Ok, so I decided to pull the trigger and buy a replacement front pipe, after market, from Ebay.

After looking online at the OEM replacements around the $300-$400, I said - hell no.
As my flex pipe had a huge hole in it that showed up at the end of winter, I have no garage and just not possible to work in hellish cold weather, I used that "lava rock" tape or whatever it's called to temporarily wrap around the leaking flex pipe part and fix it - it actually worked well and held up, and was still working (noise wise) - the problem was that there was exhaust leaking and getting into the car.

This is it replacement front pipe that I got: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/163280218577

It comes with what you see in the pictures, sort of....
>My 2011 Outlander has studs and nuts around those areas the front pipe connects to, this kit came a bunch of bolts with flange nuts; so for me the nuts and bolts were useless; would have been great if the nuts were the right ones to fit on the studs, but no dice.
>Also, the kits comes with 2 gaskets (like the 3 shown), the 3rd gasket is actually the donut type like this which is in fact what was needed.

I used a lot of penetrating fluid on all bolts really, before, and after getting them loose with a breaker bar. Once the nuts are loose even a micrometer, it's even better for penetrating fluid to spray in there.

I had a hell of a time removing the 14mm nuts that connect the pipe upwards; these were so rusted there was almost no head on them, and were almost completely round, one worse than the other. After much cleaning, using a grinder to have some sort of hex shape to hammer a socket in, I was able to remove them.

The replacement fit really well, I had a bit of an issue with the spring bolts, lining them up as well as they have this edge that I had to grind down, but not bad at all.

The only thing I had/have an issue with is with the replacement nuts, that I could only find at RenoDepot, after going to Canadian Tire, as well as Napa ("we don't sell nuts anymore") and could not find ANY M12x1.25 flange nuts. So I used nuts with washers.

Question: I am thinking of getting Flange Stover Locknuts, if I can't find some easily, I may just get regular flange nuts, just unsure if I should get flat or serrated - thoughts?

I don't know what thread type is on the bolts inside the springs, frankly I just didn't feel like checking, it was getting late in the day, and this whole thing took over 3 days of stop/go work as we are sleep training our baby - so I just wanted it to be done. I would like to though replace the spring bolts with new ones.

Fell free to ask if you have any questions.
Cheers




The kit I got came with the gaskets market here as #5(N), #8(N), and #(N)9

Side by side, the original and the replacement.

The holes look way different, but this is the camera angle as well as one being closer to the the camera than the other


Easy way to keep the gasket on, once the pipe is mounted you can pull those out easily.


this is where the donut gasket goes.

This heat shield it totally destroyed, but that's what clamps are for right?.


If anyone knows the orderable set of these spring bolts, let me know. Aftermarket, of course, cheap.

Sorry, I realized this wasn't clear, I was reaching to get this shot, it was under the car not very bright and likely my hand moved.

 

Great write up. I'm thinking of doing the same on my 07 with 235k miles. I'll be looking at this closer for sure.

Good luck with the little one!

 

Wow, 235k MILES! Mine has 118k km, good to know these things are built to last!

Thanks, he's done well overnight, not so well during day naps, yet...

 

Necropost: how is this holding up? It looks like the replacement is a smaller diameter than the original, is that the case?

 

It's held up pretty good; no leaks that I can tell but haven't had the chance to take a close look at it physically.
I'm due to give it an oil change so I'll be driving it up on the ramps I built from left over treated wood, that will allow me to also get a good look at the exhaust and check everything and maybe take some picture while I'm at it.

 

I bought the same flex pipe, although it was sold out of New York near the Canadian border, and had an exhaust shop install it. It seemed like a well-built piece for the price and fit fine and did the job. Have only had it installed for six months, though, so can't speak for its longevity.

 

I just changed mine on my 2014 3L. Got the pipe from mufflerexpress.ca, but it looks like I could have paid a lot less. And it also looks like the pipes are compatible between generations. Fitment required a little tweaking as the spring bolts weren't lining up with the cat holes and so the donut gasket was offset a bit. Otherwise, fit well. Had to cut one of the bolts at the front.

 

Thanks! My local garage managed to weld a new flex pipe into the existing exhaust, the rest seems to be in reasonable condition. I ended up buying a $700 muffler though. Ouch.

 

Does anyone know the stock exhaust piping size for a 2009 V6 outlander?
2.25 or 2.5?
Thanks from NZ