Topic: What did you do to your car today?

[Dante]

Oil change today... Got a new doughnut wheel for the Outlander as the original one was completely rusted (stored under the car).

Over the weekend I cleaned up the headlights with Meguiar's kit... they were quite bad, but very pleased with the result. They really look like new now and it only took about 2-3 hrs to do them...

Some bad news coming my way - the exhaust may need some attention very soon. I have some small (for now) leaks that will probably become bigger after this winter.

Got a price for the entire OEM exhaust front to back and it's crazy money parts wise - $2,300 + tax and this is with some serious discount (employee price). Need to look into aftermarket options or simply try to see if it can be patched....

The car is almost 12 yo and even if I'm planning to keep it for another 2 years or so, it's still crazy expensive at this point. Any thoughts?....  Does anyone know a good muffler/exhaust shop in GTA?

What part of the exhaust is bad?  Like the Y or mid pipe?

One place is about 5-6 inch from the manifold and the other one is on the small pipe going into the muffler.

Ok..5-6 from the manifold should be Y pipe.

These guys are Canadian.  Have used them (or someone similar) once before.  Were in Toronto IIRC.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Front-Exhaust-Flex-Y-Pipe-2007-2011-Mitsubishi-Outlander-3-0l-Direct-Fit/163197801863?hash=item25ff58d587:g:FNMAAOSwawBbb2C4

Any decent muffler shop should be able to whip you up a rear section.

Yes it is the Y pipe indeed. I will check them out - thanks. My worry is that if I touch the Y pipe, the mid pipe will crumble too and that one is really expensive and ideally that one should be OEM.

The leak is very small.... I found it just because there is some black smoke in that area. I wonder if it can be welded/patched in place? I will take some pictures if I can....

[ChaosphereIX]

dear god that is disgusting

and that broken plastic is warning against any plastic manifold - why the hell do manufacturers use them? They will just dry out, crack and break and ruin the engine.

[rrocket]

Yes it is the Y pipe indeed. I will check them out - thanks. My worry is that if I touch the Y pipe, the mid pipe will crumble too and that one is really expensive and ideally that one should be OEM.

Why do you think the midpipe is so special?  That's just a plain old resonator pipe!

This, perhaps??

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FITS-2007-2008-2009-Mitsubishi-Outlander-3-0-catalytic-converter-Resonator/332146137782?fits=Year%3A2007%7CModel%3AOutlander%7CMake%3AMitsubishi&hash=item4d5573dab6:g:WQ4AAOSwTM5YvNPy

[Dante]

Yes it is the Y pipe indeed. I will check them out - thanks. My worry is that if I touch the Y pipe, the mid pipe will crumble too and that one is really expensive and ideally that one should be OEM.

Why do you think the midpipe is so special?

OEM at least, is one piece which includes the cat converter and it's $1700 CAD. The price makes it "special" in case it gets damaged in the process and I need to replace it. It doesn't leak so far and I would hate to touch it.

[rrocket]

Yes it is the Y pipe indeed. I will check them out - thanks. My worry is that if I touch the Y pipe, the mid pipe will crumble too and that one is really expensive and ideally that one should be OEM.

Why do you think the midpipe is so special?

OEM at least, is one piece which includes the cat converter and it's $1700 CAD. The price makes it "special" in case it gets damaged in the process and I need to replace it. It doesn't leak so far and I would hate to touch it.

Here's an option (in case it turns to )

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FITS-2007-2008-2009-Mitsubishi-Outlander-3-0-catalytic-converter-Resonator/332146137782?fits=Year%3A2007%7CModel%3AOutlander%7CMake%3AMitsubishi&hash=item4d5573dab6:g:WQ4AAOSwTM5YvNPy

[Dante]

Yes it is the Y pipe indeed. I will check them out - thanks. My worry is that if I touch the Y pipe, the mid pipe will crumble too and that one is really expensive and ideally that one should be OEM.

Why do you think the midpipe is so special?

OEM at least, is one piece which includes the cat converter and it's $1700 CAD. The price makes it "special" in case it gets damaged in the process and I need to replace it. It doesn't leak so far and I would hate to touch it.

Here's an option (in case it turns to )

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FITS-2007-2008-2009-Mitsubishi-Outlander-3-0-catalytic-converter-Resonator/332146137782?fits=Year%3A2007%7CModel%3AOutlander%7CMake%3AMitsubishi&hash=item4d5573dab6:g:WQ4AAOSwTM5YvNPy

I like the brand.... "Muffler MAFIA"

[Serniter]

Finally got around to dealing with that CEL that’s been on since June.

