Volkswagen Repair: vw passat exhaust, accordion style, vw passat

Question
i'm trying to repair the exhaust on my 1991 gl passat, its a 5 speed with about 140,000 miles. i have a service/repair manual handy, but am worried about removing the flex pipe and exhaust manifold from the engine mount. will it damage the engine mount or will it slide out nice and easy?

thanks,
lisa

Answer
Hi Lisa;
I only hope you've got lots of penetrating oil, and a big hammer.  Just kidding about the hammer.  The penetrating oil is necessary though to help loosen the nuts on the studs.  Soak all the fasteners with the oil.  I don't know which kind of flex pipe you're dealing with, but there were 2 kinds.  One had like a woven steel, and the other had an accordion style section.  In either case, they are very resilient.  They have had to be to last all this time, and deal with all that heat, and cold.  Get the counterbalance out of your way.  The big chunk of heavy metal at the base of the bulkhead.  But, be careful afterward, because the angle iron it bolts to can be sharp on the edges.  However, it will help just to have the extra little bit of space.  Get all of the exhaust fasteners loose, but not out first.  The reason for this is so you can use a little extra leverage for the stubborn ones, and not twist the pipe all the way around, and bend, or break something that will make the replacement more difficult.
There should be no problem with the motor mount.  Yes, the pipe should come right out the bottom with no great difficulty.  Just some gyrations.  You'll probably have to twist it, or move it around to get it to drop through, but once the counterbalance is out of the way you should have all the room you need.
Good luck, Lisa, hope this helps.