I realize that but after 200,000 miles I'm not too shocked. What would cause these small cracks? I never overheated or had a clogged exhaust.

Is there a critical reason why these should be changed other than additional noise?

I will verify with your method but I'm fairly certain most of the leak/noise is coming from donut area. I do not see any holes or cracks in any of the pipes.

If it's the same as Napa's $5 kit, I think it's just for one stud/spring/nut. But I'll check it out.

Those are great tips. Thank-you.

I have a propane torch as well as acetylene.

 

One more question:

How long do the donut gaskets typically last?

Back in 1999 (128,000 miles) I changed the muffler & tailpipe assembly and disappointedly remember no reduction in exhaust noise. So I'm thinking that was my problem all along. Of course it's gotten worse since then.

 

Man, it's like just about anything. It lasts untol it breaks. The better you take care of it along the way the longer it'll last. If you got 128,000 out of a set I guess that's not bad. I think that whenever you get over 100,000 it's just money in the bank.

 

I agree, but that wasn't the point of my question.

Before I spend a huge amount of energy changing these donuts, I was just looking for somebody to say something like, "yeah, those things never last more than xx,000 miles" or "they usually blow out before xx,000 miles, so yours are likely gone."

 

You could try to clean up the nuts so you can get a socket on them and heat it up the the cutting torch get them cherry red and they should come off like butter. I've done that many times.

 

Me too.

That's the tentative plan as soon as it gets warmer over here... only about 6 degrees this morning.

 

Lol. ya its about 10 degrees here...

 

I can tell you that my donuts were original and had 185,000 miles on them. At least the installation looked original. Knowing the guy who owned this Blazer before me I would almost guarantee it. The donuts were still good. It was the "Y" pipe that was bad. It is kind of a PITA to do this job by yourself but then again it is doable. Just have a lot of patience and don't forget the anti-sieze. A little dab is all you need. I put it on everything that has to do with exhaust.

 

Trying to replace the donuts now. Been soaking those studs with PB Blaster and tried some heat. I think I got one stud to turn about a quarter turn. Seems like the stud will come out of the manifold rather than the nut coming of the stud. Just soaked the studs from the back side thru the wheel wells. Any experience is welcome

So anybody have an opinion about Felpro $5.99 at Autozone vs Walker $11.99 at NAPA. They are very different seals. The Felpro looks a little thicker too. Dont want to do this crap again.

 

After soaking those studs with PB and heating the nuts red I could not break them with a 3/8 ratchet. So the key was the impact gun. Also the FELPRO is superior to the Walker and half the price.