2006 Montero Limited Exhaust Repair

[ajm291]

Hello. I'm the proud owner of a 2006 montero limited. I got this vehicle 6 years ago (had just under 60,000 miles on it) when we were expecting our second child. I'm the second owner and have put over 65,000 miles on it since getting it. The montero is the family hauler and my wifes daily driver to work.

I've been doing some hardcore maintenance on it recently including:

New front ball joints and tierod ends.
New front wheel bearings.

This past winter I dug into the engine and took both heads off, had them checked along with the valves and resurfaced. At this time I did the tune up and maintenance stuff like pulleys, belts, water pump, plugs, wires, had the injectors cleaned and flow tested, etc. I replaced the exhaust manifolds (headers) with stainless ones from Australia as both of the OEM cast ones were cracked. Put all new O2 sensors (yes all 5 of them) in too. Put it all back together with new gaskets and have been driving it since without any issues.

Now for the point of this post:

Just the other day, I noticed that the pipe coming off of the back of the muffler is broken at the joint where it connects to the muffler. More recently, the pipe at the front connection of the muffler is also broken which results in a loud exhaust noise as you'd expect. When I search for replacement mufflers, I don't get any results except for OEM ones. I would like to know what people have done regarding muffler replacement on these vehicles. Does anyone know if the muffler from earlier monteros with the 3.5L V6 will work? I see some muffler options for these vehicles, but not for the 2003+ 3.8L equipped Monty's.

Thanks!!

 

[KyleT]

The 01-02 should fit but it's slightly smaller pipe diameter IIRC.

Where is the 5th oxygen sensor?


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[ajm291]

I was able to get under my rig and get the exhaust off from the Y-pipe back. Seems like it's pretty much shot and rusted through in some areas (I cut it to get it out and over the rear axle - see pic) so I'll be heading to the local muffler shop for some custom bends.

Thanks for the info on the earlier exhausts.

Also - I was mistaken about the number of O2 Sensors. It only has 4 (lol). I thought for some reason that there was one after the Y pipe, but I was wrong.

I need some advice on the new system...

Should I eliminate the cat and the second muffler? I put a new y-pipe (with the pre-cats and o2 sensors) on when I did the engine work so I'm guessing that the exhaust should be fairly scrubbed by the pre-cats?

 

[Inyo_man]

I removed the resonator in the rear when replacing the suitcase-sized OEM muffler.
...one less thing to hang up on and smash when off pavement.

 

[ajm291]

Called the local exhaust shop this afternoon. Talked a little bit about the situation. Recommendation is to get 2 1/4" stainless pipe a straight through magnaflow muffler, and delete the cat and resonator.

I'm concerned regarding the sound that this will result in. I'm sure it will be louder (which I can tolerate to a degree) but I don't want it annoyingly loud.

Looking for feedback - What's the sound like for anyone that's changed the stock exhaust?

Thanks!

 

[KyleT]

That will be loud.


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[ajm291]

Took the Montero to the exhaust shop today. Just got it back. Left the original cat, but got all new exhaust pipe from the cat back. Deleted the resonator and installed a magnaflow muffler. I'd take some pic's, but it's pouring rain outside at the moment. She's loud, but my butt Dyno says there was a slight performance gain (maybe not, but definitely no degradation). The sound is decent. Not too raspy and harsh. I kinda like it. If it gets on my nerves, I'll revisit this topic. Best part of this experience was that my bill was only $300.00! That was all parts (including magnaflow muffler) and labor. Sweet!!! Dropped it off around 4:00PM and thought it would take days to get in the shop and back to me. I was surprised to get the call to come pick it up at 7:30 this evening.

 

[cnutco]

Do you remember which headers you purchased. I must do the same for my ‘03.


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[ajm291]

I purchased stainless steel headers from Australia back in March 2017. Brand is Advanced Headers. Model is A349MRSS. This is a direct bolt in replacement. Only thing needing done by me (outside of the install) was to drill a hole in the header pipe where the EGR pipe threads into the header. I tried to bypass the erg and not have exhaust recirculated back into the intake, but continued to get a CEL so I ended up drilling this hole in the header. Cost with shipping was around $900 AUD which was around $700 USD. I had these shipped to my doorstep in less than a week.