Exhaust Donut Question

[Bob Miller]

Just pulled the exhaust sytem off for the second time on my 04 Warrior (I had some noise going on?) got almost 12 k miles! The first time (about 6k miles) I replaced all 4 donuts, repaired the front bracket that holds the header pipes into the flex pipes, re-welded the cross over section, removed the heat shields, replaced the 2 pipe gaskets in the muffler pipes, and repaired the muffler heat shield (broken spot welds).

This time the muffler heat shield was coming apart at the spot welds again (noise), the front heat shield shed its insulation ($60 for a new one, have to buy the whole part, insulation not available seperately) front bracket near crossover which was used to attach the heat shield (which where removed) broke loose from its weld on one side and was more than likely making a lot of noise. The clamps on the donuts, 2 of them had spun from there original position and the 4th one I could grab and move! I pulled it all apart and the 4th donut had the most wear the others where worn but not extremely bad. All these clamps where tight but where limited by the spacer where the bolt goes.

MY QUESTION IS: HAS ANYBODY MODIFIED THESE CLAMPS BY GRINDING DOWN THESE SPACERS SO THEY COULD BE TIGHTENED MORE, AND THE SAME GOES FOR THE 2 PIPE CLAMPS FOR THE MUFFLER, HAS ANYBODY MODIFIED THESE 2?
Thanks.............

 

[grader]

i did grind the clamps on my 03 and also added a bead of high heat copper silicone to the inside of the clamps during install. the muffler clamps were fine and i just greased the inside of the gaskets to make install easier. apply neversieze to all bolt threads when reassembling to avoid future problems.

 

[Bob Miller]

i did grind the clamps on my 03 and also added a bead of high heat copper silicone to the inside of the clamps during install. the muffler clamps were fine and i just greased the inside of the gaskets to make install easier. apply neversieze to all bolt threads when reassembling to avoid future problems.

Did this improove the situation?
How much material did you remove from the donut clamps?
Did you also grind the tabs off on the muffler clamps?
Thanks!

 

[GUKROKIT]

i did grind the clamps on my 03 and also added a bead of high heat copper silicone to the inside of the clamps during install. the muffler clamps were fine and i just greased the inside of the gaskets to make install easier. apply neversieze to all bolt threads when reassembling to avoid future problems.

I did exactly this last year.No leaks yet(approx 1200 miles)X2 on the neversieze.

 

[grader]

don't know how much was taken off the clamps but you cant hurt them by overgrinding, as the bolt will tighten anyway. i would guess 1/8 inch will work. i never had to modify the 2 muffler clamps, as there was never any noticeable wear in that area.

 

[Bob Miller]

don't know how much was taken off the clamps but you cant hurt them by overgrinding, as the bolt will tighten anyway. i would guess 1/8 inch will work. i never had to modify the 2 muffler clamps, as there was never any noticeable wear in that area.

I would imagine that they designed these clamps so as not to crush the donuts by over tightening. I'll be a little careful considering! Thanks for the feedback !

 

[woolyviper]

yamaha recommends grinding the spacer to make the clamp tighter.

 

[Bob Miller]

yamaha recommends grinding the spacer to make the clamp tighter.

Do they mention how much to grind it?