I bottomed out today on a larger than expected speed bump and scraped the braided stainless steel on one side of the Y-pipe. The braids have come undone, its about a dime sized scrape. What purpose does the braided part serve and could this have an potential effects on my drive?

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but that's the flex point of the y-pipe.. the braided wires are there to provide some flexing points where they are necessary. Even though your exhaust is bolted on securely, it requires some flexing to ease the pressure from the road feedback and what not.

If your car is lowered, your flex pipes are going to get trashed. Mine are pretty tore up too. It's the price you pay for being low. If the damage is severe, it can eventually lead to exhaust leak, but normal wear is not enough to cause any substantial damage to your exhaust system.

 

Thats correct, some of the braiding on the flexible tubing seems to be damaged with the the strands scraped off.

 

An exhaust shop can replace it, but it will require cutting out a section and replacing. Or you could buy the front mid-pipe from Infiniti for about $500+.

Your best bet is to wait until it gets worse and have it fixed by an exhaust shop.

 

I have an extra exhaust depot y-pipe in the basement I'll be selling soon.

 

Just because some of the steel fibers are scraped or broken doesn't mean your pipe isn't functioning properly. The SS braiding is just an outer protective covering of the flex section. I've got some scrapes on my flex section and it's been working just fine without any leaks for over a year. If it's not leaking, keep on trucking.

 

^ Agreed. Or just go mess it up more so then you can justify buying an aftermarket exhaust. That's what I did.

 

Yeah this is what I'm hoping for, haven't noticed a change in performance or gas mileage, so hopefully its just wear and tear.

The current Y-pipe is aftermarket, don't want to dish out he $$$ on another one, lol.