Is this normal???

[OldSchool]

:willy_nilly::willy_nilly:

Week before the 4th curse is back!!!!!!!!!:banghead:

[Ratickle]

What am I looking at Craig?

[Ted]

Leak at the weld??

[OldSchool]

Exhaust valves and plugs look good.....somehow. I noticed some water dripping (about 1 drop every 5 seconds) while flushing. Who said it doesn't pay to flush every time!!

Is it worth it to have the tailpipes repaired......or is that just a bad idea in the long run. Maybe time for new exhaust????? They are Stellings with 418 hours on them. Made in June/2001.....but flushed and Salt Awayed every time.

[Ratickle]

Exhaust valves and plugs look good.....somehow. I noticed some water dripping (about 1 drop every 5 seconds) while flushing. Who said it doesn't pay to flush every time!!

Is it worth it to have the tailpipes repaired......or is that just a bad idea in the long run. Maybe time for new exhaust????? They are Stelings with 418 hours on them. Made in June/2001.....but flushed and Salt Awayed every time.

I would only let Stelling, or another certified exhaust builder, answer that.

[OldSchool]

The pictures make it hard to see. There is a crack on the interior weld of the tailpipe that runs about 1/3rd of the way around. Very much so clearly visable in real life.

[Ratickle]

Looking at the pic, it looks like it's in a place which can be easily repaired. But, I still think you need an expert to look at it. Engines are expensive and don't like water......

[OldSchool]

Looking at the pic, it looks like it's in a place which can be easily repaired. But, I still think you need an expert to look at it. Engines are expensive and don't like water......

I with you on that!!!!!!

[Ted]

A little Marine Tex will fix that right up :D I still got some in my truck for ya there buddy! ;)

[Ratickle]

A little Marine Tex will fix that right up :D I still got some in my truck for ya there buddy! ;)

JB Weld is better......:)

[MOBILEMERCMAN]

Weld it up. Things like that happen.. Even to new headers sometimes.

Good thing you noticed it. I like to look up the tail pipes with a flashlight every time after flushing. Your careful eye saved ya.

[OldSchool]

Your careful eye saved ya.

Actually.....it was my drunk eye.:biggrinjester::rofl::cheers2:


In your opinion, do these need to go back to Stellings or could I get someone local to take care of it???


Thanks,
Craig

[cigdaze]

It's what 8 or 9 years old? I wouldn't risk it. That's exactly how I blew up my last motor. Exhaust and water don't play nice together. If it's cracking/corroding/leaking, I'm sure there more damage than you see from the outside.

[OldSchool]

It's what 8 or 9 years old? I wouldn't risk it. That's exactly how I blew up my last motor. Exhaust and water don't play nice together. If it's cracking/corroding/leaking, I'm sure there more damage than you see from the outside.

That's what I'm thinking. My question was is it worth it to repair this....or just spring for new exhaust and be done with the worry.

I do know one thing...18-20K for news Stellings exhaust wasn't planned for in the boating budget this year!! :(

....I've heard good things about the Stainless marine systems. Don't have the "bling" factor of the Stellings......but all that is really needed is functionality!!

[Chris]

Stellings ONLY


ONLY

And I'd be surprised if they charged you.


When you get them back, send them to a local cryo treat shop. In fact, I'd send the whole exhaust system.

[Chris]

The Stainless Marine system is good, but you'll give away horsepower, not to mention that unmistakeable Stellings sound. You already know about the looks.

If you do go with manifolds, the Eickert's make very good power.

[Ratickle]

Actually.....it was my drunk eye.:biggrinjester::rofl::cheers2:


In your opinion, do these need to go back to Stellings or could I get someone local to take care of it???


Thanks,
Craig


It's what 8 or 9 years old? I wouldn't risk it. That's exactly how I blew up my last motor. Exhaust and water don't play nice together. If it's cracking/corroding/leaking, I'm sure there more damage than you see from the outside.

I'd have it welded locally now that Jim has peeked at it and seen where the crack/leak is.

Couple of things though, the welder has to be certified for stainless and understand the differences between the different grades of stainless. 304, 316, etc. I'm assuming they are 316, call Stellings.

Send the pics to Stellings, they will have input and may know someone in your area they trust.

If you have it repaired, it must be pressure tested. Do not skip testing, not worth it......

And, Nick is right, to stay safe in the future, you'll either have to replace or test often....

[Ratickle]

The Stainless Marine system is good, but you'll give away horsepower, not to mention that unmistakeable Stellings sound. You already know about the looks.

If you do go with manifolds, the Eickert's make very good power.

I have Eickerts on the Black Thunder and Lightnings on the Empress and Scorpion. For the buck side for HP, not looks, I'm pretty happy with the Lightnings.

[Ratickle]

Stellings ONLY


ONLY

And I'd be surprised if they charged you.


