Exhaust leaking

[tinman905]

I am having trouble with both my mufflers leaking . I have tightened the bands as tight as I can and just can't seem to stop the leak . Has anyone had a similar problem ,what's a good fix?

[trbig]

Where are they leaking at? Right at the joint between the headers and mufflers? The cross-over pipe? The mufflers tend to rust out on the bottom side towards the back where there is a weep hole for moisture and leak there. Did you feel around and see exactly where it is leaking from?

Not trying to be a smart-azz..... Pro will tell you I'm a dumb one anyway.... though no one pays him too much attention. Just trying to get more info from you.

Tod

[tinman905]

It's leaking where the bands are at muffler/header joint .The pipes and headers are in good shape and no holes.

[prometheus578]

Them dadgummed aftermarket exhausts....!
Here's what ya do.
Go to your friendly neighborhood autopart's store and buy a Muffler repair bandage thingie. It's a small roll of some plastic stuff.. red, usually.
Anyway... pull the muffler off. Wrap the bandage ONCE around the pipe and put the muffler back on.
Once around is the right thickness for a good seal.
I've been doing that for years.
Ok, I do it once and it lasts for years, but I've done that to many bikes.

[tinman905]

I thought about some kind of muffle tape or gasket but the muffle is very tight on the header pipe .It's accually very difficult removing the muffler that's why I am very surprised it leaks. I will try a different type of band with some of that tape on th outside of the pipe .Thanks for the suggestion.

[prometheus578]

I see...
I've usually found with MAC exhaust that the muffler flange is a little bit larger than the header pipe end. Large enough to take a wrap around. There's exhaust sealer in a tube, too. Maybe a little smear...?

[dbeardslee]

Tinman - If you don't have enough gap for the tape, permatex ultra copper sealant works. Just put a ring around the inside of female part and slide the male part in. Behave Prometheus!!!

[tinman905]

I have tried the permatex ultra copper sealant last night it's holding up well and almost all of the popping is gone now .Thanks very much.

[dbeardslee]

Tinman - I should have mentioned this before, but you're supposed to give the permatex 24 hours to fully cure. Sounds like it cured enough to work. I'm sure hot pipes speed-up the process

[tinman905]

Thanks for the tip .I let it dry over night and just started it for a few min to see if it's still holding up. I waited until later this afternoon to try it out on a short trip and it's working fine.

[egsols]

Glad to hear its fixed but I wanted to add my 2 cents worth just in case. On my old 79 there was a slit in the bottom of the flange to allow slight compression onto the headers.
If the pipes weren't slid far enough onto the header you would get a small leak through the gap.

On my current 79 I'm running a Jardine 4 into 1 that was leaking at the collector. If I undo the muffler, behind the rear peg, I can easily pull it off the headers.

I decided to lossen the headers at the head. Once they were loose I was able to slide them deeper into the collector. Once they were all in good I retightend the head bolts and then rehung the muffler.

The difference is night and day!

[tinman905]

My headers slide into the mufflers about 5" I have to slide them in all the way or the back axel won't slide out if i need to remove my rear tire. .Thanks for the tip though. The pipes are still sealed nice and tight for now but still waiting to see what will happen ofter I get a few K's on it.