L175 Exhaust Leakage

[buffumjr]

Whoever installed the exhaust pipe on my Kubota didn't look where it was going. It rested on the starter solenoid. Not good.

I made a spacer out of 1/2" steel. I also fabricated two longer studs to account for the need for greater length. It now is about 3/8" away from the solenoid.

The joint between the manifold and the spacer seals very well. The flange on the exhaust pipe seems bent, and will not seal.

Is there an "easy way" to seal the leak? E.G. some sort of goop? Can it be successfully straightened with a hammer? Do I need to make a new flange out of 1/4" and replace the original?

Buy a used Case 530, and begin this process all over again?

 

[Pau7220]

The bend you're seeing is probably a little rust jacking. If you can get it apart without damage, you may be able to clean it up and reseal it. A few hammer hits to square it up won't hurt. I use furnace cement on all my flange gaskets... mainly because the flange is already curled on a new pipe because of the welding heat. Never had a failure even with post converter heat.

 

[buffumjr]

Thanx. I'll try the hammer, first, then the cement. $7 isn't too bad.

 

[buffumjr]

Got the cement at Ace. Oooh. Have to wait 30 days for it to cure. Hmmm. We'll try it, but I'll wait 5 days. If I wait longer, I'm afraid the clutch will freeze again. Splitting is no fun.

If this doesn't work, I'll make a new flange, cut off the old one, and weld on the new. At least 1/4" is easier to work than 1/2".

In two weeks, I start work on the front end loader. After that comes the ROPS and roof. The front struts on the ROPS need the end loader mount.

 

[Fordtech86]

Got the cement at Ace. Oooh. Have to wait 30 days for it to cure. Hmmm. We'll try it, but I'll wait 5 days. If I wait longer, I'm afraid the clutch will freeze again. Splitting is no fun.

If this doesn't work, I'll make a new flange, cut off the old one, and weld on the new. At least 1/4" is easier to work than 1/2".

In two weeks, I start work on the front end loader. After that comes the ROPS and roof. The front struts on the ROPS need the end loader mount.

Take a chunk of 2x4 and find some where to wedge it against the clutch pedal to hold it down while your not using it to keep the clutch from sticking.

 

[In Utopia]

Didn't use furnace cement, I think it might be to brittle.
Instead do what I did a few years back on my L175.
Had to split it, and when I tried to bolt the exhaust flange back on it had a big bow on and wouldn't seal even with a new gasket.
Had some high temp red RTV, put some on both sides of the gasket, let it set up (only a couple of hours), no leak. It stays flexible enough to never get beat out.

 

[Pau7220]

Got the cement at Ace. Oooh. Have to wait 30 days for it to cure. Hmmm. We'll try it, but I'll wait 5 days.

I'm not sure what you picked up at Ace... I just looked at my jug and there was no such info on it. I use the regular bodied Hercules Hi-Heat, same as the plumbers use. You need to have your flanges straight enough to have some compression on the gasket. Coat both sides of the gasket, bolt it, wipe the excess, give it 20 minutes, gently heat it up, then put it to work.
I've been using the same product and method for 40+ yrs on the auto repair world without an issue. I also use it on male/female clamped joints on the pipes to eliminate leaks.
I have tried the red hi temp RTV in the cheese whiz cans the same way with little success. It just didn't seem to like exhaust heat on a gas engine. It may hang on to a diesel.
Neither product will fill a large gap by itself.
Use the wood block all the time like Fordtech recommended, especially with FL humidity.