Deafening exhaust and high temp

[Emit]

In the process of resurrecting my car and got it (kinda) moving on it's own power for the first time in many years today, two issues the clutch is slipping (I'll leave that for another post/day) and...

The drivers side sounds like it has open headers, unbelievable loud (you'd need ear protection) however I can't find an obvious leak - also the exhaust on that side got very very hot after only a minute of (kinda) idling. before firing it I have replaced all the fuel lines, accumulator and two dead injectors... I suspect it's running lean and there is a vacuum leak (hose snaking it's way into the throttle body has come loose, where does that go?)

Could it be a header gasket I can't see properly? What could be causing the very high temp on that side? are they even related?

My next step is to take the valve cover off that side to make sure nothing is sticking / do a compression test

Any and all input is welcome :)

[Rich]

Congrats on getting it *kinda* woken up.

And congrats on getting it *kinda* woken up.

You say the driver side exhaust is loud and tt side of the bay is v. hot after just 1 minute of idling (from a cold start?).

Before getting into solutions do you happen to know how well it ran "many years" ago before it went to sleep? Was it noisy and hot at idle back then? Will guess you don't but it's worth asking the prev owner if you can.

Noisy exhaust: The noise and the heat both point to an exhaust leak on that side. You probably do have a sorta open exhaust. The most common leak on these is from either exhaust manifold if a gasket blew (common) or it warped (less common). Also possible a manifold bolt or two are loose/broken/missing (esp. if somebody played with it). Finally, the joint from the crossover pipe to the manifold or the pipe itself might be leaking. Get a $30 wi-fi borescope with an integrated LED on the end, connect it to your phone and go poking around the hidden areas on that side (engine off). Another way to track it down is to use a stethoscope or a section of small vinyl hose. Tape one end to a small dowel or rod, hold the other end in one ear, then move the dowel end around with engine running to find the noisiest area. Look closely there when engine cools.

Heat: See previous answer. Other than that the catalyst can overheat if the engine's running rich. You say yours might be running lean and the heat shows up right after you start and idle it, so prob not your cat.

Vacuum hose: For now just put a clamp onto the section of hose you can see. It might help depending on which end came loose. There's a vacuum hose routing sticker under the engine cover if you really want to chase it down. If it's disconnected under the manifold I'd just temporarily clamp a section of that hose and save that problem til you pull the manifold.


In the process of resurrecting my car and got it (kinda) moving on it's own power for the first time in many years today, two issues the clutch is slipping (I'll leave that for another post/day) and...

The drivers side sounds like it has open headers, unbelievable loud (you'd need ear protection) however I can't find an obvious leak - also the exhaust on that side got very very hot after only a minute of (kinda) idling. before firing it I have replaced all the fuel lines, accumulator and two dead injectors... I suspect it's running lean and there is a vacuum leak (hose snaking it's way into the throttle body has come loose, where does that go?)

Could it be a header gasket I can't see properly? What could be causing the very high temp on that side? are they even related?

My next step is to take the valve cover off that side to make sure nothing is sticking / do a compression test

Any and all input is welcome :)

[Helirich]

If it?s that bad, it shouldn?t be hard to find. I would put the car up on Jack stands and get under it. Have someone else start and rev the car while you run your hands around the exhaust. If you start it cold, you should have a few seconds of time to find the leak before it gets too hot to be feeling around. If it gets too hot, let it cool right down and do it again.

[David T]

You most likely have a problem with dirty fuel injectors, vacuum leaks and exhaust manifold leaks. Not uncommon, especially when "waking up" a car that has not been running for a long time. Figure on doing a "top job" taking off the intake manifold and replacing all of the seals, gaskets, water pump, and hoses. Sounds like the motor is running excessively rich. You will also be removing the exhaust manifolds and replacing the studs and gaskets and the transmission to replace the clutch. Try bleeding the clutch cylinders first with fresh fluid but they will probably leak. Brakes too.

[Emit]

Thanks so much for all the input, got a lot to go on there... My general takeaway is that it's a bunch of things, that I need to deal with systematically.

We don't have much history on the car, all I know for sure it that it sat for about ten years since the last owner, no idea what condition it was parked in - at a guess I'd say that someone tried to get it running and did a bit of work then (one new strut, new clutch hose)... but the last real work was many many years before (glovebox had receipts from 1990)

On the plus side when I turned the key it started first time today, so things are looking up :)