exhaust hole?

[plurpimpin]

i've been cleaning up my new to me '04 gs500 while i wait to take my msf course and get my license at the end of the month. today i took off the exhaust headers to clean them up and repaint them. i noticed a few (2 or 3) tiny pin sized holes. they are only at welded joints which leads me to believe they are the result of shotty welding and do not appear to be caused by rust. should i even worry about these holes or should i just go ahead and repaint the header? as i said they are tinty, the largest is about the size of the very tip of a ballpoint pen and the other one is even smaller.

thanks

[ben2go]

Have a muffler shop seal them up.$20 maybe.If there doing some work they may seal them for nothing.It could have rusted from the inside out due to condensation in the pipes.

[laserred97gt]

Are you sure they go all the way through?

Take a needle and poke in there.

If they don't go through all the way, it could be porosity from an imperfect weld, and I wouldn't even worry about it.

If it does go through, try what was mentioned above.

Good luck! 

[plurpimpin]

thanks abunch laser. i just checked and only one of them goes through all the way and its right where the can bolts onto the header so it shouldn't be an issue when i put it back together with some sealant on the joint. the other ones were just messy welds like you said.

[dgyver]

There is a weep hole at the bottom front of the muffler. It is there to allow condensation to drain. Better not plug that one, it needs to be there.

[plurpimpin]

yeah but this hole isn't in the muffler, its on the header where it bolts onto the muffler. i'm not plugging the weep hole

[laserred97gt]

No problem.

If the one hole that goes all the way through is from rust, it is probably only the beginning of your problems with holes.  I would take the can off and look inside with a bright flashlight.

Hopefully the rust isn't too bad.

[ben2go]

It may be time to look on ebay for a header or another exhaust,depending on what your future plans are.