rowan

Question: When installing the Mazdaspeed muffler, what do you do with the gasket?

The stock muffler flange has an indent cut into it for the gasket, but it doesn't have anywhere to go with the MS muffler because the flange is just flat. Is it no longer needed because the pipes are going 2.0-2.0" instead of before being 2.0-1.75"?

Comments from anyone who has installed a bolt-on muffler (MS especially) would be helpful.

Also, do any of you with the Mazdaspeed muffler get that annoying resonance drone between 3000-4000 RPM as I have heard happens with other mufflers?

Thanks

Sir Nuke

I don't have that muffler...but when I installed my Bosal, the same thing applied to the connection at the first cat....but my system came with a new exhaust gasket for that connection...NOT the spiral wound like the stock one..but just a flat exhaust gasket....I assembled it with the supplied gasket and have had no leaks or problems .

hope that helps....seems to be the same situation as where the axel back system you have is connecting up.

jblon78

the exhaust (ms) we installed here at work actually came with a new gasket. i know the p5 exhaust we installed the tech used the new gasket with no leak problems. the exhaust i have sitting here which is the sedan mazdaspeed also comes with new gasket. by the looks of it the pipe that connects to the muffler should have a raised portion that the gasket would sit around. this gasket looks to be a compression fit style which would compress and flatten to seal as it was tightened. even though there is no indent on the new muffler i would still have to assume this gasket would work. i guess first off did your exhaust come with a new gasket or not? if so does the pipe that connects to the muffler have the raised area on it?

Sir Nuke

the stock configuration doesn't have a raised area...just the opposite....one side has a recess that the compression (spiral wound) gasket fits into...and the other side is flat.

rowan

OK I just went and took it apart and had a better look at the flange.
The stock exhaust pipe does have a raised area.
The stock muffler pipe has a recessed area that the raised part fits into to create a good seal.
There is no gasket with my stock configuration. (Even though my Workshop Manual shows that there is one).

Sooo.. I need to track down the gasket that is supposed to come with the MS mufler to make a proper seal. Or go to Canadian Tire and find something that will work just as well. Of course all the shops are closed today, being Victoria Day.

Sir Nuke

that is about par for the course...just when you NEED them to be open they arn't!! lol

hmmm I will look at my stock system at the house tonight...its hanging in my shop...I thought there was only one fit...well either way...the stock gasket that comes in the stock configuration is a spiral wound gasket....I KNOW THAT FOR A FACT....I remember specifically taking them off when I replaced my system....the gaskets that came with my new system are the standard flat metal covered exhaust gaskets like you can buy at any parts house.

rowan

Hmm.. where's Maxx Mazda when you need him? hehe.

Sir Nuke, thanks for checking. I believe I will be making a journey to my dealership as well as Canadian Tire tomorrow to check for a suitable gasket.

Sir Nuke

WELL...as promised I went and looked at the system hanging in my shop...and we were both right....where there IS a raised lip that the gasket fits AROUND...its not really a lip as in a raised part of the flange.....its in reality the exhaust pipe where it actually sticks THROUGH the flange and is welded that way...and this part of the pipe is slightly swedged down so that it actually fits INSIDE of the adjoining muffler section of pipe....then the gasket fits in the recess and then makes up to the flat area of the adjoining flange.

rowan

Ok, thanks! I swear I didn't notice a gasket there when I took off my stock muffler but it must be either stuck on somewhere or I just lost it Time to beg the dealership for some parts...

Sir Nuke

I will be willing to bet its stuck on there....just like MINE is...in fact the old gasket is STILL stuck on there...I just never took it off..and its NOT going to fall off either....

you would need a new gasket anyway spiral wound gaskets are intended for ONE TIME USE ONLY.

nelnel

I wonder how much Mazda dealerships will charge to install the exhaust for me? Would it be cheaper at a muffler shop?

neuromancer

From what I was told about 1/2 hour of labour.

Jay

Sir Nuke

which translates to about $30 to $40 bucks....save the money...is a simple job! do it yourself.



just remember to squirt some wd-40 on the rubber hangers so that the hangers can slide trough them easier....VASTLY makes the job easier.

neuromancer

I guess it depends on the way you look at it. For someone who doesn't know what they are doing, don't have time...don't wanna. And I'd EASILY pay 30bux for some other poor bastard to break the bolts on my exhaust

Would installing this exhaust yourself effect the warranty I wonder? I'd think it might...

Jay

rowan

Well, my dealership doesn't have a part number or any parts for the gasket for the Mazdaspeed muffler. So I guess I will just buy a new spiral-wound one and put my stock muffler back on and go in search of a gasket I can use with the MS muffler.

It's strange that the MS muffler does not have the indented flange like the stock one does... because the Magnaflow muffler even has that.

I suppose the spiral-wound gasket wouldn't really work with the MS muffler, eh?