The factory fitted exhaust on the Mk2 Galaxy TDI is a fairly straightforward two box system which is fairly long lived if the one I removed from mine is anything to go by. At the time of replacement my old system was a tad over 10 years old (on a vehicle that had covered 97k), and although the actual silencer boxes themselves were in pretty good order overall the pipes had rusted out in two places- a) where the pipe exits the centre box and b) where the pipe enters the rear box. The pipes had corroded through immediately next to the welds affixing them to their respective silencer boxes:


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As you can see, that exhaust was too far gone to repair, and in any case repair in the vicinity of the welds isn't really possible, especially when there's lots of rust. The rear box pipe wasn't actually detached (as it is in the above picture) before I went to remove the exhaust from the vehicle- it was mostly rusted through so the easiest way to remove it just involved minimal sawing of the remaining metal of the pipe by the weld- this was a far easier option then trying to remove the pipe from the joint which was very rusty as can be seen! So, the whole lot from the catalyst back needed changing. It's not too bad on the Galaxy (TDI at least) as there are no flanges with studs or bolts to corrode solid and shear off when you try to remove them, just two metal band type clamps by the joints. The beauty of these clamps is that if they are seized solid you can simply cut 'em off, no faffing around with sheared off studs or nuts that have wasted away to nothing!

I ummmed and ahhhhed about fitting an aftermarket stainless exhaust but in the end decided to go for replacement Ford parts, these are not the same as the original factory fitted items but instead Ford's 'Motorcraft' branded parts (which is the only replacement option Ford still offers- but then even the newest Mk2 Gal's are nearly 10 years old now), which are in effect intended as 'economy' (read cheaper) replacements for older vehicles. They were still expensive enough though!

The exhaust from the catalyst back comprises of two sections- the larger/ longer centre section which is Ford part no. 1484009 and the rear box which is part no. 1484116. There are two joints- one where the centre section affixes to the catalyst, and one where the rear box joins to the centre section. As mentioned above, both of these joints are simply swaged sections of pipe which are secured by band type clamps which tighten with a single bolt. The Ford part number for these clamps is 1207960. The complete system (from the catalyst back) is secured to the vehicle body by a total of 4 rubber mounts on hangers welded to the exhaust boxes and pipes- the rear box has a hanger welded to each end and the centre section has a hanger welded to the pipe just forward of the box itself, and the other welded to the rear of the silencer box. The hangers are arrowed yellow in the comparison view of the old and new exhausts sat side by side below:

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