A vehicle's exhaust pipe is primarily responsible for directing the noxious exhaust gases produced by the engine away from the interior of the vehicle. Exhaust pipes also operate to rout the exhaust gases through a muffler to quiet the noise produced by the gases. In some cars, they rout exhaust gases through a catalytic converter designed to reduced emissions. When a defective muffler or catalytic converter needs to be replaced, the first step is to remove the exhaust pipe.
Lift the vehicle with a floor jack and support the weight with jack stands.
Use a wrench to disconnect the exhaust manifold from the engine's cylinder head. The exhaust manifold attaches to the engine's cylinder head with several bolts. Once the bolts have been removed, pull the exhaust manifold away from the engine.
Disconnect the exhaust pipe from the exhaust manifold from underneath the vehicle. The exhaust pipe connects to the manifold with two bolts, which can be removed with a wrench.
Pull the exhaust manifold out of the engine compartment.
Disconnect the exhaust pipe's hanger. The hanger is used to hold the exhaust pipe to the vehicle's frame, and is typically located towards the rear of the vehicle. The hanger can either be disconnected from the exhaust pipe or from the frame by removing the hanger's bolt(s) with a wrench.
