Exhaust System Sealing

[CUDA JAS]

I put a new 2.5 inch thrush exhaust system on my cuda over the summer.  I am realativly happy with it (the wife thinks it is a little loud), but I can not seem to get all the seems to seal up.

I can see a few carbon marks at a few of the joints, and I think I smell exhaust gasess in the interior of the car.

Any suggestions on how to get the seems to seal up (other than just tighten the clamps more or welding the joints).  Are there better clamps that can be used.

My headers also leak a bit, but I can fix those (I think).

I just want to make sure I do not have exhaust leaking into the interior of the car..its a family crusier and I do not want my family or I to get sick every time I drive it!!!.

Thanks,

Jason

[ShelbyDogg]

Have someone hold a rag on the end of the tailpipe and the leaks will show themselves. Make sure that you have good heavy duty clamps, then tighten the cr*p out of them.    For my headers that always leaked at the flanges, I had to build up the flange holes with weld wire, sprayed them with guide coat, then filed them flat with a big flat file, till they looked smooth.  Till then my car smelled like exhaust.     Any shop that does heads has one of those big belt sander tables that can grind the header for you in a few minutes.

[burdar]

Does the exhaust go all the way to the back of the car or does it dump down before the rear axle?  If it goes all the way back, make sure your trunk seal is in good shape.  A bad seal will let exhaust fumes into the interior.

When I worked at an exhaust shop, our clamps had a small notch cut out in the bottom piece right in the middle of the curve.  That notch let the clamp bend in as the nuts were tightened.  We didn't have many sealing issues but did use some muffler cement on occation. 

The company tried to save a few bucks and went with a cheaper clamp without the notch and we had some clamps loosen up within a couple days.  We started cutting our own notch in the clamps with a hacksaw which seemed to solve the problem. 

[CUDA JAS]

Does the exhaust go all the way to the back of the car or does it dump down before the rear axle?  If it goes all the way back, make sure your trunk seal is in good shape.  A bad seal will let exhaust fumes into the interior.

When I worked at an exhaust shop, our clamps had a small notch cut out in the bottom piece right in the middle of the curve.  That notch let the clamp bend in as the nuts were tightened.  We didn't have many sealing issues but did use some muffler cement on occation. 

Hmm..the exhaust exits out the back, coudl be comign in through the trunk...no divided between the trunk and back seat either...soemthgin to think about thats for sure.

I like the rag idea and the notch in the clamp.  lots of ideas to try!

Thanks guys.

[Topcat]

Areas to check:

trunk floors...no holes
Seam behind bumper
Body plugs; especially in trunk
Tail light gaskets
Cuda filler tube gasket
Headers
pipe connections
Rubber trunk seal (the biggest culprit)