Thermosteel Exhaust Repair

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Cvett95

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Purchased a ‘97 4runner SR5 4WD in March and have slowly been making repairs. One of the things that’s been around since purchase is a pesky exhaust leak coming from the crossover-cat flange. A couple of the nuts that join the two flanges have backed off so far, they’re not providing any clamp at all. I’ve slightly rounded off the nuts but not enough to have to resort to cutting them off. I’ve yet to try my impact/torch but am not opposed to it but am afraid of rounding/cutting them off. I was at Oreilly’s the other day and came across a product called Thermosteel Extreme by CargoBlueMagic. Says it bonds to steel and iron and is meant for exhausts, open flame, and other high temp applications. Claims to withstand temps of 2400 degrees.

Has anyone used this product? IÂ’ve read mixed, but enough good reviews to purchase. It seems like a short term fix but thatÂ’s what IÂ’m looking for right now as time is rare and the list of needed repairs is not short.

Flange: Imgur: The magic of the Internet
 
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I used jb high temperature expoxy to seal the flange leaks. Its not a perminate fix though and lasts a few months before it falls off. I am curious if you have luck with what you found. The only true fix would be to replace the exhaust or replace the flanges.
 
Thank you for the input [MENTION=164664]brillo_76[/MENTION].
I read about it after purchasing the Thermo. I have uploaded a photo of the flange.
 
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I wonder if the wrong exhaust seals were used. The seals for that flange are about 1/4” thick.

If you do decide to remove the cat from the crossover be prepared to do what it takes. That’s I real pain to work on in the vehicle.


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Just take the nuts off, if you round them off then you round them off, just get creative on taking them off.

Get the correct gaskets, and fix it.

If you snap/cut the studs off, get a stud extractor, and the correct studs.


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After 1,000 miles the paste has held up well. Seems I didn't get it sealed completely but I have noticed a 0.6mpg increase and less sputtering noise. There are sections which weren't coated well enough that are starting to turn white from the heat. There were two small holes in the bottom of the muffler which I applied paste to as well but it seems to have failed.
[MENTION=76419]Doc2012[/MENTION] I will definitely be removing/replacing the nuts and studs soon, I appreciate the motivation.

Hope everyone's Fall is treating them well.

-Charlie
 
Cvett95 said:
After 1,000 miles the paste has held up well. Seems I didn't get it sealed completely but I have noticed a 0.6mpg increase and less sputtering noise. There are sections which weren't coated well enough that are starting to turn white from the heat. There were two small holes in the bottom of the muffler which I applied paste to as well but it seems to have failed.

[MENTION=76419]Doc2012[/MENTION] I will definitely be removing/replacing the nuts and studs soon, I appreciate the motivation.

Hope everyone's Fall is treating them well.

-Charlie
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It will hold for a while then fall off.. { well that I what JB weld High Temp does} I am epoxying the cat /muffler flange on Tetanus 1. They rotted bad enough that even with a good seal it will not seal out. So I smear it with high temp jb weld epoxy but will flake out in time. Would be better to for me to pull apart put new seal in and JB weld the entire thing together instead of just smearing the outside.

I was looking into having one of my clients fabricate me a set of stainless steel flanges and just weld them unto the cat and the muffler pipe. However, I figure that would cost a small fortune for them to make and JB weld high temp is 10 bucks a container.. ;-)

Maybe your Thermosteel Extreme by CargoBlueMagic will hold up better then JB weld high temp.. If so, I will switch to it. :D
 
brillo_76 said:
It will hold for a while then fall off.. { well that I what JB weld High Temp does} I am epoxying the cat /muffler flange on Tetanus 1. They rotted bad enough that even with a good seal it will not seal out. So I smear it with high temp jb weld epoxy but will flake out in time. Would be better to for me to pull apart put new seal in and JB weld the entire thing together instead of just smearing the outside.

I was looking into having one of my clients fabricate me a set of stainless steel flanges and just weld them unto the cat and the muffler pipe. However, I figure that would cost a small fortune for them to make and JB weld high temp is 10 bucks a container.. ;-)

Maybe your Thermosteel Extreme by CargoBlueMagic will hold up better then JB weld high temp.. If so, I will switch to it. :D
Click to expand...

I will keep you updated.
 
You can buy a replacement flange from FX and cut the old flange off the cat and weld on the replacement.


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19963.4lsr5 said:
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If I sent you a photo of my 97 5 speed cat flange or my 98 cat flange you laugh as how bad they are rotted. Is that the cat side of the flange or the muffler side. I look into that. Maybe a solution to my bad flanges. New flange steel should last 10 years or so.

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brillo_76 said:
If I sent you a photo of my 97 5 speed cat flange or my 98 cat flange you laugh as how bad they are rotted. Is that the cat side of the flange or the muffler side. I look into that. Maybe a solution to my bad flanges. New flange steel should last 10 years or so.

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It is the Cat side.

I bought it a bunch of years ago when I bought the full Napa exhaust Incase I needed it to save downtime.


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Doc2012 said:
You don’t want to weld stainless to mild steel.


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I understand that. I want to weld stainless to stainless as our cats are stainless. :-) Plus I notice this flange is flat and my cat flange have a seal grove. While the FX flanges do not. :-(

Probably could braze the flanges on too as Brass will bond to mild steel. Would be better to use silver solder to braze to stainless properly or use good flux to get brass to bond.

I look into the FX flanges as they will solve my flange issues. :-)

I can use those as a template to have a fabrication shop make them out of stainless. However, the ones for the Tocuma have the same ID and have a grove on the flange. So they may suit my needs better as the replacement to the OEM Flange on my cat Flange.

Thanks for the Tips on the Flange. Greatly appreciated and the tip not to weld stainless to mild steel. :D
 
I’ve never had a problem welding something like this to the 400 stainless that is used on the Cat. It’s always lasted longer than what I was welding to it.


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It does come with a different style exhaust gasket than factory which should seal up just fine.

It also comes with a U bolt clamp if you don’t want to weld it on.
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19963.4lsr5 said:
It does come with a different style exhaust gasket than factory which should seal up just fine.

It also comes with a U bolt clamp if you don’t want to weld it on.
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Click to expand...
I saw that the seal is different. I believe they put a recess on that flange so when you tighten it up the flanges surface are flush. As the OEM gasket crashes to seal. Well that may theory anyhow. I can have the recesses cut into the new flange. So this will work. :)


I will look into making them out of stainless as it will be costly. So the flange will never rot out again. I probably see the cost of doing this and say...Yeah those mild steel flanges will work just fine..lol. :D

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