When you find yourself receiving angry glances from people while you're driving in town, take it as a telltale sign that you are indeed having some muffler trouble. The noise your car is making is not a part of your imagination. Actually, the faster you accept the truth that you need to have a muffler repair, the sooner you could get the problem fixed. If you continue to procrastinate it, you'll end up in an auto shop with a considerable bill for the muffler repair service.
Before anything else, what are the warnings that you are in need of a muffler repair? Your car may be making a lot of noises but not every squeak, squeal, and screech calls out for a muffler repair. How can you be sure that the sound means muffler trouble?
Once you've heard a rumble coming from your sedan, read this as a low-pitched rhythmic sound, then chances are you have a malfunctioning muffler, converter, or exhaust pipe. If what you're hearing is a clunk, which is a random thumping sound, then what you have is a loose muffler or exhaust pipe. Like what my math teacher told me, identifying the problem is half of the solution. After knowing just what it is that's making your car so noisy, then we can begin the muffler repair.
The problem is a loose muffler or exhaust pipe.
Don't even think about muffler repair on a still hot muffler. When you just finish driving the car, leave it for around an hour. That will be enough time for the engine and all the other auto parts to cool down. After drinking a glass of iced tea and enjoying a little conversation with your friend over the phone, you and your car are ready for some muffler repair.
Lift up the car and carefully secure it on jackstands so that you can go underneath and start some damage control. The exhaust pipe is likely to be found about two feet behind the engine pointing toward the rear of the car. If you are looking at the right place, then you will be able to see a thin metal shield right in the middle of the exhaust pipe and the car floor. If you still can't find it, it is approximately under the car seats. With all those clues, I'm sure you already have an idea where it is.
Now that you have the metal shield in your line of vision, do everything possible to make it rattle. Poke, prod, push, pull, by all means, do what you can so that you will be able to hear the same thumping sound your car is making when you drive. You may be asking yourself why you have to make it rattle. Well, you want to be 100% sure that all you have is a loose muffler or exhaust pipe. Otherwise, the solution I have here will not do you any good.
If there is no rattling sound even after you did your best to produce the same sound, don't smile yet. Cover all your bases. Start the car engine. I want to make the next statement as clear as possible. Do not go back underneath the car while the engine is running unless you like the idea of pain inflicted in your own skin. Rather than going under the car, simply lean your head down and listen attentively to distinguish where the clunking sound is coming from.
If the source of the noise is the heat shield, all you have to do now is to tighten it up. Turn off the engine first then go underneath the car. With your good old screwdriver, tighten all the bolts connected to the heat shield and I mean, every single bolt. While you are already down there, check if the heat shield has been twisted or curved. You can fix a bent heat shield through a pair of pliers or a screwdriver. Pull the heat shield away from the spot where it makes contact with the exhaust pipe.
That's it. Just by tightening the bolts, you can avoid the hassle and the cost of going to a car care center for a muffler repair. You can now drive in style and in silence.
