I was looking up parts for my 89 300TE and just noticed there are two different exhaust seal rings, one for the left and a different one for the right.
Is this correct and if so what is the reasoning behind this?

I have had a slight leak so I crawled under to check and one of the exhaust flanges was crack and it appears that the same seal ring (the solid one) is used on both sides.....Could this be the reason it is cracked?

I also need a flange now but I cannot find the one I need....there are two halves, one that is threaded that you turn the bolt into and the other that is not threaded and has a slightly larger hole so the bolt will easily slide through.
I believe it is the non-threaded side that I need (I will double check today)....any ideas on where to get one?

The none threaded flange ought to be available from the dealer.
Isn't there just one seal on the 300 front exhaust to centre exhaust joint? One pipe joint has a compressable fibre ring seal and the other joint is just coated in assembly cement, assuming that you have the 300 engine and not the 300 24.

I have the 300 12.

It would also help if I posted a link to show what PeachParts FastLane shows.

http://catalog.peachparts.com/ShopByVehicle.epc?q=1989-Mercedes--Benz-300te-Exhaust&yearid=1989%40%401989&makeid=63%40%40MERCEDES+BENZ%40%40X&modelid=6241%3AED|10000013%3AMBC|1521%40%40300TE&catid=241035%40%40Exhaust&subcatid=241061@@Exhaust+Seal+Ring&mode=PD

the pipe with the woven flat ring is a slip joint - one pipe fits inside the other. the pipes with the sintered ring seal is a flared butt joint. depending on who's worked on the car over time i'd say it's common for these joints to be messed up. lots of shops will weld around these joints, cut the pipes, and otherwise change the way the factory made the connections in this spot. for sure the two pipes use different seals as the parts catalogue calls for.

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punkinfair

Thankyou for the link. The second seal in the link is a standard metal exhaust ring that I had forgotten about: It sits between the two pipe ends.

Thanks for the answers on this.

I was getting my wagon inspected and when they were setting it up for the emissions test that guy there came up, mentioned the leak, and offered to fix it.....I assumed (bad I know) that he meant welding it but I stopped him before he said anything else and told him to run it the way it was and if failed we would figure something out.
The wagon passed without a hitch and the leak is very small, but it gets really annoying when everything else on that car is so darn quiet.