Had a panicked call from the wife last night to say the car was "noisy" so I popped out to meet her and as soon as I heard it running I knew it was a smallish exhaust leak.

As it wasn't raining this morning and I couldn't come up with a decent excuse I was bullied into investigating further. Listening with the bonnet open I could hear it was coming from the back near side of the engine, forcing my hand down an expecting burnt fingers any moment I could feel exhaust escaping from around the manifold.

I had to remove the wiper tray before I could get a proper look and found that the bell mouth of the EGR tube had fractured away from the pipe. It was an absolute bugger to get out with very limited clearance for hands and tools, ended up taking half the throttle valve body off.


http://1drv.ms/1OHhlXE

As a temporary fix I've brazed the end back on - £5 for two crappy fluxed brazing rods from Halfords , the only place near me that is open on a Sunday.

Don't laugh at my brazing, I know im crap and I much prefer to use proper flux instead of flux coated rods.


https://goo.gl/photos/UJqpAcXtTjfLf4yt8

There is a 2nd hand pipe on ebay for £20, but I'll also give a dealer a call and get a price on a new one. If the bell mouth end is damaged it's a bugger to get a decent seal

Richard

 

I sympathize! I did the valley intake gasket on my V6 and the whole thing was a nightmare. Just couldn't get my hands in anywhere, so it ended up taking me almost 2 days. And, because of the sloping front end there's no where to really lean on so my knees and back where finished by the end of it!

 

So from how both of you have mentioned it's a bit of a Gary glitter to get to the exhaust manifold, is the wiper cowl and trim a necessity to remove as I have known plastics like these to snap in my hands, and how tricky is that task.
Thanks
Ade

 

Brazing looks Ok to me, but the most important part of the brazing job is setting up the job prior to brazing, so whenever all it joined together the joint faces of the pipework are actually face to face with EGR etc. If possible make a simple jig to hold parts together.

 

Understand the dificulty. I'm a Diesel Truck mechanic. I use a Top Side Creeper for everything including my T&C.

 

yep, have to remove the wiper tray, about a 10 minute job once you have hunted through the depths of the shed and found a small hub puller to get the wipers off.

undo the nuts on the wiper stalks, use the puller to get the arms off - there is nothing solid to lever against. Undo about 4 torx screws, pull the plastic cover off. 4 bolts and 4 nuts hold the wiper tray to the body plus one electrical connector and two drain pipes.

Richard

 

hmm...like the idea of one of those but they dont seem to be readily available over here, unless they are known by a different name

Richard

 

£137.62 + VAT for the pipe from a dealer....think it will be the £20 ebay one!

Richard

 

Good consideration there Richard, nice price at £20 and at least it will fit. Like my replacement steering pump was at £30. As to the wiper tray it comes off easier second time if you grease the securements. And And get that little puller if you don't want the hassel.