NationStates Jolt Archive

Hoping someone at NS has some very basic car know how..

I am very car-illiterate, so forgive me if I make my ignorance too obvious. I have a 96 geo tracker, and my exhaust pipe is broken at a point before it gets to the muffler, and now the tracker is rambling like a race car whenever it is on.

I would like to provide myself a simple inexpensive fix-up for a trip from school in Vermont back to home in Maine, if at all possible. Then in Maine I can get it fixed once and for all.

Do you guys know of any safe and simple solution that could answer this problem?

The exhaust pipe doesn't have a crack or hole, one side of the pipe is cleanly dislodged from the other side and they would fit back together very evenly if there were a simple way of "patching" them or something for the ride home. But again I've never dealt with anything like this, so I wouldn't know.

I greatly appreciate any help you can offer!

you know those funny metal strapping things that look like a miniature ladder in a loop?

go to autozone and buy a fat one thats long enough. it can (probably) hold the pipe together long enough to get home. the guy at the counter can sell you whatever tool is required to tighten the thing.

it would be like putting meltproof duct tape on the pipe.

you know those funny metal strapping things that look like a miniature ladder in a loop?

go to autozone and buy a fat one thats long enough. it can (probably) hold the pipe together long enough to get home. the guy at the counter can sell you whatever tool is required to tighten the thing.

it would be like putting meltproof duct tape on the pipe.
You mean a hose clamp? I don't know. Seems to me that it's too narrow and would vibrate off.

To the OP, do you know anyone who can weld it for you? Shouldn't take long to weld the two pieces together. Or go to the local auto parts store and explain your problem. They've usually got a shitload of cheap quick fixes that you wouldn't otherwise know existed.

If the breaks clean and there's no missing pipe most muffler shops will weld if for you for under $50.00. If someone tries to charge you more laugh at them and call another shop. I actually had a guy weld my exhaust on a car I had for $15.00.

I gotta agree with the welding, there are shops that will do it cheap (like under $10.00) and it will hold until you can get home. You really need to get it actually fixed at some point though.

i seem to remember from back in my crappy car days that they do make a metallic tape that can be used to temporarily wrap exhaust system pipes. maybe that would get you back home?