Miasma

I just spent some quality time with the nice guyz at midas, under my car.

Background: Put new muffler on, no prob. Put Budget Y on, get this weird rattle after reving up to 4k+ RPM and letting RPM drop. Sounds like loose catalyst or something. We had a guy reving while we were under the car.

It is NOT:
Exhaust leak
Hanger banging
Heatshield
Loose Catalyst

We separated the Y from the cat, and they were nice enough to retap my rusted studs and give me new bolts for free. The only thing i changed, is a new crush gasket. Now my exhaust note is higher and I sound ricier. I think that may go away as the new gasket burns away around the edges, I think it covered a small bit of the exhaust hole. Also, it seems that i have lost a little low end power. I am not worried about these, just that the rattle will not go away.

From under the car no one could tell if the sound was from the cat or resonator, but it seems like it is coming from inside the piping.

Are budget pipes MIG or TIG welded, if it is MIG, then some of the welding material may have gotten loose in the y pipe and it is either vibrating, or broke off and went back to the cat or resonator.

The cat mesh looked in good condition though.

I give up.

The only other thing i can think to do is disconnect the y pipe from the cat and run it like that to see if the sound is still there. then if it is not, attach the cat but not the b pipe, etc.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP! ANY IDEAS ARE MORE THAN WELCOME!

Sin

Use an engine stethoscope and apply it to various parts of the exhaust while you tap the exhaust with something soft, i.e. your knuckles, a rubber mallet, a plastic mallet, etc. Keep doing this till you localize the sound.

1MAX2NV

iTrader: (5)

That's what aftermarket y-pipe suppose to sound like....bees in the can sound. You wasted your time and the midas guy's time

Dave B

Y-pipe and aftermarket straight-thru muffler = nasty metaliac sound. You can't fix it unless you put on your stock muffler. Believe me, I use to have it. It has a "tinny" vibrating metal in the pipe sound doesn't it? Get use to it. The same sound comes thru if you don't use a resonated B-pipe and still run the stock muffler. This nasty sound is much of the reason I went back to the stock B-pipe and a 2K1 muffler.


Dave

Sin

Hmm . . . So if I were to go with the Budget y to go with either the OBX (which is resonated) or the Budget b (resonated), do you think I'd have "bees in the can"?

Miasma

this is not something that i would call bees in a can.

but on another note, i tried running the car with only the y pipe hooked up, nothing else... OMFG the engine is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO loud!!! i expected it to be loud, just not like top fuel dragster loud. anyway, i heard the noise even then.

and while working on it, the stud that was rethreaded stripped and now i have a HUGE exhaust leak . I will take it back to midas in the morning, i think they will be nice or charge me very little to put a new stud in.

so, i will keep trying, i will look at the front y pipe connection after i get a new set of crush rings, but if it will not go away, then oh well, i guess there is nothing i can do.

thanks for all the help.

has anyone ever tried a resonator on the y pipe? like a short 10" or something?

SLC98Max

I have a 98 with a budget Y pipe and stock exhaust. I have the EXACT same noise when I let off the throttle at around 3000-4000 rpm. It must be something with the budget Y pipes. Warpseed claims that most budget Y pipes make that noise and that the warpseed Y pipes don't make that noise. If you find a solution let us know.

Miasma

so, is this 'bees in a can' or something else? i will talk to the mechanic tomorrow morning about what the cost of a resonator in the y-pipe would be. otherwise, i hvae no idea what to do. i certainly dont think that this is the flex section, but who knows. I doubt WS vs. Budget is the issue. oh well, guess I am SOL, at least for tonight.

ericdwong

I had this problem before. I wonder why this is, it makes the car sound like absolute crap. However, most v8s or even 4 cyl civics with straight thrus fail to have this crappy metallic noise......

Dev

iTrader: (5)

i suggest you get the resonator put on the bpipe, not the ypipe.

Miasma

umm, i am not sure about your stock b-pipe, but mine does have a resonator...

Miasma

are the new long budget flex sections lined?

JetBlackMax

iTrader: (12)

shouldve went warpspeed

But yeah, I now what sound your talking about. That didnt occur when I got my Warp Y pipe installed. I had it on for monthts witha straight thru muffler and didnt hear anything like that. But I DID hear the sound when I got my Custom b pipe w/o Resonater. Its not loud though, its low, that vibration sound. And its only like that for a tad bit then stops. But IM happy, B pipe made my Exhaust real loud like nice Deep Bass loud and not Ricy at all. I love it

Nick

Miasma

i dont think this is a budget vs. warpspeed. the sound is not 'low' and it does not stop. i have searched and searched, i have yet to hear anyone else describe anythinhg that is exactly like what i have. i think i will get new gaskets and crush rings and try reinstalling the y pipe this weekend.

Miasma

UPDATE!!!

I had the stripped stud drilled out this morning. They put a bolt in instead, so i know that it may not be as strong. However, when I drove it off, the noise was SIGNIFICANTLY better! I dont want to jinx it, I have a gut feeling it will show its ugly head again. BUT... at WOT I had NO bees in a can sound like I used to, and the rattle was all but gone, I am amazed. If this was the prob, then i bet my old rusted stud was not letting the y pipe clamp down all the way on the cat and there was an exhaust leak under high pressure (causing bees) and some rattling of the y pipe into the cat causing the ratling. It just seems wierd since it sure looked like the joint was solid before. Oh well, I guess I will not ask why. I will go take a break from work after the car cools down again to see if it stays better.

SLC98Max

I have the exact same noise with my Y pipe. You said the sound was fixed when you replaced a stud connecting your Y pipe to your cat. I am going to try to replace the gasket and see if that fixes it. BTW do you have a stock cat or aftermarket?

Miasma

i have stock cat.

the noise is not totally gone, but much better. i went to go get another gasket for the cat\y connection, and nissan wanted $12, *** dat. it definitly seems to be related to that joint though.