I have a Ti exhaust with something rattling around inside the muffler (right/passenger side). The exhaust is now off the car and when I shake the muffler, it can be heard clunking around in the end chamber - see the pic below.
(Pic is from this thread: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...6-muffler.html).



As captioned on the pic, could the loose item be that piece of tubing? The item is something small that can be shifted around inside, not likely one of the baffles. What else could have gotten in there?

Then, the question becomes is it possible to fix it? Can I cut into the muffler (with a hole saw?) to remove the item and then somehow patch that hole? I know welding titanium is difficult/expensive so could some sort of muffler patch be used with steel or stainless steel cover plates?

I've already put another Ti exhaust on the car so don't need this one for my car, but I'd like to be able to repair it and sell it or keep it for possible future use or squirrel it away for the day when old Z06s are being restored and everyone is looking for stock parts.

K9Leader
Red cars are faster.

 

Its most likely a piece of melted CAT matrix. It got in there thru the inlet pipe so,,,,, it can get out. If you use the cut away, you see how you can hold it and shake it to get what ever it is to have a good chance of dropping into the hole for the inlet pipe.

 

Thanks, Bill. You are, as usual, the font of all knowledge on the forum. Now I will go treat my neighbors to the sight of me appearing to be dancing with a car exhaust.

K9Leader

 

Okay, I've been out dancing and shaking my noisy exhaust for the better part of an hour and no luck. I even rigged up a system to hold it in the air so I could shake it. This is like those little games where you have to get the little silver ***** to go through the holes in the maze, except that here you can't see the ***** or the holes.



I think that if I could just get a flexible pick-up tool in there I might be able to grab it and pull it out but not possible if I have to go all the way through the axle pipe to do so. So I go back to questioning why can't the axle pipe be cut from the muffler and then clamped back together with an internal 2.5 - 3 inch long coupler/sleeve? Not in the pic below the inch-wide flat section at that connection point, just wide enough for two clamps. Would such a clamped connection be too fragile and vibrate apart? Would it not seal tightly enough? Is the overlap too shallow to hold?

I do not have the knowledge to know why this would not work, but it seems as though no one has tried it. So, those who know,what are the devils in the details? If it worked, it would (I hope) solve my problem and make these exhausts easier/cheaper to ship and install.





K9Leader

 

Well,,,,,,,,,, If it were me,, I would beg, borrow or purchase (another worthy cause to increace toolage) a fiber optic viewer and snake it down the inlet pipe and see what it really is. That might give you an advantage on figuring out what you relly need to do to get it out.

If you live near a Harbor Freight, they have them and their pretty inexpensive.

Bad part for me is I find an inexpensive one and see it big brother and end up spending the extra dollar for the go fast one!


If you CUT Ti, it has to be re welded with a special process or it burns up the metal. Most major welding repair shops can handle that process.

Bill

 

I noticed both sides rattling a bit when moving my stock exhaust up to the attic. What's weird is that neither ever made any unusual noise while they were on the car.

 

Yes, as I stood there shaking my muffler (that doesn't sound good) I thought that it would be great to have an optical scope so I could see inside and get a better idea of what I was dealing with. Maybe I can check with some friends to see if anyone has one.

I noticed something today with the replacement exhaust (another Ti) that I put on. The first one - the noisy Ti - gave me a bit of drone at about 1400-1500 RPMs - not bad but noticeable. The replacement does not do this - no noticeable change/interruption in the tone. So, whatever is inside the noisy Ti may have been causing the drone.

Anyway, the drone and the rattling on startup and shutdown is gone, although the chromed tips on the new exhaust are not as shiny and clean as the old one (yes, I cleaned and polished them). Oh well, you can't have everything - where would you put it?

K9Leader

 

Did you try hooking up a shop vacuum to the pipe while you shake the Ti?

 

Can you even hear it while they are on the car? Bit compulsive Lol. I had something in mine once. It was part of a piston.

 

Yes, it was very noticeable at shutdown - there would be a loud metallic clank when the muffler stopped vibrating. And, now that I've heard a system without the the loose object on the car, I realize that the "drone" I was getting at 1400-1500 was probably the loose object.

K9Leader

 

Ever try to get water out of a dismounted tire???

Same problem, the lip in the inlet to the chamber is going to try to keep the nugget from going and out the inlet tube. Unless the lip is gone you aren't very likely to shake it randomly and have the chunk magically drop into the hole.

You might try a small (like 1") hose attached to a vacuum, and when it hits the chunk the chunk will (hopefully) stick to it and let you get it out. You will know when it gets caught by the hose since it won't rattle. This approach lets you work with the tubes up in the air and the chunk at the bottom of the muffler when it is in that orientation.

One other thing you could do is use some sand to basically fill the chamber with sand with the chunk located below or in the general vicinity of the inlet tube.

Then when you turn it upright the sand will drain out and bring the chunk with it. I would put the muffler with the tubes at the top and get the chunk into the corner near the inlet tube, add sand, and the turn the whole thing straight up with the tubes at the bottom, but be careful how you turn it, you don't want the sand (and the chunk) to shift to the other side of the muffler, so flip it quickly, rotating along an axis that keeps the chunk and the sand near where it was. As the sand drains out the chunk should come with it if you are lucky.

After you get the chunk out you can use a small hose, put the muffler with the tubes at the top and vacuum out the sand.

No matter how you try it's not any fun, but short of cutting a hole in the muffler I don't see too many ways to do it.

 

That clamp in the spot you showed isn't going to work, and if you cut a pipe off you will probably be in the same boat. You will probably have to cut open the muffler itself then find someone to weld titanium. Prob 200$ minimum. Or just buy a whole new set for 400

 

I already have a new set on the car. I'm just trying to figure out how to make this set usable again without spending a lot on welding.

For now, I've put it up on a shelf in the garage and will continue to ponder on it. Maybe I will wake up in the middle of the night with a brilliant solution. Or not.

K9Leader

 

Defiantly try to get a look inside.. might be something in the muffler that came loose.

short of cutting a couple spots on the top (Easily hidden when on car) in the shape of a "L" and peeling it up a little to empty out what is in there you are not going to have much success. if you do 2 straight cuts and peel it back a little, you can allways have it pushed back into place and TIG welded back shut. again if its done on the top it will never be visable and make the sale a little easier.. No plugs, no drilling just a couple small straight welds to seal it back up.

If welding is going to be too expencive then sell them as is and let jut advertise that they have a small rattle in one of them inside.