K11 Micra tyre switchover and blowing exhaust

Hey all.
The car is a 2000 Micra 1.0 (00-03 model where the exhaust is hidden under the bumper rather than pokes through it).

Firstly:
I put new tyres are on the car a fair few years ago. The tread on the fronts are much lower than the back (all new at same time) - Is swapping them over around 2/3 of the way through their life a bad idea? This way I could get a new set of 4 when at once in a year or so. My tyres are expensive as they are some stupid low profile size (they are standard Nissan steelies!). Would I need the wheels to get alligned if I do the front-rear swap?
Is the only thing I need to do here is to get them rebalanced?

Secondly:
My exhaust is clearly blowing. It is a standard exhaust and I want a standard one as the replacement. I intend to go to Kwikfit for them to tell me what the issue is. I stuck my head under the car but cannot exactly pinpoint where it is blowing. I am 99% sure it is not from the front half of the exhaust.
Any pointers here?

Thanks!
 
Hey all.
The car is a 2000 Micra 1.0 (00-03 model where the exhaust is hidden under the bumper rather than pokes through it).

Firstly:
I put new tyres are on the car a fair few years ago. The tread on the fronts are much lower than the back (all new at same time) - Is swapping them over around 2/3 of the way through their life a bad idea? This way I could get a new set of 4 when at once in a year or so. My tyres are expensive as they are some stupid low profile size (they are standard Nissan steelies!). Would I need the wheels to get alligned if I do the front-rear swap?
Is the only thing I need to do here is to get them rebalanced?

Secondly:
My exhaust is clearly blowing. It is a standard exhaust and I want a standard one as the replacement. I intend to go to Kwikfit for them to tell me what the issue is. I stuck my head under the car but cannot exactly pinpoint where it is blowing. I am 99% sure it is not from the front half of the exhaust.
Any pointers here?

Thanks!
You should rotate wheels as a standard part of car maintanence, as long as all 4 are balanced there is no further work to do, just swap them, also when swapping, put say the front drivers onto the rear passenger so all parts of the tread wear evenly.

For the exhaust try 1st thing in the morning when its cold, may actually see where its leaking then.

Tire rotation incase i didnt type it too whell :)

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=43
 

Guy

Has gone over to the oily side...
Club Member
Tyre rotation is recommended but I personally hate it - just means forking out for 4 tyres at a time, makes it harder to budget :mad: :).
 
Thanks for the replies so far!

I do very few miles and my tyres were from Kwikfit in 2006 but the tyres have no signs of perishing or cracking so I will continue to use them.
Will Kwikfit have done any balancing? Are the wheels balacing individually? Can I literally swap the fronts with the backs without getting anything done to the wheels?

I will have a look at the exhaust sometime very soon.
 

Guy

Has gone over to the oily side...
Club Member
Wheels are individually balanced so it's a straight case of swapping front to back :).
 
OK thanks for that!
How much am I looking for a new exhaust and where should I get one from? I may fit it myself (if that is possible on a driveway or by putting car up on small ramps).
 

Guy

Has gone over to the oily side...
Club Member
eBay's a good bet if you're after a good generic K11 exhaust. One thing you can guarantee is that Nissan will seriously pull your pants down for a genuine replacement :confused: .
 

pollyp

Club Member
if the tyres are unidirectional (work in both ways and doesn't have some V grooves in em) you can swap em diagonally.
if they're directional or have V-grooves you can only swap em front to back to keep the same direction, unless ya wanna get a garage to swap the actual tyres over left to right for afew quid which isn't worth it.

to check where exhaust is blowing get someone to block off the end pipe with their hand to increase pressure while you listen along the system to locate the leak

i brought new silencer from local motorfactors like Partco, middle & front pipes from ebay all for few quid

note if its never been touched for few yrs and badly corroded, the nuts will prob be seized and may need grinding off
 

frank

Club Member
thats the system for the coilpack type facelift, which only has 1 cat (attached to the manifold)
is yours is definately the later coilpack type ?
 
Yeah it is a late 2000 model and is the Micra S. The spark plugs have the square coil packs on top of them, plus the exhaust top points at the floor and is hidden under the bumper rather than poking through it like on the earlier K11 Micras/
 
I see what you mean now. The middle box on the exhaust is not the cat.

Am I right in saying the entire exhaust looks like the ebay link I gave? I rang Nissan and they were on about a 3 piece exhaust - The middle and rear but also a front pipe?!
 
I took it to a garage for a quote and they let me look under the car whilst it was lifted up in the air.

I need a new mid and rear section for sure. However, the front-mid section of the exhaust are so rusted together than I think damage will occur. The front section for the part alone is about £45+vat but I would rather a full exhaust rather than replacing the middle and rear now, only for the front to go in 6-12 months time.

The best quote I have had is £142+vat, which seams reasonable as parts alone are about £100+vat.

Can anyone confirm this is OK before I go ahead and get the work done?
 
could you not do the job yourself? i begrudge handing out cash,so i always try to do the job myself first.worth a try and could save a fair whack too.
 
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