Exhaust Sound Fluxuations...

[DarkStar]

Well, during the exhaust install which went over a few months as I pieced it together one at a time, I noticed something similar. Sound changes. It seems like it would get louder or quieter. But nothing like this. And while I would like to entertain that it's just in my head, idk. I remember how my car sounded. Everyone thought my car sounded like a damn race car before the damage to the flex pipe. People have claimed to hear me coming from a mile away. Now I can hardly tell the car is running... A little exaggeration but still. It's vastly quieter than it was. I even have video and sound clips I can provide tomorrow with an updated sound clip driving the same. It's quiet. Tho sounds just fantastic.

And no, I didn't do anything different. Truthfully I cut out the damaged part of the flex pipe which made it shorter by say 3 to 4in on the passenger side muffler.

Main reason I ask is because I know certain things change exhaust note. Say car running, I pull the oil cap, entire sound changes and gets deeper and louder with almost no RPM change. I just dunno if something else broke during the time I had to suffer the blown exhaust pipe.

Originally Posted by thstone

First, crap welding and fiberglass being blown all over the back of the car is normal with these inexpensive cat back mufflers. Luckily, the fiberglass phase doesn't last long.

In regards to the sound, I am hard pressed to think of something you may have done during the repair of the flex section that would result in a restriction so severe that the sound would be severely muffled. I mean, its just pipe connected to pipe, so it should be fairly obvious if you did something wrong. Again, I am assuming that you either repaired or replaced the damaged flex pipe. Nothing else changed, right?

If so, then my first thought is that you got used to the unmuffled sound (which is L-O-U-D). Now that its muffled again, it may sound that much quieter because you're comparing it to what was basically an open exhaust.

Another explanation is that previously you had an exhaust leak where the flex section mates to the rigid components and that leak was causing additional sound but was (inadvertently) fixed when you replaced/repaired the damaged flex section; so now it sounds quieter because it is quieter. I had this exact situation when I didn't get one of the connections between the test pipe and the u-pipe to seal properly.