The plan for today was to take off the intake manifold and get the carbon cleaning done, but it took me basically all day just to get the damned manifold off. There are hoses and crap everywhere and zero room to work. It took me over an hour just to remove four stupid screws to get the throttle body off.

Anyway, finally got everything apart and it was ugly! Carbon and black goo everywhere, and there was even a chunk of plastic (from the broken manifold, I guess) sitting in one of the intake tracts.

Is this the GTI?

[HeliDriver]

^^ Yes, GTI.

It has around 145k km on it, and the carbon mess looks about normal for the mileage from what I’ve seen on the net. Well, not normal normal, but normal for this engine.

[JG20]

Yes it is the Y pipe indeed. I will check them out - thanks. My worry is that if I touch the Y pipe, the mid pipe will crumble too and that one is really expensive and ideally that one should be OEM.

Why do you think the midpipe is so special?

OEM at least, is one piece which includes the cat converter and it's $1700 CAD. The price makes it "special" in case it gets damaged in the process and I need to replace it. It doesn't leak so far and I would hate to touch it.

Here's an option (in case it turns to )

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FITS-2007-2008-2009-Mitsubishi-Outlander-3-0-catalytic-converter-Resonator/332146137782?fits=Year%3A2007%7CModel%3AOutlander%7CMake%3AMitsubishi&hash=item4d5573dab6:g:WQ4AAOSwTM5YvNPy

I like the brand.... "Muffler MAFIA"

I would just take it to a muffler shop.  Whereabouts are you in the GTA?  There's a place I used to take my old Protégé to for exhaust stuff and I was pretty happy with their work.  You can pm me if you want to keep it private.

[Davep]

Hot Rod Scott's  815 Kipling Ave, Etobicoke, ON M8Z 5G8

http://torontomufflerandbrake.ca/

Haven't had any experience with them for twenty-five years, but they used to be very well known for custom exhaust systems and were very competitive with any niche market items.

[HeliDriver]

Gawd, what a PITA this is!

Spent all day cleaning and only got 1 port finished(ish), two part way there, and haven’t even touched the fourth.

Started with a can of valve cleaner from CT, some dental scrapers and Scotchbrite pads. Ran out of valve cleaner pretty quick so grabbed a can of brake cleaner from the cabinet but it was old and had no pressure. So, went for the electrical contact cleaner and found it actually worked better than the valve stuff. Went through two cans of that then ran out.

Called it a day and went to CT to stock up on everything I could find: brake cleaner, fuel injector cleaner, foaming engine degreaser, throttle body cleaner, and 4 more cans of the contact cleaner. I’m hoping to find the magic bullet, but I’ll probably be stuck with another day of scraping and scrubbing.

Apparently, media blasting with walnut shells is the smart way to do this, but I wasn’t about to go buy all the gear. Guess I’m not that smart.

Anyway, here’s what the cleanest pair look like. Not 100%, but way better than before and probably good enough.

[Serniter]

Looks great! I am interested in the VW/Audi 2.0 engines, but wouldn't be able to pull off anything like this cleaning. Would have to take it to a shop.

[Gurgie]

Great work Heli!! How are you keeping the debris from going into the engine though? Looks like the valves are closed, so are you just vacuuming up everything?

[tortoise]

I did a drain/fill on the Highlanders transmission.  First time ever doing that.  It was super easy, a 10mm allen key to undo the bolt and 15 minutes later I was done.  No panels to remove, access was easy. 

From what I have seen this thing is super easy to work on. I feel like you can do 90% of the maintenance with a 10mm socket or 10mm hex.

[HeliDriver]

Great work Heli!! How are you keeping the debris from going into the engine though? Looks like the valves are closed, so are you just vacuuming up everything?

Yeah, only working on the valves that are closed. Much of the gunk is actually very gooey, so I can pull it out on the end of the scraper. Vacuum works good to get all the rest.

Once I’ve got most of the thicker stuff scraped off, I can fill the entire port area with solvent and let it sit there for an hour - nothing leaks out, so not worried about stuff getting into the cylinder. I’ll do an oil change when I’m done, just on the off chance that a bit of solvent leaked into the oil somehow.

