General: 70: original exhaust,how long do they last

[ernie bluenose]

Hi,
Just wondering,my 99T5 is still on its original exhaust..How long should they last before needing renewal.
Has just ticked over 150k but still very quiet and smooth.
How many miles have other members managed. Regards.

[CNGBiFuel]

Mine went at 190K, because I backed into a high kerb. It's replacement lasted three years, and was far worse than the 16YO original.

Ex-factroy are briliant, and quieter. I recall it came off bright, no rot. But damaged. Look after it. If you do have to replace it, get the twin-box version.
Had I known I'd have had the damaged section done by hand or got one off a breaker. Would have been better, cheaper. Avoid Walker systems, if you can. 'orrible.

End silencer for the 2-parted exhaust system.

Model 2000 Volvo introduced a 2-parted exhaust System to lower the exhaust noise of C70, S70 and V70 Petrol engines without Turbo. This Exhaust system has also been offered as a retrofit solution for the Volvo 850. This system consists of a main silencer (1019254) and an end silencer (1019255).


One part System is:

Volvo: 3531971, 8631006, 9142516
Bosal 290517 or 290-517
Walker 18275
EBERSPÄCHER 34.608.87


Two part System is:

Middle is:
Volvo 9470337 / 31372159
Walker 23047

Back is:
Volvo 9470338 / 31372156
Walker 23051

[CNGBiFuel]

Zhorst variants. You'd be surprised, often your local custom exhaust outfit can make one up for not much more than it'll cost to buy one off the shelf. Except... it'll be stainless. Which is how it came originally. If like me, yours is a keeper, worth doing.

[Luxobarge]

Mine's a '97, still on its original exhaust and with loads of life left by the look of it. Only issue I had, when I got the car 5 years ago the main pipe had snapped off the big central box, I welded it back on no problem and glad I did as it's been fine ever since.

Cheers!

[CNGBiFuel]

Yes, you did it right, I was the fool. If like mine, these fail due to abuse, not rot. Knowing what I know now...

I'm on the wrong side of £450, as against a few welds. And still I'll wager the full £450, mine's not really £450 worth of better than yours!

In short, don't be in a hurry to throw it, and stay well away from standard issue exhaust 'artistes', Messrs Kwikfit et al. They'll fit the easiest junk.

[DaveNP]

Mine's a 98 with 151k on the clock, had the centre box replaced about a year ago due to the pipe breaking off of the box, had to go again this week as there was a leak from the join between the cat and the centre section. Turned out to be the flange on the end of the pipe from the cat had cracked around, fortunately I use a good exhaust place and they improvised by cutting off the rest of the flange on both pipes and using a sleeve over the join.
Have to agree the standard replacements from the likes of Kwikfit are very poor quality, when I had my 940 the exhaust was original probably 10 years+ but the bit I had replaced didn't last much more than a couple of years.

[DSK]

Mine looked rotten on the surface of the pipework but despite 220,000 miles it was still in tact and leak free.

[Martin Cox]

I don't know. My 1998 V70 Tdi auto is still on the original exhaust and it looks good for a while longer yet. 21 years, 224,000 miles and counting.

When I bought the car in 2002 I had a good look underneath and thought the silencer looked a bit rough and scabby; when I questioned it, I was told it ought to be good for a bit longer. I guess they were right!

However I have had to replace the rear hanger with a clamp-on repair bracket and when removing the cylinder head to repair the aftermath of a cambelt failure, discovered that the downpipe from the turbo had cracked. A local motorcycle shop welded it up for me and it's been fine ever since.

It seem that the original factory fit systems are extremely durable although the rear hanger is a known weak point.

[Luxobarge]

Yes, as above I should have added that the rear hanger on mine gave way a couple of months ago - held it up temporarily with fencing wire (which actually worked fine) and only yesterday I fixed it with the proper repair piece (available cheaply from PFV) which looks a lot more "official", is sound and strong and will no doubt be fine with the MoT tester when we go for the test which is due in 2 day's time. It fitted on really easily too.

Rear hanger failure is again a common problem on these cars but definitely doesn't warrant whole exhaust replacement, as the repair piece is cheap, easy to fit and very effective.

[huron]

The first thing I do on all my cars, especially the rear box, is drill a couple of 2mm holes in the bottoms, front and rear, to let the condensation out as the back box seldom gets hot enough to burn it off. It's the acidic condensation that corrodes them from the inside.
The number of cars I see that are spewing water/acid out the tailpipe driving down the road after cold starts amazes me.