PICs* Exhaust leak and P1177 CEL. HELP!!

[wahpao]

I am writing under my friends name on behalf of my father who has a 2001 2.8Q with 65,000mi.

I noticed an exhaust leak about a month ago and it seems to be getting worse. I located it and I think it is the Flex Plate/Joint. How do I go about fixing this problem? Dealer wants to just throw on a new cat. Why? I don't know.

Also P1177 Check Engine Light (CEL) popped on. This is for an O2 sensor, correct?

How hard is this to access and do myself? Could the leaky exhaust be related to this CEL?

Thanks for any input!
Pics: The leak is right where the weave is blackened.

[kevin12]

I believe the dealer said the wanted to put on a new cat because it is consider all one piece or the same part in other words. Atleast according to the Bentley manual it is, see below #11... Don't really know if thats what they're going by or what just throwing it out there ha

[oldblu]

Same problem. Ripped the flex pipes, got new ones installed. Then the cel came on saying I need a new cat. Don't know why. Mechanic, worked on audis for like 30 years says the CEL came on because of the flex repair.

[wahpao]

Wow. Any suggestions on where we should go from here?

[ct1.8t4me]

A competent exhaust shop.

[itsbigj05]

I had a pretty big exhaust leak from the flex pipe on my 1.8. I let it go for a little too long and eventually got a CEL that came with a rough idle. I never pulled the code though, because the CEL went away after I replaced the flex pipe, so I'd say there's a pretty good chance that's where yours is coming from. Here's a picture so you can see how torn up mine was, lol.

[biketsai]

everybodys flex pipe is torn up, but the real question is whether the piping inside it is cracked.
I know that some exhaust shops can just weld a new one up in there.

[B518T]

any and every muffler shop should have a flex pipe

the flex pipe should cost about 25$ and the labor should be between 20-30$

the most I could see you paying would be about 75$

I could do that job in about 20-30 minutes....

you'd literally cut the olf flex out with a sawzall and simply weld a new one in its place...

well, gl!

[zimzima05]

was there a strong exhuast smell? i think i may have this same problem,...