I was curious, as I had to pull the exhaust where the down pipe and cat meet on my 1998 Honda Civic while replacing the rack and pinion. I basically tightened the bolts all the way down until the little round stopper on the bolt itself bottomed out on the flange. Is that correct? Seems to run properly... thanks!

 

Yeah, that's right. The springs are just there to keep the flanges and bolts preloaded.

 

No, the springs are there to let the pipes flex a little if need be. Thermal expansion, hitting things, etc. That's why they have that semi bowl shaped donut gasket instead of a flat gasket.

 

We're saying the same thing.

 

So your saying NOT to bottom the "bead" looking thing that is on the bolt against the flange? Basically run the nut until it stops turning???? Because thats what I did. Do I need to back it out some now, or should I be fine? Thanks!

 

The bolt gets tightened down all the way, and the spring is pressed down by the head of the bolt. The bolt is just there to hold the spring in place so it can work.

And DDD4114, sorry, yeah we were saying the same thing, I was just elaborating a little.

 

Torque = 16-ft-lb