When you get them back, send them to a local cryo treat shop. In fact, I'd send the whole exhaust system.

Why Chris?

A certified stainless welder, who understands the material tendencies and the pre-heating procedures for welding SS would not be good enough? Some of those guys are certified to work on airplane repairs (NADCAP) etc.

An AWS tig cert I would think would be plenty.

[Chris]

Because Stellings knows more about their product than anyone else. And they've seen every conceivable problem and they've addressed it. They know what to look for.

I don't have any doubt a really good welder could do the repair. The biggest issue would be finding one. I have one here. The guy can weld two pieces of aluminum foil together- literally. But unless you know one personally and already have the trust in them, you know Stellings will do it right.

A few weeks ago, Jeremy had a drop drawbar fabricated by a local weld shop. It's a good thing he posted pics of it or there's a good chance what these "professionals" whipped up could have caused his 46 to pass him on the highway one afternoon. If you don't know as much or more than the guy doing it for you, at least make sure the guy doing it is the best there is.

The cryo will remove the stress placed there by the weld, which will go a long way towards staving off cracking. I'd do them at least every other season- you notice these headers never seem to crack right in the middle of one of the tubes? Ever wonder why? Especially where this piece is cracked- you'd expect that spot to be the most free of vibration-induced flexing.

[Spicy]

I thought we would just joke about the curse, sorry you are carrying the torch again... lucky you saw it when you did!!!

Does Nancy know that you have the boat exhaust on HER Granite countertops??? :ack2: :boxing_smiley: :seeya:

[Ratickle]

Okay, got you.

But like here, we have guys like Jeff Covey, HOTROD2, who is certified to build racecars for NHRA and IHRA. Plus inspect and pass the welds and structure on racecars built by others for the two organizations.

Or Krause who is NADCAP certified to weld repair the brakes on jetliners (scary, huh).

Those guys I'd recommend to anyone. Thought maybe those kinds of guys were known everywhere.

[Chris]

Those kind of guys are rarities, very tough to find and usually quite busy. And if you're not in the business, you're trolling the yellow pages- he's in there next to twenty guys that weld hitches and truck frames.

There's one guy locally like that. Good luck seeing anything for 90 days. He's got a shop full of molds, dies and other multi-K$ tooling that are already waiting. And they're big jobs. And he doesn't charge by the hour- he knows how much he's saving people and the jams he can bail them out of.

[Ted]

Allen at Art's shop could do that for you but I would get anxious about ALL the other ones that are the same age. On your engines you may not give away much power with the Stainless Marine, glh's are bigger power and he seems satisfied with them.

[Geronimo36]

The pictures make it hard to see. There is a crack on the interior weld of the tailpipe that runs about 1/3rd of the way around. Very much so clearly visable in real life.

Craig, that's a very common area to have problems on stainless steel exhaust systems. If the stainless steel isn't erroded and has become porous it can be repaired.

Going forward, my suggestion is to remove, test, repair your headers/tailpipes at the end of every season and install drain tubes at the bottom of each header. Given their age, close attention needs to be paid all the time.

This is why I switched to stainless marine. :) The Gen III system will make similar power and come with a 5 yr warranty... My last set of SM's lasted over 12 years with no leak before I sold the boat.

If you need a welder locally, we have a guy here in Jersey who fixes headers for all the well-known boats.

[Ratickle]

Those kind of guys are rarities, very tough to find and usually quite busy. And if you're not in the business, you're trolling the yellow pages- he's in there next to twenty guys that weld hitches and truck frames.

There's one guy locally like that. Good luck seeing anything for 90 days. He's got a shop full of molds, dies and other multi-K$ tooling that are already waiting. And they're big jobs. And he doesn't charge by the hour- he knows how much he's saving people and the jams he can bail them out of.

That's the way Krause was. They're slower now. But, if you know him well, even when busy he'd get er done.....

[OldSchool]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the advice!!

I don't do anything half-azzed...my shoes always wear evenly and I've learned enough lessons in this hobby to do the right thing! :cool:

I'm picking up a new center console tomorrow morning (Nancy's boat), so we'll have that and the little Whaler to pizz around in until I can figure out what I'm going to do. It's great to live near the water and have an awesome group of friend's that will let us tag along with them at a moments notice. :) It's not like we won't be boating.....and bar tabs are cheaper than gas....unless Spicy is involved!!:sifone:

[Perlmudder]

Billy Mays says JUST MIGHTY PUTTY IT!!:sifone:

[Sydwayz]

Craig, can you get John Smith to lay eyes on it before you make a decision? Just a thought.

[fbc25el]

The main thing to welding thin stainless is to make sure you have a back up gas on it (argon).

[MarylandMark]

I'm picking up a new center console tomorrow morning

You might get hooked and sell the Cig :driving:


....and bar tabs are cheaper than gas...

I wish