3rzfe exhaust leak

Nope

 

That's why you have a leak. Exactly what happened to mine.
The motor twists under load and all that twisting motion gets translated into the exhaust since it's supported separately from the drivetrain.
If you let it go for long enough, it'll start to leak at the cylinder head to exhaust manifold connection towards the rear of the head too. ask me how I know....

If you put that bracket back or fab one up like I did, and replace all the gaskets since they're most likely blown out now that should definitely keep it from leaking there.

Replacing your motor mounts would probably be a good idea too. I have yet to do that but it's been on my list of things to do

 

Well i have it around here somewhere lol! But really it was on the first 4 rounds, and after that I figured it might have been part of the issue. i have been dealing with the slip yoke/axle wrap thunk, and thought it might be part of the problem.

I have new motor mounts and I hope to install them Sunday, weather permitting. I’ll put that bracket back as well when i do and I’ll report back if there’s any success. Fingers crossed….

 

I have new motor mounts actually it was totally fine for a long time till I swapped engines

 

I guess that makes me the control group....but mines Rwd Dlx sr5 model..

I had a 3rz that put 20K on it....oem cast headers and pipes ....never had one of those brackets....and never had a leak or a problem...
And the engine idled semi rough.....

And now on the new engine/new mounts/ stainless headers ... same, no bracket, 5K and no leaks...

Are u sure stress isnt coming from rear......replaced all mine with drop in made to fit walker exhaust from advance , new cat from amo.....
That way when I replaced the engine....everything got a RESET......

Got rid of as many connections i could...cut off flanges on cat and just straight weld....

kinda like boxers...hangin FREE...

 

I’m all oem on gaskets it’s just that Damn part in the middle down pipe from the header to cat

 

I would recommend to throw in new exhaust gaskets in there while you're at it. Might as well so you don't possibly have to pull it apart down the line to do it again.
Just imo...

I'm sure if you weld all the connections together so there's no bolt connection flanges that would help things a little bit, but I would prefer to have my exhaust more modular personally.

I have 300+k on my original motor mounts which I'm sure plays a role in the torqueing. Every truck is different, but I also personally think that a 4wd truck that's wheeled hard like mine would be subject to more engine torquing and twisting under load in the rocks than a daily driven rwd sr5 model.

I also didn't have that bracket for about 15k or so, and then the leak started to develop after that point and get worse.

Are your stainless headers true long tube headers? Because if they are, you can't use that bracket anyways because they extend all the way down to the connection to the cat.

Must be all that extra HP from that new motor

 

There hasn’t been a clamp on mine since I’ve owned it. I imagine that’s 90% of the problem and 10% low quality gasket

 

I've never had the lower brace and never had leaks. I believe I used OEM gaskets all around when I upgraded to the 4runner mini header. Only started leaking when I disassembled the exhaust and swapped the motor into another vehicle and kept the old gaskets. Now I just need to replace the gaskets with more OEM.

 

Whats the part number or name for that bracket cus i dont have it aswell. ive been dealing with this leak since my cat got clogged and it declogged itself going up a hill and the mesh made a rattle in the cat and I changed the cat but all that pressure messed up my y downpipe where it meets the mini header (i dont have the old cast iron one) since then i have put brand new oem toyota gaskets still no luck i also have put exhaust cement it eventually breaks. At this point is it possible to weld the mini header and the down y pipe together?