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Yesterday morning, on my way to work, I suddenly noticed the exhaust on my '01 9-3 had gotten louder. It continued getting worse to the point that I barely wanted to touch the throttle, and I'm convinced I sounded like a ricer with a fart-can muffler. When I arrived in the parking lot, I peeked underneath and saw that the front-most exhaust clamp (between the cat and the flex pipe) was dangling loose. OK, cheap & easy fix - if you can find a clamp...
The nearest Saab dealership to me is a family-owned place in the backwoods whose office looks like a shack, and I knew the usual chain stores wouldn't have this type of clamp. Then I remembered that in my town there's an Autopart International store. This chain doesn't really cater to individuals, and they have no catalog of any kind, but there were a couple posts here suggesting that they make some direct-fit Saab parts (thanks Crispin). Gave them a call, and they had the clamp in stock at $8.25 after tax, which isn't much more than they cost online. The guy said, "It's best to call, but we should be able to help you with most parts."
It's a good thing, too, because after my miserable un-muffled drive home, I looked underneath and - no more clamp! It had completely fallen off, and now the end of the flex pipe was drooping (eep). After an hour to let the cat cool down, I jacked the car up and got to work. Luckily I already had exhaust sealant on hand from replacing my rear muffler in January, so I cleaned and prepped the pipes and began fitting the clamp. It's definitely a pain trying to stretch out the flex pipe and hold it there while tightening the clamp, but I got it together and the leak is gone!
The clamp I got may have been store-brand, but looked exactly like the OEM/Bosal type with square weld nuts, as opposed to the Scan-Tech with those unhelpful loose hex nuts. BTW, had Autopart International not come through for me, I found a clamp in stock at Napa that looked a bit different, but might have still done the job. I'm just glad this happened close to home and not during the 500+ miles of highway driving I did this past weekend!
posted by 216.37.1...
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