change in exhaust tone
09-30-2014, 08:39 PM
#1
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change in exhaust tone Bare with me im on my phone posting this. Im sorry i didnt just search this issue also due to being on a phone. Anyway problem at hand is kinda difficult to explain. But my 04 V's exhaust seemed to have changed exhaust notes over the course of the day. I have a magnaflow cat back on it with tru x, xpipe stock headers, stock cats. Its always had a very smooth tone to it. Deep smooth rumble. But today it started turning more into a deep basey throaty type sound. I dont like it. Its noticebly louder. I dont know why it has done this. The exhust is rattling about somewhere. Cant pin point it yet. The cats have been smelling like sulfur every now an then. Idk if they are breaking apart. Or my mufflers are breaking up? There is also no loss of power that i notice. Any theroys would be very helpful. Please? Ill check back on this a bit later.
09-30-2014, 09:29 PM
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Im definatly going to look under it. Its kinda worrying me how much the tone of the exhaust changed. I dont like it lol hopefully its just loose an coming from where the cats bolt to the cat back but we will see. Please keep the other possibilities coming i could use other theorys ill try them all
09-30-2014, 10:09 PM
#6
If your exhaust smell has changed, then you either have a pre-cat leak or the cats are going bad. Mufflers can't change the smell, so whatever the problem is, it's pre-cat. You need to get under there with the car running and feel around for exhaust leaking out of the manifolds or cat pipes.
09-30-2014, 10:41 PM
#7
I've had what I believe to be a unique issue lately with my setup that lead to similar results.
Disclaimer: First I'd check to make sure everything is still bolted up tight at the connection to the cat-back.
Once you've ruled all of the obvious connection point issues that would cause a leak (should sound like a flutter when you rev/drive it, especially noticeable when next to a wall or other vehicle where the sound bounces back).
My issue is that the weld at the top of the cat has given up on the drivers side of my car. Car got louder, can hear a bit of a leak, but nothing visual under the car to give it away. I figured it out when I could put pressure under one side of the cat-back near the cat connection and could move the whole side up/down just a bit...the top side of the cat was essentially telescoping in on itself an 1/8th-1/4 of an inch. I definitely started to get that good 'off-road' smell the worse it got. I think scraping the exhaust over speed bumps/driveways fatigued the weld by putting vertical pressure on the whole exhaust system and eventually broke it above the cat in the engine bay.
This is just another thing to check once you run through all of the typical, and more-likely, issues. FYI I had it rewelded and it just gave up a week or two later so I have a set of stainless headers sitting in front of me on the floor at the moment
Disclaimer: First I'd check to make sure everything is still bolted up tight at the connection to the cat-back.
Once you've ruled all of the obvious connection point issues that would cause a leak (should sound like a flutter when you rev/drive it, especially noticeable when next to a wall or other vehicle where the sound bounces back).
My issue is that the weld at the top of the cat has given up on the drivers side of my car. Car got louder, can hear a bit of a leak, but nothing visual under the car to give it away. I figured it out when I could put pressure under one side of the cat-back near the cat connection and could move the whole side up/down just a bit...the top side of the cat was essentially telescoping in on itself an 1/8th-1/4 of an inch. I definitely started to get that good 'off-road' smell the worse it got. I think scraping the exhaust over speed bumps/driveways fatigued the weld by putting vertical pressure on the whole exhaust system and eventually broke it above the cat in the engine bay.
This is just another thing to check once you run through all of the typical, and more-likely, issues. FYI I had it rewelded and it just gave up a week or two later so I have a set of stainless headers sitting in front of me on the floor at the moment
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10-01-2014, 02:24 AM
#8
I'd do a quick visual and shake test on the exhaust underneath and see if something is obviously broken also check the manifolds to the heads. Pretty common for these cars to have broken bolts to the heads with factory manifolds. I know i had a couple when i went to install my long tubes.... If you don't see any thing put it in the air and start it cold and look for any condensation dripping from the system
10-01-2014, 02:48 PM
#10
FYI, if it is the cats, these guys told me they are bringing back the bolt-in highflow ones:
http://www.mandrelexhaustsystems.com/
I guess they stopped making them for a while but I have the magnaflow ones and needed a new rear gasket/donut and had a conversation with them last month.
http://www.mandrelexhaustsystems.com/
I guess they stopped making them for a while but I have the magnaflow ones and needed a new rear gasket/donut and had a conversation with them last month.