Last updated on September 6th, 2023 at 05:33 pm

To understand how to remove exhaust paste, you should know about the exhaust paste first. It is mostly used to assemble joints of the Exhaust system and seal any crack on the pipe at home without spending much expense. 

The paste gives a gas-tight seal to the joint. After applying an Exhaust paste, you may need to remove the extra paste or the stain of the past, or you may need to undo the joints and replace the exhaust.

But how would you do that? We will tell you how to remove the exhaust sealant paste if this is it. You have to read this article very carefully to know the process.

What is Exhaust Paste?

Exhaust Paste is a type of water-soluble Silicate Cement. It has a paste-like consistency. This is water-soluble and especially recommended for the exhaust system. Once applied to exhaust components, it gets dried and hardened to a life-long joint with heat.

This paste can produce vibration-resistant heat and air leak-free joints between the metal lines. This is a very cheap, ready-to-use solution to assemble or fix any leak of the metal line.

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How To Remove Exhaust Paste?

The Exhaust assembly paste is composed of modified silicate, they are extremely brittle. So you can easily break the hard exhaust putty by breaking it. To get it eradicated from the surface of the Exhaust system, you can use Adhesive Remover or emery cloth.

Tools Needed To Remove Exhaust Assembly Paste

If you want to remove the Exhaust assembly paste, you will need some tools with safety gears. The tools that will be required when removing exhaust paste from a metal joint or cleaning all the paste from any metal surface are listed below. 

  • Safety gears, 
  • Hammer
  • Oxy-Acetylene torch, or map torch, 
  • A sealant or adhesive remover
  • Emery cloth

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The Procedure of Disassembling Joints And Removing Exhaust Paste

The dried exhaust Paste starts to get brittle with a long time of use. It is not that hard to remove the cured sealant from the joints. If the paste is not easy to reach, you have to disassemble the joint then you can remove the existing flexes of the dried putty with a sealant remover or Emery cloth.

To know how to remove exhaust putty, you must follow the steps below. 

Step 1: Wear Safety Gear

It is always vital to take precautions before repairing or chemical use. You should be careful before you start to remove the exhaust paste and wear safety gear. All the safety gears you will need are gloves and safety glasses.

Step 2: Remove The Clamp

First, you have to remove the clamp used to tighten and secure the joint in the exhaust system. Take a wrench or hammer drill to loosen the bolts on the clamp. If the bolts are rusted, lubricate them and remove them from the metal clamp.

Remove the clamp from the joint area and again put it on the line tightly. It will help you apply pressure to pull out the pipes from the joint.

Step 3: Heat the Joint 

To loosen the joints, you can use heat. It should be greater than its service temperature. You can choose an oxy-acetylene torch or map torch to heat the joint. 

Take the torch and apply heat all around the joint. It will loosen the metal from the paste and make the cured putty more brittle.

Step 4: Disassemble the Pipe Joint

Use a hammer to disassemble the pipes from joints. Make a few whacks with a hammer on the clamp. It will pull the pipe from the joint and crumble the hard sealant.

If the joints do not open, apply some more heads and give a few more whacks. Then try to pull the two ends of the joint. The two ends will get apart easily. 

The hard sealant will get broken and removed easily. A few residues of the sealant may be left attached to the surface of the pipes.

Step :5 Clean the Area

Once the separated pipes get cooled, clean them. You can use soap, water, and a brush to clean the area where the exhaust paste you have to remove. After cleaning the dust and rust, make it dry with a dry cloth.

Step 6: Remove The Existed Paste With Sealant Remover Or Emery Cloth

You can easily remove the hard metal sealant with sealant remover or emery cloth. The process of removing the assembly paste is given below.

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How To Use Exhaust Paste Remover 

You can use sealant remover to remove the cured paste from the exhaust components. Before applying the remover, make sure no rust remains on the surface.

You have to spray the sealant remover directly on the surface you want to remove the hard paste. Allow the remover to react with the adhesive residues. It will soften the paste and remove it from the surface easily. Then swap remover from the surface with a clean cloth. 

If necessary, repeat the process until the exhaust paste is removed from the surface.

Note: A sealant remover is a highly flammable chemical and hazardous for health. Keep it away from flame, and do not forget to wear gloves, safety glasses. 

Avoid the contact of any polished surface or plastic from it. It can damage the plastic or polished surface.

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Remove Exhaust Paste With Emery Cloth

You do not have a sealant remover; you can also use an emery cloth to clean the flexes of the dried sealant. Emery Cloth is a cloth that has abrasive coated on it. It is safe to remove the dry paste from the metal surface.

It is flexible and more durable than sandpaper. They are specially used for cleaning metal surfaces. Using the emery cloth, you have to give more effort to remove the hardened adhesives than the sealant remover.

Take a piece of emery cloth and start rubbing the surface, which has stiff exhaust paste. As we said, after drying, the exhaust putty or cement becomes brittle, it will come out of the surface very quickly. 

Final Words

Did you get the way how to remove exhaust paste we explained here? It is better to replace the broken part of the exhaust system than replace the total system.

Without disassembling the joint and removing the exhaust sealant clearly, you will not be able to apply the assembly paste and use the component again. So it is important to remove and clean the surface properly for further use.

You can use any metal sealant remover or emery cloth to remove the cement. Sealant remover is easier to use than abrasive cloth to remove the flexes.

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