exhaust noise????

wijcc · 2 Jan 2007 at 09:54

The exhaust on my car has become a lot louder recently, is it that bad? What could have/be caused this? The car has a catalytic converter. The car in question is a mits. carisma 1.6. The car is due for its MOT in 2 weeks time could this cause the car to fail? Other than the louder exhaust noise it seems to be running fine.
Thanks in advance guys

paradigm · 2 Jan 2007 at 10:06

Probably has a hole in it somewhere.

Solaris · 2 Jan 2007 at 10:09

Or 2 bits have become disjoined slightly...

My car got louder a few days before the backbox fell off....thaugt it was a hole and would need to replace the whole thing when i only needed to get 2 bits joined back together...

wijcc · 2 Jan 2007 at 10:11

that won't cause it to fail the MOT will it?

Dogbreath · 2 Jan 2007 at 10:13

wijcc said:
that won't cause it to fail the MOT will it?

Any major leaks in the exhaust system will cause an MOT failure.

Solaris · 2 Jan 2007 at 10:17

Yer man....you got to get it fixed....either properly....of with filler

wijcc · 2 Jan 2007 at 10:20

apart from sticking my head under the car and checking for holes.. how do i look (know) for "disjoined" bits?
Thanks guys, the worst time of year for cars problems, still recovering from all the xmas pressie buying

Dogbreath · 2 Jan 2007 at 10:23

wijcc said:
apart from sticking my head under the car and checking for holes.. how do i look (know) for "disjoined" bits?

That is the only way you can find them, though obvioulsy easier for a garage to do this with the car on a ramp.

One tip is to put your hand over the end of the tail pipe with the engine running, this will make any leaks much more obvious as more exhaust gasses will be forced out of them.

Ladforce · 2 Jan 2007 at 10:46

Dogbreath said:
That is the only way you can find them, though obvioulsy easier for a garage to do this with the car on a ramp.

One tip is to put your hand over the end of the tail pipe with the engine running, this will make any leaks much more obvious as more exhaust gasses will be forced out of them.

Isnt exhaust gas pretty hot?

wijcc · 2 Jan 2007 at 10:49

think I'll use a piece of cloth or something to block the exhuast rather than my hand

Dogbreath · 2 Jan 2007 at 12:13

No, by the time it's reached the tail pipe with a cold engine it's quite cool, certainly not hot enough to burn. However, the tail pipe does get quite hot if you have been thrashing the car...

wijcc · 2 Jan 2007 at 16:44

is there any way to check the top side of the exhaust without taking the exhuast pipe off?
Thanks

Enfield · 2 Jan 2007 at 16:57

wijcc said:
is there any way to check the top side of the exhaust without taking the exhuast pipe off?
Thanks

Put your hand above it and feel for air...obviously do this when the engine is cold.

Doonhamer · 2 Jan 2007 at 17:01

Why not just take it into your nearest Tyre and Exhaust place? They will check it for free, it will take five minutes to do and with it being on the ramp they will be able to give it a better check than you are likely to ever manage.

wijcc · 2 Jan 2007 at 20:30

Doonhamer said:
Why not just take it into your nearest Tyre and Exhaust place? They will check it for free, it will take five minutes to do and with it being on the ramp they will be able to give it a better check than you are likely to ever manage.

Are you talking about places like kwikfit?

Doonhamer · 2 Jan 2007 at 20:57

If you want, I always use a local independent place as I feel they offer better customer service as word of mouth is worth a lot more to them than somewhere like kwik fit or ATS.

If you don't know anywhere you feel is suitable ask friends and work mates where they go/recommend.

Dogbreath · 2 Jan 2007 at 21:11

Doonhamer said:
Why not just take it into your nearest Tyre and Exhaust place?

Because he will probably be persuaded that he needs new disks, pads and shocks as well as a complete new exhaust...

wijcc · 2 Jan 2007 at 22:48

Thanks, anyone know of a good independent tyre and exhuast place in ealing west london?

SteveB_NI · 3 Jan 2007 at 03:20

Sorry for hi-jacking this thread but I've noticed an increase in noise also recently...

(car - Peugeot 106 has done just over 40k miles)

In summer I had to get the connection to the exhaust system at the front of the car welded back on due to a broken connection. A few months ago the front end of the mid-section pipe became disconnected and also had to be welded. The week later, the opposite end became disconnected, and this time I had the entire mid-section pipe replaced (£70 inc. labour).

Now the back box has never been replaced - until recently it was fine, then I started hearing a louder than usual noise when accelerating. I got a different garage to put the car up on the ramps today and they said it was just an old back box starting to disintegrate inside - causing louder than usual noises at times.

I'm debating whether to bite the bullet and get a new back box put on - would this disintegration of the back box affect accelerating speeds by any chance?

wijcc · 3 Jan 2007 at 14:07

how easy or hard of a job is it to change the middle and back part of the exhuast yourself? Mine has corroded and broken off.
Thanks guys