How to Replace Manifold Back Exhaust 1997-2001 Toyota Camry

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In this video, we are going to be working with our 1998 Toyota Camry 2.2-liter, 4-cylinder. We're going to show you how to replace the manifold back exhaust, which is everything from the bottom of this exhaust manifold here to the exhaust tip at the end of the muffler. The reason you may want to do this is because your exhaust could look very similar to ours and not have any of the OEM hardware still intact. Our exhaust was so corroded and damaged we had to replace the entire assembly, front to back.

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Here are the items you'll need for this repair: 12-22mm sockets, ratchet, socket extension, 12-22mm wrenches, flat head screwdriver, rust penetrant, jack and jack stands

Raise and support your vehicle. We're using a lift to make it easier to show you, but this job can easily be done in the driveway on a jack and jack stands. Now, normally we would show you how to replace each individual portion of the exhaust, but our entire exhaust system right from the manifold back is rotted beyond the point of repair, so we'll have to replace the entire thing.

The first big issue we noticed is the flex pipe; it has rotted away. Mash is coming off and it's actually split in the middle. You can hear the exhaust leaking out of here when the vehicle's running. Now, normally we could change this front cat pipe, however there is nothing left on these flanges. The hardware that's in there isn't even recognizable anymore, so even if we did get these out and get new hardware in, the flanges are too corroded for us to be confident in them sealing correctly.

Our mid-pipe has the same issue. It’s rotted all the way back here at the muffler, so we can't expect this to come off and reseal properly either. And the muffler itself is completely rotting through the case on the side. See how soft the metal is there? So we have to replace our entire exhaust system.

Since we'll be removing the entire exhaust as one piece, we'll remove the O2 sensor here with a 22mm wrench. Once you've cracked it loose, this O2 sensor can be a pain to remove since the connector is actually under the carpet on the driver's seat, so we'll mark the side of the O2 sensor that's facing us with a paint marker or whiteout and count how many rotations it takes to remove it. We can counter twist it that many rotations when we reinstall. One, two, three, three and a half turns removes it. We'll make sure, when we reinstall it, that we counter twisted it three and a half turns before reinstalling so our wires aren't twisted.

Unbolt these two 12 millimeter bolts securing the exhaust right before the flex pipe with a 12 millimeter socket and ratchet. Now our bolts broke off, so we've got the bottom half of the clamp off here, we'll have to find a way to remove the top portion of the hardware before we re-install our exhaust. Remove the two 12 millimeter bolts securing the exhaust hanger to the sub frame. Once you've got the bolts out, the hanger will slide right off the stud for the exhaust.

Normally, to remove the mid-pipe, you would remove the nuts onto these studs here, remove the hardware, and separate this flange, but ours is too far gone, so we're going to swap the whole exhaust. Spray some penetrating oil onto the rubber hanger. That will make it a lot easier to remove. You should just be able to grab it by hand and slide it off the stud. Make sure, after you've removed this, you use some wood, a bungee cord, or a jack stand to support this end of the pipe—if you've separated the flange—before removing the back half. To finish removing the mid-pipe, you would separate this flange by removing the two nuts. Ours are too far gone.

Remove the exhaust hangers, spray them with some penetrating oil. There’s one at the front of the muffler and one at the rear. Slide them off the studs by hand and remove the muffler. If you are also removing your manifold back exhaust like we are, on the ground you can use a jack stand where I've placed a screw jack at the front and carefully lower the back half down once you've freed the muffler, but since we're on a lift, we're going to have a helper hold one end of the exhaust while I remove the back half. Remove the hangers from the stud. It may help to use a flat blade screwdriver, since these ones are pretty tight to the muffler. Do the same thing with the rear most hanger. Lower the exhaust out of the vehicle.

Our front pipe with our cat converter and flex pipe are exactly the same with the same 3 bolt flange at the front, same elbow, down to our flex; which looks a little bit different, but that's actually going to make it a little less likely to get banged up on the road. Our hanger looks a little different, but it is in the same place and we have the same size cat and flange on the end. This new one even comes with a nice heat shield. Our mid pipe is exactly the same and the same bung for our O2 sensor, same 2 bolt flange, same hanger, resonator, all the same bends right back to the support, and the 2 bolt flange for our muffler.

Our muffler is almost identical with the same bend and support as well as the same two bolt flange with the studs already welded in, the same hanger in the back, and our front hanger actually faces in the opposite direction as factory, but it will make installing our muffler a little bit easier.

Reinstall the muffler into its hangers. It should just press right on. Make sure you clean the surfaces if you're using an old pipe. We have a new one, so we'll just install a new gasket onto our flange.

Mount the muffler and the midpipe together. We have two 14 millimeter flange nuts that we had in the shop. If you saved your old hardware, these studs are OEM size so, you can just reuse it, but ours was corroded, so we'll have to replace it with this stuff that we had. Tighten it down with a 14 millimeter socket and ratchet. Especially when using old exhaust parts, if you are able to, you want to get these down as tight as you possibly can without breaking them. This stuff can be a little tricky to get to seal properly.

That mark we made on our O2 sensor, when it's just hanging and resting, is facing away from us. We need three and a half counter turns on this. We'll go counterclockwise, since we'll be installing it clockwise to get back to this position. One, two, three, and a half times, install it into the bung, tighten it down the rest of the way with a 22mm wrench. This may not line up in exactly the same place it did, but as long as you don't have a big, hard twist on the wiring harness, the sensor will be just fine.

The easiest way to hang this front pipe on the exhaust is going to be to install that hanger we removed earlier back over the arm. Line it up onto the front studs of the exhaust manifold and re-install the two 12 millimeter bolts on the hanger. Once those are in, we'll tighten them down with a 12 millimeter socket and ratchet. If either pipe is an old pipe that you're re-installing or re-using, make sure you clean the surface for the gasket before installing your new one.

Put some new 14 millimeter hardware through there. You may be able to re-use your old hardware and if you can that's fine, but we're using some new 14 millimeter nuts, bolts and washer on each end. Tighten the hardware down with a 14 millimeter socket, ratchet and wrench. Make sure you get this hardware down as tight as you can to make sure that gasket seals property. It does help to try and tighten down both sides evenly to make sure you don't pinch it on one side. Be sure that you have a new gasket installed on the end of your front pipe before putting it over the studs on the bottom of the exhaust manifold.

Reinstall the two 12 millimeter bolts and the brace around the exhaust pipe. Reinstall the three 14 millimeter nuts on the studs for the up pipe.

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