Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Replacing resonator and flex pipe

I have a 95 Contour 2.0 4cyl. The exhaust is leaking from the flex pipe and the resonator. I want to replace the resonator with straight pipe and I thought about doing the same with the flex pipe. I was told that you cannot replace the flexpipe with solid pipe because the engine rocks back & forth. Sounds like a pretty good reason.I can weld the pieces in myself but I need to know where to get the flex pipe from if I can't replace it with solid. Any thoughts on whether either of these ideas are good or suggestion? Thanks guys.



Report

You certainly do not want to replace the flex pipe with a straight pipe for the reason you mentioned. In the past I got a roll of flex pipe at an auto parts store. Your car will have a raspy sound if you remove the resonator, ie: will sound "ricy". Can you weld the leaks instead of replacing parts?

I can weld the resonator but the flex pipe is leaking in the mesh. The guy at Tuffy said he could replace the flex pipe for $130 but I'm a tightwad. I heard that by removing the resonator you could gain a few hp so I figured "what the heck". But I do want the car to be quiet. I don't know what a "ricey" sound is.

You really dont have to worry about rasp on a Zetec. I replaced my res with a glasspack and noticed no difference in sound. Gained a few MGP though.

IMO, remove the stock muffler, fill the space with straight pipe, and put an aftermarket muffler in place of the resonator. Usually, the more pipe after the muffler, the better it sounds.