Things You Should Know About Crossover Pipe

Heard of this term but don’t know what it means or does? We have put it all together on this page, to help you understand and resolve any problems you may face if you neglect this important component.

The exhaust system is mainly a combination of various shaped pipes, Each designed in such a way that they all fit together perfectly and solve the main purpose that is moving the exhaust flue gases to the exhaust outlet at the back of the vehicle, but there are many specialized segments, like the crossover pipes. These pipes are used to provide a boost of extra power, better fuel economy, and also play an important role in the sound your car produces.

Today we are going to talk about the crossover pipes and how to maintain this very important piece of hardware.

Crossover pipe is located underside the car, it is used to connect the engine’s exhaust outlet to the muffler. Crossover pipe’s main purpose is to increase scavenging (It is a process of pushing used exhaust gas pulses out, creating a vacuum behind it which helps pulling in new fresh air-fuel mixture for the next cycle.) by matching the frequency of exhaust gas pulses.

Performance crossover pipes can be classified on the basis of shape.

• H-Shape pipe
• X-Shape pipe
• Y- Shape pipe

Stock crossover pipes can also just a bent pipe with a flexible joint like ball joint at its start (this is because during heating the exhaust manifold expands and contracts on cooling) used to connect the exhaust manifold to the rest of the exhaust system.

When it comes to having an extra boost of power in your vehicle without making any changes to the engine size which also further affects fuel mileage, crossover pipe can be a very important addition to your exhaust system that will not only increase the power produced but also will significantly increase mileage. One important feature to be kept in mind while selecting your crossover pipe is, that it is not at all important that a larger diameter pipe will be better for your vehicle, it can easily be possible that a smaller diameter one is the optimal size to rush out faster all the flue gases.

1. X-Shape pipe - X-pipe helps the exhaust to flow out with least resistance. Turbulence formed at lower rev is high as exhaust gases try to shuffle past a second column of gases coming from the other side. Even if the power gain is always higher than the stock straight pipe exhaust, but the real significant gains are not seen until higher rpms are reached. In a X-Pipe faster the engine spins faster the exhaust gases flow. The X-Pipe merges these two chaotic streams into two uniform streams, allowing a smooth flow from engine head to exhaust tips. Streams in both pipes keep each other up to speed and bring more and more exhaust gares out.
2. H-Shape pipe - An H-Pipe is also shaped like its name says. The principle behind its working is expansion of exhaust gases to balance the cylinder banks. The small tube between the main pipes provide an area for these gases, during exhaust pulses to expand. Unlike X-pipe, in a H-pipe very less amount of gases flow from one main pipe to the other, as both sides push back and forth in the center tube section. But all being said, H-pipe has much better lower end torque and power, it is one of the best choices for your regular day to day city rides.
3. Y-Shape pipe - These are the ones where the exhaust from both sides of engine meres into one straight pipe. It has much lesser power than both H-pipe and X-pipe.

A vehicle’s exhaust system is exposed to one of the harshest conditions, it is prone to high levels of corrosive dust and water particles, plus it can easily break due to any impact. Few of the very common problems with exhaust crossover pipes are.

• Leakage of exhaust gases
• Broken connectors
• Corroded crossover pipe

There are various symptoms by which a vehicle owner/ driver can easily predict the problem with his vehicle’s crossover pipe. Few of the symptoms that help to get to know if any of the above-mentioned problems exist or are going to occur are.

1. Loud noise - This is the most common problem found in a vehicle, this can be because of leaking exhaust gases. This means that there is a crack or breakage in either the crossover pipe or welding/ connectors. This is a serious problem because one, it can cause exhaust gases to fill in the passenger cabin and second, it causes a lot of noise pollution.
2. Decreased vehicle power - This can be a symptom of corroded exhaust pipes, if your crossover pipes are internally corroded it will lead to loss of power and finally lower fuel efficiency.
3. Decreased low end power - this means that the crossover pipe selected and installed in your vehicle is not the correct one for your vehicle.

Many of the tools required to change crossover pipe are probably already in your toolbox. If not, purchasing these tools will be a good investment since most of them can be used for a multitude of other tasks.

• Start with the right protection gear
• Crossover pipe
• Jack and Jack stand
• Wrench set
• Allen Wrench set

One of the biggest and most well-known brands for crossover pipes are available with us at Partsavatar. Both the brands mentioned below are equally the best in the market, you can enter the vehicle details you have and our system will immediately show you all the crossover pipes that are most optimum for your application.

• Wrapping tape
• Ball joint
• Connecting nuts and bolts
• Penetrating oil

A new crossover pipe can cost from as low as 200 CAD to around 400 CAD depending on crossover pipe that fits in your vehicle. Replacing a crossover pipe can be a bit complex task and might require around or a bit more than an hour.

Sometimes it can also be a job of basic backyard repair, but due to repeated heating and cooling plus a metal to metal contact between bolts and nuts, they are mostly highly rusted and require some effort to be unscrewed or might also require to be cut in two halves to be removed.

If your crossover pipe is leaking don't think you can do a cheap repair by trying to patch, weld or braze it. The intense heat and repeated heating and cooling will surely kill your welding or any other patch work in few days. A quick fix like this can be good for initial days but no one knows for how long will it hold.

Some tips to make the replacement easy and speedy, put some penetrating oil on all the bolts at least a few hours.

Step 1

Hidden under all the engine components, near the exhaust manifold you can see the crossover pipe attached to exhaust manifold by two or three bolts.Remove the air cleanser and battery to make the approach easy.

Step 2

Use six-point socket wrenches to remove the nut and bolts holding the crossover pipe to the exhaust manifold and on the other end to the connecting pipe.

Step 3

Now once you have removed all other parts that are obstructing the removal of crossover pipe, you can easily snake out the crossover pipe.

Step 4

Replace the old crossover pipe with a new one. There are high chances that you will require new nuts and bolts and old ones will be rusted.

Step 5

Now firsthand tighten all the bolts and use a proper high quality power wrench to further torque the bolts.

Step 6 (Optional)

You can wrap the crossover pipe with exhaust wrapping tape, this helps keep the heat in the system which further increases efficiency.