MMMM rusted muffler.

*******it, the 20 buck job the midas guys did... It did not work.

My exhaust is rattling away again. GRRRR!

Steve, how do you get those damnned heat shields off again?

 

remove the muffler and the bpipe to access the bolts holding on the heat shields....are u sure it's the heat shields? Did you try wiggling the muffler up and down & side to side to check if theres any unusual noise? Remember, if it's dead quiet then removing the heat shield won't solve your problem...but if u hear a grinding noise as your wiggling the muffler..then it's definitely your heat shield...I just want u to confirm that its the heat shields by doing this procedure....cuz I don't want cha to go down there and take em off, only to find out it didn't fix the problemm...anyway let me know if u need any more help...

oh yeah Rbrown....check out my new exhaust video...it's in my signature...tell me what u think?

 

i know you guys want to hold back, but i am going to agree with MadMaxNH....i went ahead and caved in to get the nismo exhaust hangers from courtesy nissan (cheapest online purchase @ 14.87 each) and put them on yesterday. they were a PITA to put on due to rain and just lack of space, but when i say that i don't think i have worse rattle than anyone, i mean it. i would drive down a block and just for turning or simply just driving, my car would make the most god awful clanking noise. it wasn't even a rub, its just a bang here and a bang there.

well the good thing about the way the exhaust hangers are set is that when put on, they sit at a 45 degree angle. if this makes sense, imagine pulling an object from both ends and holding it still. since there is pressure from both sides, the chances of it moving are slim to none. the hangers are about 1" shorter than the OEM ones, and they are tough. they also dont' have the holes and spacing that the OEM ones have. i bought 3 for the exhaust only. didn't feel a need for the one by the b-pipe.

and since i just put it on yesterday, my test was taking it to work, as i have a number of bumps that embarass me on my morning trip. it was the most beautiful sound....nothing at all could be heard. i even took a tight turn by a common clanking area and it didn't even shift.

i remember taking the oem one's off and seeing how flimsy they were. it's embarassing how weak they are. i know you may not want to fork over the $50 for stiff hangers, but when i say they are a great investment, they are. i've already emailed Dave B the part no. since southpoint nissan doens't sell them so now hopefully he'll be able to stock them and if he does, we may get a cheaper seller. anywho, i've also heard that NAPA sells some stiffer ones, but i dont' have a napa near me, so i just gave in with nismo. if anything, it can only guarantee you won't hear the noise ever again.

 

Well I have a NAPA right by my house. I might give them a shot... but then again, the Nismo ones sound good. Question is, should I wait? Is there a big difference between them?
How much of a pain in the A$$ was it to put on? I have ramps, and jackstands... but I cant get the car up too high, plus its been raining all week too.

And yes PoLo... I get embarrassed on my morning commute to

What type of exhaust do you have Polo?

 

well i had the crimps around the hangers as well and i could just not get them to stay fit correctly. this made my job alot easier.

it's easy to do, just a bit time consuming cause you're on your back and putting these on while holding onto the weight of the exhaust. my suggestion is to push the hanger in at the same time into both holes. if you put it on the car, it's a PITA to twist it onto the exhaust. same time makes it a lot easier.

i have a frankencar. pictures here.....

http://polo.lxanyc.com/2002MaximaSE/Exhaust/FrankenCar/

 

You know... Im even thinking about swapping out the Cattman exhaust for a frankencar...

It looks very nice.

 

Its a great exhaust.... I went from Frankencar to Cattman and I do miss it sometimes.... keyword: sometimes

 

Haha.... Somtimes eh?

I miss my stock exhaust when Im driving past police officers.... who look cranky.

 

i dont know if there is a heat sheild over the cat on maximas, but on my old camry, one of the bolts broke off, and the cat would hit it and make a noise. i broke it off, and the noise stopped. check the entire lenth of your exhaust to make sure there are no other heat sheilds that are banging on it.

 

I shall try once it stops friggin raining!

Problem is, its tough to get under the middle, My ramps dont put the car up high enough

 

put some pieces of wood under the rear of the ramp...it helped me alot....look at picture....

http://polo.lxanyc.com/2002MaximaSE/...r/DSC05371.JPG

 

Update: Day2 with the hangers and i must say i am extremely happy now. i've dealt with these noises for at least a year now and it drove me insane. but now, i dont' hear anythying. those hangers really do their job of holding onto the exhaust. i know, it's crazy to spend ~15 PER hanger, but i saw that i had no other choice. last nite i was all over NYC, from queens to lower manhattan, by the villiage, and there is this 5 block span that can do some real damage on the undercarriage. i used to always clank clank my way through those blocks and yesterday, not one peep came out. just felt the need to update yall. i'm very happy with my car right now. this noise was making the car feel like a 1990 honda, old and falling apart.

 

thats good news. so youve had your greddy for a year now? how has it held up so far? any signs of rust or anything?

 

nah, stock, then greddy, and now frankencar (heavist of all i believe) for a year now.

 

Polo, Happy to hear the hangers are working well for you!

I was able to get under my car today, it dried out a little bit as Im sure you noticed.

I found my pipes were banging in 2 locations, 1 is at the bend where the rear section goes over the axle, and secondly where the pipe runs under the main crossmember.

It appears the whole system is a tad bit misalligned. I was able to tighten the hose clamp on the hanger on the muffler, towards the outside of the car and it stopped the pipe hitting the axle. The crossmember is going to need some larger washers to help with the clearance.

All I can say is those guys at midas must have been half asleep, because they missed something I picked up very easily just by wiggling the pipes around...

Oh well... Going to head back up to see Jeff at maximum tuning some time next week, and have him do my UDP and grounding kit, and hopefully get the exhaust sorted at the same time.

 

it's not about it being misalligned....i looked at mine and i thought the same thing. it's all about having the proper hangers to hold it in place. it's starting to get dark, but i'll try to go take a few pics so you can see how the hangers hold the muffler exactly where it needs to be held.

 

Sweeeeeeeeeeeet!

 

High-Res Pics here---> http://polo.lxanyc.com/2002MaximaSE/.../NismoHangers/

key not, look how slanted the first hanger is...that is simply how tight they are. they are pulling from both ends so when the exhaust hangs, they barely angle 45 degrees. i think that's the trick, that the exhaust has pressure from both sides, causing it to stay still in the middle. if you can move your exhaust from side to side, then you dont' enough pressure.

 

Loooks good!