I recently installed Berk HFCs, a HR Y pipe, and a coupe middy, along with my HKS sport axle back.. I have a tiny leak where the Y pipe meets the middy, the middy was used with over 40K miles so it was rusted and the flange wasnt really all that smooth. I am wondering if i'm loosing any power due to the leak? I've been told that since the leak is after my HFCs it really doesn't affect my performance at all. What do you guys think? I will end up swapping the middy in time, but im still curious as to see if im loosing power...

 

It will affect performance to some extent. Size and location are the determining factors.

That location is a joining of air flows...you probably aren't losing a ton of mid range but I bet your top end is a little lower. Turbulent airflow is the enemy.

 

^^ What do you mean by size and location..

 

Depends on how bad the leak is...the further back the location of the leak the less it will affect performance

you might think about getting a new gasket and retightening up the exhaust bolts

 

the gasket is brand spankin new.. and i tightened it up as much as possible.. im gonna use the exhaust putty stuff and hopefully that will end the leak

 

that exhaust putty stuff sucks. it will just crack off, I tried it before it held for maybe a couple of weeks. if the flange is not smooth and is pitted you can try flattening it. Do you have a die grinder, put a roloc with 80 grit and it will smoothen it out nicely. If you don't have one you can use a sanding block to level the surface out, but that's going to take some elbow grease. After you get it as smooth as possible, use a copper gasket sealer and that should do the trick.

 

^^ wow thanks for the heads up on the putty, yea ill try to take a commerical grinder to it and get it as smooth as possible, where can i find the copper gasket sealer? and do i just apply it onto the gasket before tightening?

 

any autoparts store should have it with the rest of the gasket makers, threadlock... it's a high temp gasket paste that comes in a tube. You simply coat both sides of the gasket, then bolt it together. I'll fill in any small gaps to make a good seal that won't blow out when it gets hot. You need the high temp stuff or it will just melt out eventually.

this is it. http://www.permatex.com/products/aut...sket_Maker.htm

 

You could try multiple gaskets..

 

For some reason i feel like thats not a good idea... anyone else? has anyone tried multiple gaskets?

I dont feel as if it would solve my problem though.. cause the Middy is still gonna be rough and the fitment wouldnt be flush

BTW thank you DHcrocks..

 

yeah multiple gaskets is not a good idea. stacking them will only create more surfaces for leaks to occur and blowing out the gasket will be more likely due to the increased thickness.

 

sand it down a little and try?

 

Ahm I'd be careful with the angle grinder unless you really know what you're doing - they can get pretty aggressive. You should be okay with the RTV sealant. It's the same stuff used to make the gasket on the Camaro (LT1) intake manifold, so I would expect it to work for an exhaust application.

You'd probably need to remove the stock gasket if you went that route though; otherwise it would be like using 2 gaskets.

EDIT: to be clear - only the copper RTV mentioned above is recommended for exhaust, so don't skimp and get the red or gray one.

 

Using 2 gaskets won't be a problem if you tighten them down super tight.

What exhaust gasket are you using...there are some that are super cheap quality.

 

OEM from the infiniti dealership... i did sand it down alrdy but it still leaked, thats why i wanna take a power grinder to it and really get it smooth. I've worked construction for quite awhile now so im pretty good with using one.. not worried ill mess anything up.. so ill do that and put that copper rtv on the stock gasket and tighten everything up..