There are open holes for the fuel injectors just beneath where I’m working, but I’ve got them all taped off and covered with plastic.

Oh, and I took a closer look at the old manifold that was broken. I mentioned that I found one piece of the plastic manifold sitting next to a valve, but it seems like there should be three more broken pieces somewhere as well, but I can’t find any sign of them. Chewed up and went through the engine?     Doesn’t seem likely, but I can’t imagine where else they would have gone. Good thing it was plastic. 

[Dante]

Yes it is the Y pipe indeed. I will check them out - thanks. My worry is that if I touch the Y pipe, the mid pipe will crumble too and that one is really expensive and ideally that one should be OEM.

Why do you think the midpipe is so special?

OEM at least, is one piece which includes the cat converter and it's $1700 CAD. The price makes it "special" in case it gets damaged in the process and I need to replace it. It doesn't leak so far and I would hate to touch it.

Here's an option (in case it turns to )

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FITS-2007-2008-2009-Mitsubishi-Outlander-3-0-catalytic-converter-Resonator/332146137782?fits=Year%3A2007%7CModel%3AOutlander%7CMake%3AMitsubishi&hash=item4d5573dab6:g:WQ4AAOSwTM5YvNPy

I like the brand.... "Muffler MAFIA"

I would just take it to a muffler shop.  Whereabouts are you in the GTA?  There's a place I used to take my old Protégé to for exhaust stuff and I was pretty happy with their work.  You can pm me if you want to keep it private.

I'm in Woodbridge, but distance not an issue. Thing is to find a good shop. Never fixed exhaust before so no first-hand experience with any shop so any advice is welcomed.

[aquadorhj]

Good job Heli!  that looks fun!  shoulda given me a holler, i would have come out to canmore to help you out, in my m3, and left a puddle of oil on your driveway! 

[JG20]

Yes it is the Y pipe indeed. I will check them out - thanks. My worry is that if I touch the Y pipe, the mid pipe will crumble too and that one is really expensive and ideally that one should be OEM.

Why do you think the midpipe is so special?

OEM at least, is one piece which includes the cat converter and it's $1700 CAD. The price makes it "special" in case it gets damaged in the process and I need to replace it. It doesn't leak so far and I would hate to touch it.

Here's an option (in case it turns to )

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FITS-2007-2008-2009-Mitsubishi-Outlander-3-0-catalytic-converter-Resonator/332146137782?fits=Year%3A2007%7CModel%3AOutlander%7CMake%3AMitsubishi&hash=item4d5573dab6:g:WQ4AAOSwTM5YvNPy

I like the brand.... "Muffler MAFIA"

I would just take it to a muffler shop.  Whereabouts are you in the GTA?  There's a place I used to take my old Protégé to for exhaust stuff and I was pretty happy with their work.  You can pm me if you want to keep it private.

I'm in Woodbridge, but distance not an issue. Thing is to find a good shop. Never fixed exhaust before so no first-hand experience with any shop so any advice is welcomed.

http://www.noyzboyz.com/

Name sounds fast and furiousy but they do good work for reasonable prices.  They also helped me out with troubleshooting some stuff with my old car.

[Gurgie]

Great work Heli!! How are you keeping the debris from going into the engine though? Looks like the valves are closed, so are you just vacuuming up everything?

Yeah, only working on the valves that are closed. Much of the gunk is actually very gooey, so I can pull it out on the end of the scraper. Vacuum works good to get all the rest.

Once I’ve got most of the thicker stuff scraped off, I can fill the entire port area with solvent and let it sit there for an hour - nothing leaks out, so not worried about stuff getting into the cylinder. I’ll do an oil change when I’m done, just on the off chance that a bit of solvent leaked into the oil somehow.

There are open holes for the fuel injectors just beneath where I’m working, but I’ve got them all taped off and covered with plastic.

Oh, and I took a closer look at the old manifold that was broken. I mentioned that I found one piece of the plastic manifold sitting next to a valve, but it seems like there should be three more broken pieces somewhere as well, but I can’t find any sign of them. Chewed up and went through the engine?     Doesn’t seem likely, but I can’t imagine where else they would have gone. Good thing it was plastic. 

Did you smell burning plastic at any point while driving?    Could've melted in the combustion chamber I suppose?

Great work though, and the patience to do it... I know I wouldn't 

[bridgecity]

Ya, nice work Heli.  And ya, the plastic must have made its way into the combustion chamber if you couldn't find it.