It creeped up and now it's driving me crazy, it sounds like rusty Honda.

Any pointers on doing the exhaust? Should I replace what is rotted or just do them all.

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1998 Ford Escort ZX2 5 speed - 279,000 miles My Daily

1992 Mercedes 300D 2.5 202,000 - Pure junk
2000 Mercedes E320 Black - 136,000 miles - Needs repair

Don't forget to grease the screw and threads on the spring compressor.

Replace all the hangers Donuts and muffler if it’s rusty. Or straight pipe it. They sound awesome. Ask me how I know.

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Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

A straight piped NA OM606 would be ear splitting loud and it wouldsound pretty good I'd bet. I'd do it for a limited time just to see what it's like.

Alright, I'll double check to make sure rust hasn't destroyed any mounting points.

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1998 Ford Escort ZX2 5 speed - 279,000 miles My Daily

1992 Mercedes 300D 2.5 202,000 - Pure junk
2000 Mercedes E320 Black - 136,000 miles - Needs repair

Don't forget to grease the screw and threads on the spring compressor.

check heat-shields

the thin sheet metal rusts out around the fastener

a larger fender washer does the trick

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1991 300D

Never thought of that, I'll keep that in mind.

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1998 Ford Escort ZX2 5 speed - 279,000 miles My Daily

1992 Mercedes 300D 2.5 202,000 - Pure junk
2000 Mercedes E320 Black - 136,000 miles - Needs repair

Don't forget to grease the screw and threads on the spring compressor.

As another poster mentioned, the heat shield would be a prime suspect. Another possibility can be one of the baffles inside the muffler or catalytic converter if so equipped may have broken loose.

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96 E300d

Gearbox to exhaust steady bracket loose