[narula123]

A couple of days back while reversing my Corsa Sail 1.6 on a rough road, I accidently (read stupidly ) banged the rear underside onto a raised rocky wedge. The sound was enough to make me skip a heartbeat or two.

On immediate inspection I saw that the exhaust pipe had gone a bit inside the the car(towards the engine) and stuck itself up under the bumper. With a little pushing and nudging the stuck pipe was freed from the bumper but the muffler hung loose from its mounts in the rear bumper and this confirmed my fears of a bend in the pipe somewhere along the length (the muffler had gone a good 2-3 inches inside towards the front and thus the mountings wernt holding). The pipe was also visibly touching the rear axle which it normally shouldn't.

Drove the car to a local mechanic and noticed a lot of nasty rattles from the rear end. The fellow confirmed my fear about a possibly bent pipe and the bend was located in the pipe near the manifold and in the part covered by the underbody shield. The pipe had not only gone forward by about 2 inches but also displaced itself laterally with it coming more to the centre of the car from its otherwise left-oriented positioning.

A quick call to the GM A.S.S blew me away when the friendly parts manager quoted INR 24,500 for a new exhaust pipe sans the muffler. Was feeling suicidal when the local mechanic told me that its not a big issue and he can make the pipe workable by reheating and bending it back into shape (well somewhat). The GM fellow had flatly refused to do any such antics at their end and had advised me to get the local thing done rather than spend the big amount.

Well, din't have much of an option as my mother would have knocked me senseless for ruining her car (more on that later). Asked the local chap to proceed with his stuff and get things in order.

Well, the bent section of the pipe was cut, heated, remoulded and then welded back to the main pipe. It took a good 2 hours for the whole thing to be complete with the exhaust put back into its intended position. The re-worked section looked war-hit with all the hammering and heating but atleast the pipe was back into its original shape (cant say the same about the cross-section at 'the' point).

Post the surgery, the car's engine note has changed at lower RPMs and it sounds more guttural and deep (almost like a FFE) when in lower RPM or when pulling in a higher gear. The vibrations have vanished (thankfully) and I personally think the car's pulling better through the rev range with an improved bottom end. Might just be a placebo effect for all I know.

Still got an earful from the mother who got scared by the hollow sounding low rpm exhaust note and had to be convinced that the engine is fine and its only the wierd shape of the pipe bend thats causing the noise. On a cold start, the car vibrates noticeably more during the initial couple of minutes but settles down thereafter. I also noticed that the pipe, though now in place, touches the under-body metal shield at a point. Dont know if this was always there.

Can the experts tell me if there can be any sort of damage to the engine in the long run due to this penny-pinching exercise of mine?

[rjstyles69]

Do you have any pics of the damage at all ? BTW a performance improvement from such an exercise is the first of its kind. Unless the headers/exhaust manifold have been modified I quite don't think there should be a noticeable difference.

Either ways I don't foresee any long term issues as such. You might wanna check for leaks in the joints of the header where the converge into one single pipe. This again depends on the intensity of the hit taken.

[narula123]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Do you have any pics of the damage at all ? BTW a performance improvement from such an exercise is the first of its kind. Unless the headers/exhaust manifold have been modified I quite don't think there should be a noticeable difference.

Either ways I don't foresee any long term issues as such. You might wanna check for leaks in the joints of the header where the converge into one single pipe. This again depends on the intensity of the hit taken.

Unfortunately, I was under too much of a haste to get the thing repaired and thus forgot about the pics . To a simple observation, the only perceivable damage was the shift of the exhaust tip towards the front of the car by about 2 inches. The other visible damage was the bend in the pipe under the manifold (about a foot from the manifold) which was seen only once the underbody shield was removed.

I'll surely get the header joints checked during the next service due in a couple of months. The increase in the low-end pickup has been noticed by other drivers in the family too and one of them dint even know about the shunt.

[Viraat13]

Take it to a mechanic who is an expert when it comes to exhausts.
I've hit the exhaust pipe in my car once too. Took it to a guy, he heated it and bent it back into shape and adjusted it so that it doesn't touch the body and cause vibrations. The problem was solved easily.

Oh and if you do want to get a new exhaust pipe, it is available in the after market for 6 or 7K. I know this because I was considering getting it changed but then I realised that it is not needed.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by Viraat13

Oh and if you do want to get a new exhaust pipe, it is available in the after market for 6 or 7K. I know this because I was considering getting it changed but then I realised that it is not needed.

And you can even get a fully customized FFE cheaper than the A.S.S quote.

[narula123]

Originally Posted by Viraat13

Oh and if you do want to get a new exhaust pipe, it is available in the after market for 6 or 7K. I know this because I was considering getting it changed but then I realised that it is not needed.

Do you know places in and around Delhi where I can possibly lay my hands on the exhaust pipe for 6-7k incase I need it?

Thanks

[Viraat13]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

And you can even get a fully customized FFE cheaper than the A.S.S quote.

True that. I got a quote of 10K if I remember correctly. What I don't remember is, from where.

Originally Posted by narula123

Do you know places in and around Delhi where I can possibly lay my hands on the exhaust pipe for 6-7k incase I need it?

Thanks

Yes I do. Ghai Motors - 9811331000, 011-39445025.
I don't know if the phone number is correct as I got it off Sulekha. I don't usually call up, I just go to the shop directly. It's in Malvya Nagar. I also know a good mechanic who used to work for GM and now he is an Opel specialist.

Also, there are shops in Palika Bhawan that stock Opel parts. If you need help, let me know. I'll guide you to the correct places. Maybe there are shops that have Opel parts in Khan Market too, but I don't know as I've never checked.

[narula123]

Originally Posted by Viraat13

Also, there are shops in Palika Bhawan that stock Opel parts. If you need help, let me know. I'll guide you to the correct places. Maybe there are shops that have Opel parts in Khan Market too, but I don't know as I've never checked.

Thanks a ton buddy. Will surely get in touch with you incase I need to get a new part (I hope the need dosn't arise).

[King413]

HI,
My 1.6 Corsa has recently started leaking exhaust gases some where in the center of the car. I am not sure if it has been hit from the rear. It looks to be in shape from the bottom.

I had a ignition coil problems and the car was firing only 2 cyclinders, drove it like that for about 3-4 km and the whole GB, hand breaks center of the car started heating up. I reached the garage and changed to new coils the next morning and thing were fine for about 500 km. I suspect some amount of unburnt fuel must have clogged the Cat con. Now suddenly i hear a lot of leak in the exhaust pipe. not sure if my drive has damaged the Exhaust system by speeding over a bump or the Cat Con is clogged or the Muffler etc has Torn some where.
Is there a way of unclogging the Cat Con?

And secondly

Have any of you managed to get hold of the Opel Corsa Repairs / Service Manual?

I have started noticing there are very few Opel Mechanic left in most GM service centers. And local mechanics will mess up you car and is best to avoid.
Hence i guess its time to keep the service and the parts manual for holding on to this machine for a longer duration.
On googling i found a german version of the service manual and i can't understand a thing in it.

Incase any of you have acquired a Parts / Service manual please share the same with me.

Thanks
Prithvi

[SirAlec]

A good gas wielder can repair the exhaust pipe with a patch if the damage is not too much.

Repairing Catcon is hardly successful, And replacing is a an expensive affair.