Services · Exhaust

Loud, rattling, or leaking where it shouldn't

An exhaust leak is usually more annoying than dangerous, until it's leaking under the cab, where it stops being annoying. Hangers rust, flex pipes split, gaskets blow out, manifolds crack. Most of it is bolt-on work I do on stands in your driveway.

The limit is fabrication. I don't have a pipe bender, so a custom system is a muffler shop job. Sections, clamps, mufflers, and gaskets are mine.

Text (512) 980-4368 Call for emergencies

Texting is best — I'm usually mid-job and can't pick up. Stranded or an emergency? Call.

No fix, no fee diagnostics
Quoted price is the final price
12 mo / 12,000 mi parts & labor
I come to you

What it's doing, and what it usually is

The most common cause first. It's a guide, not a diagnosis. That's what the visit is for.

Suddenly loud and deep: A muffler or a pipe rusted through or broken off at a joint. Often after a hanger let go and the weight did the rest.
Ticking on a cold start that fades as it warms: An exhaust manifold leak, usually a cracked manifold or a broken stud. Sounds like an engine problem. Isn't.
Rattle underneath: A loose heat shield, a broken hanger, or the insides of a catalytic converter breaking up. Cheap, cheap, and not cheap, in that order.
Exhaust smell inside the cab: A leak somewhere ahead of the back bumper, and the cab is pulling it in. This one gets looked at now, not next week.
Hissing or puffing under load: A gasket or a flex pipe. The flex pipe is the bit that lets the engine move without cracking the rest.
Check engine light with an oxygen sensor or catalyst code: A sensor, an exhaust leak upstream of it fooling the sensor, or the converter. Leaks get checked first, because they're the cheap answer.
Rotten egg smell: The catalytic converter, or an engine running rich and overworking it.

What I do in your driveway

Mufflers, resonators, and tailpipes.
Sections of pipe cut out and replaced with clamps and sleeves.
Hangers, mounts, and heat shields.
Flex pipes, gaskets, and donuts at the joints.
Exhaust manifold gaskets and broken manifold studs.
Oxygen sensors, and catalytic converters replaced with a proper legal part when one has genuinely failed.

How the money works

$150: Flat, to diagnose it. It's separate from the repair. If I can't find what's wrong, you don't pay it.
Quote: Before anything comes apart. The price I give you is the price you pay. If I find something else, I stop and ask you first.
12 / 12k: Months and miles, parts and labor. If the repair doesn't hold, I come back and fix it free.

Travel is free within 30 miles of Bastrop. Further out, there's a flat travel fee. The full warranty terms spell out what's covered.

Questions I get asked

Can I drive it while it's loud?

For a few days, usually. The risks are the leak getting into the cab, a hanging pipe dragging or falling off, and a ticket. If it's loud and you can smell it inside, that's the one to stop driving.

Is an exhaust leak dangerous?

Under the hood or behind the cab, mostly not. Under the cab, or anywhere the smell gets inside, yes. Carbon monoxide is odorless on its own. What you smell is the rest of the exhaust, and it's the warning.

Someone cut off my catalytic converter. Can you replace it?

Yes, with a legal replacement, and I can fit it in your driveway. Talk to your insurer first; it's often covered. I can't fabricate a section from scratch, but a bolt-in or clamp-in converter and pipe I can do.

Is it the exhaust or the engine ticking?

That's exactly what a quick look answers. A manifold leak ticks loudest cold and quietens as the metal expands. An engine tick doesn't care about temperature as much. I'd rather tell you it's a broken stud than have you pay for an engine diagnosis.

Will you weld it?

Most exhaust repairs I do with clamps and sleeves, which done properly seal and last. Where a weld is the right fix, I'll say so, and if that's beyond what I can do on the ground, I'll point you to a shop.

Often goes with this

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Let's look at the exhaust

Flat $150 to diagnose it, and you get a price before anything gets taken apart. Mon–Fri 9am – 6pm.

Text (512) 980-4368 Book a diagnostic

Stranded or an emergency? Call (512) 980-4368 — for anything else, a text gets to me faster.