I'm in the middle of a who-dun-it battle between the local Chrysler dealer and the muffler shop that did the resonator delete on my SRT6. The case:

My driver side rubber CV boot has torn apart along one of the edges that allows it to expand. There are clear signs of melting on the rubber CV boot, which leads me to believe that somewhere between the welding torch and the exhaust gas, the rubber boot melted to the point where it was weak enough to break. Also, when I checked the exhaust for leaks after finding the tear in the CV boot, there was a definite leak coming out of the weld joint where they installed the straight pipe in place of the resonator. This leak just so happened to be directly under the CV boot.

So the dealer is claiming that he will not replace the boot for free, since the escaping exhaust gas from the pipe leak caused the boot to weaken and tear. The muffler shop dude says the exhaust gas temp would not be nearly high enough to melt the rubber boot, since the catalytic converters reduce the heat at the headers.

Now, to prove who should pay for the damage--either the dealer or the muffler shop--the guy at the muffler shop is going to drill a hole in the pipe he installed (right before the muffler), wrap a piece of rubber or plastic around the hole, and have me drive for 20 minutes on the highway. When I return from the drive, if there is a hole in the rubber/ plastic from the heat of the escaping exhaust gas, then he will pay the $400 for the repair. If no hole, then I'm screwed and will have to either pay it myself or convince the dealer that the CV boot busted on its own.

If you have ANY experience or knowledge regarding exhaust gas temperatures, please reply with who you think will win this battle. I've heard that exhaust gas temps are around 1300 degrees F at the headers, but reduce to 400 or 500F after the Catalytic converters..

So what do you think?