the road, into a ditch, then up a bank, backwards.

Since my car is lowered, the stock muffler caught on the ground, and I THOUGHT just bent the exhaust up a little bit, right where it bends up over the rear axle because that's where it was rattling (though not really an axle, who are we kidding). However, since installing the new exhaust, there is an uneven gap between the new exhaust, and where it fits on to the existing pipe.


Upon further investigation, it appears the whole exhaust may have been pushed back some, because the next rubber stretchy thing appears to be pushed WAY back on the peg thing where it attaches to the tube.




The next one after that appears to be ok, but I can't get underneath the car up there, it's still too low, and the 2 on the axle-back are not sitting straight up and down, they're pulled off-kilter.



I ran the car for a bit to test it out anyway, and sure enough there was some liquid (looked like water) coming out of the joint where the axle-back meats the rest of the tube, so it's not a good seal there. There was no rattling at all though.

So what are my options here? Is there such a thing as a heat safe rubber grommet I may be able to put in there, or like some kind of silicon sealant I may be able to line it with to make a better fit? It's going to be next to impossible for me to find an oem Yaris exhaust w/ cat etc. where I live, so I kind of feel that's out of the question.

options?

[naossoan]

Really? No advice for this?

[WeeYari]

Loosen the spring bolts on the axle back flange. Reach in there and hold the flanges parallel to each other as best you can. Tighten bolts back up. Turn one in some, then the other. Repeat until tight. Do not tighten one bolt in all the way, then work the other one. There is enough free play in the exhaust system to allow these flanges to come together parallel regardless of how much you may have bent it.

[WeeYari]

Also, without seeing everything apart, I'm willing to bet that you don't have an exhaust gasket there in the first place. Mine was stuck inside the OEM axle back, and had to get a new one for the Medallion.

[naossoan]

Ahhhhh ok I was wondering about that. I was wondering if there was a gasket because I did not see one anywhere. that will probably solve my problem, I'll have to look for it. Thanks!

EDIT: Yeah so, there is no gasket there. So if there was at one point, there certainly isn't one now. I checked on the oem axle-back that I removed, and the existing pipe so I'll have to get a new one. Happen to know the part number? I'll be googling but just wondering. thanks.

[DARKSCOPE001]

try one of these, http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sh...ota/yaris.html

Im not exactly sure which one it is because the only exhaust work I have ever done it used a fiber type flat gasket but If i had to vote it would be that round crush type metal one.

Good luck, maybe someone can give us some better information

Thanks
Sean Scott

[naossoan]

I think I found one at NAPA as well. I can't link to the product description page but this is a picture of it

[WeeYari]

NAPA does carry the correct gasket. Last time I was in there, they carried the rear gasket, but not the header gasket. Had to go to Toyota for that one.

[naossoan]

yeah so that is not the right gasket. I'm pretty sure there isn't a gasket. I say that because when I took the exhaust apart, there was NO gasket there. The one that I got seems like it's for up front where the manifold would connect to the main exhaust pipe. It's much too big for the axle-back exhaust. I just got some muffler cement put that around the opening and clamped it down. Hopefully that does the trick.

Is there a way to test if you have an exhaust leak?

[thetut]

There are 2 gaskets. One front and one rear. Go to http://www.microimageonline.com/foru...32-YARIS-FILES and click on Exhaust and look at the pictures.