I have taken my 1993 Elantra in to get emissions tested since i am
selling it. It failed even though last year it passed with excellent
ratings. The mechanic is saying there is a leak in the flex pipe and
this may be the reason (although he can't guarantee it). Could this
be right? If so, does it have to be completely replaced or can it be
patched?

 

I think the tech is full of it. Think about it!! If the flex pipe has a
leak, that means that there is less exhaust gas going to the tail pipe where
the exhaust gas sample is taken. A couple of things would make the car fail
the test. If you didn't drive the car around for at least a half an hout to
warm it up, it would fail because the fuel mixture might be rich. If there
is a lot of water coming out the tail pipe, this indicates bad gas. A rotten
egg smell is a clogged catalytic converter.
Canadian Tire (if you live in Canada) sells a fuel treatment that is suppose
to make a car pass a emissions test.

Hope this helps
Mike
Advice "Never pet a burning dog!"

"htzone" <htzone@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:885f828f.0311021346.5c1e217a@posting.google.c om...
> I have taken my 1993 Elantra in to get emissions tested since i am
> selling it. It failed even though last year it passed with excellent
> ratings. The mechanic is saying there is a leak in the flex pipe and
> this may be the reason (although he can't guarantee it). Could this
> be right? If so, does it have to be completely replaced or can it be
> patched?

 

It seems to me the first thing is to verify whether there really is a leak.
have someone close off the exhaust with a cloth while you search for a leak.

A new inlet pipe is about $150 from Hyundai, a muffler shop charges abour $90 (
my locale) to replace the flex section, a Bolsa inlet pipe goes for around $80
.... this seems to be a no brainer. Regardless of passing emmisions a leak
needs to be fixed.