exhaust pipe sticking out

[claudiu]

I know it might sound petty, but I noticed a few weeks ago that my left exhaust pipe in my 2000 C4 was lower than the right one by about 2 cm and I do not have a clue how this could have happened, but I recently had an air/oil separator and the water-pump replaced. To fix the sagging exhaust pipe, another mechanic removed the tailpipe clamp which was rusty with great difficulty and replaced it with a new one, adjusting the height to be in line with the exhaust pipe on the right. However, whilst level on a horizontal plane, the left exhaust pipe is sticking out by about 1.5cm (half an inch) in a vertical plane towards the rear of the car. Is that normal, are these pipes meant to be asymmetrical, or can they be adjusted further, please? The mechanic said he could not push the left exhaust pipe any further in, neither pull the right one further out... Please help!

Edited March 27, 2011 by claudiu

[Loren]

The adjustments are on the tailpipe itself and the whole muffler bracket (3 - 13mm nuts on the bracket to chassis mount).

When exahust work is done it is best to leave all the bolts loose and then tighten them while someone else holds the talpipe/muffler in place.

[claudiu]

The adjustments are on the tailpipe itself and the whole muffler bracket (3 - 13mm nuts on the bracket to chassis mount).

When exahust work is done it is best to leave all the bolts loose and then tighten them while someone else holds the talpipe/muffler in place.

Many thanks dear Loren for your super-fast response, that I shall pass on to my mechanic. Hope to be able to provide positive feedback soon...

[claudiu]

Herewith my promised feed-back:

Using Loren's instructions, my mechanic has yesterday positioned the left exhaust pipe in the correct spot, the two pipes are now perfectly symmetrical, thanks again dear Loren.