General Strange deformed exhaust.

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General Strange deformed exhaust.

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Feb 10, 2019
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Hi, My Panda Lounge just passed the MOT with no problem, no advisories at all. The tester mentioned a dent in the exhaust pipe near the front but it did not affect anything. I took a picture of it. It is very strange, there is no sign of any other damage under the car and the dent has no gouging or scrape marks. I suspect it was fitted like this at the factory?

It doesn't seem to affect the performance of the car and the restriction is not that bad it has just made the pipe oval instead of round.
 

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It’s not unheard of for the likes of Kwik fit (half wit) to push a jack under a car not look and jack it up on ‘whatever’ just to get the job done.

I had one reshape the rear footwell on a mondeo I owned once, opened the back door a few days after the work was done to find the foot mat teetering on the top of a carpet textured mole hill.
 
That definitely looks like a dent that should not be there...
However, each of my three MJ 4x4s has had a 'squashed' bit of exhaust just before the flexi part - I assume to clear the subframe bolt directly above it? (Classic upside down iPhone photo...)

Also, interesting to see how rusty this pipe is, on a car first reg'd in May 2018
 

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The 1.2's come from the factory like that.
Our old 14 plate Lounge (now the mother in laws), our lads 12 Pop and the '18 Pop I've just had on hire all had a deformed front pipe.

There's usually a flat bar that runs across from one side to the other right underneath the bend.

I've seem some that looks pretty squashed, but you're find all genuine pipes have a dent/bend in the exact same place.

Here's you go, you can see the flat bar and "dent" here
https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-iii/454025-painted-my-sump.html
 
As it appears to be just below the driveshaft /CV joint is possibl that it was intended to provide clearance for that but has somehow been installed or assembled (welded to flexi section) up-side down?

If it had hit something or been jacked I would have thought that the flexi would have given way or allowed the pipe to be bent rather than dented. The "dent" looks to neat to have been accidental.

Robert G8RPI.
 
The 1.2's come from the factory like that.
Our old 14 plate Lounge (now the mother in laws), our lads 12 Pop and the '18 Pop I've just had on hire all had a deformed front pipe.

There's usually a flat bar that runs across from one side to the other right underneath the bend.

I've seem some that looks pretty squashed, but you're find all genuine pipes have a dent/bend in the exact same place.

Here's you go, you can see the flat bar and "dent" here
https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-iii/454025-painted-my-sump.html


I just had a look underneath and that bar is not there. I can see the captive nuts that it would be bolted to. What does the bar actually do? Do I need to get one fitted?
 
As it appears to be just below the driveshaft /CV joint is possibl that it was intended to provide clearance for that but has somehow been installed or assembled (welded to flexi section) up-side down?

If it had hit something or been jacked I would have thought that the flexi would have given way or allowed the pipe to be bent rather than dented. The "dent" looks to neat to have been accidental.

Robert G8RPI.

I think we have established that the dent is a normal feature! The driveshaft has a lot of clearance above the pipe although it looks close in the photo.
 
This normal!! There should be a small bar going across the front subframe, hence why the exhaust is shaped to fit around the bar to stabilise the subframe.

My 68 plate 1.2 is the same
 
Update on this. I called in to my local Fiat dealership and got to speak to the workshop supervisor. He confirmed the exhaust dent is normal. He said they usually remove the chassis bar when doing an oil change because it gets in the way. But they always put them back. He also said they have noticed them missing on some cars, mostly Fiat 500s which have the same chassis. He thinks they get removed during servicing at other places and then they "forget" :rolleyes: to put them back.


Anyway we had a look at the Fiat database for my car and it confirms the bar should be there. So I have ordered one. £34 with bolts.
 
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