I have a 97 SE with a warpspeed y-pipe, the rest of the exhaust system is original stock.

Whenever I rev it up and then let the revs drop, the muffler will make a few sputtering/popping noises kind of like its "farting". It also sputters inbetween shifts as well (like when I take my foot off the gas and the revs drop a bit to the next gear). Also, once in a while it'll make some strange "buzzing" noises. Neither of these sound normal at all. I have no ECU codes and everything seems to be running right aside from that.

Is this is problem with the muffler? Or is it problem coming from the engine? (timing, misfiring, clogged injectors, bad spark plugs?)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

I don't have a y-pipe (yet) but my custom exhaust is going to be put on today. My setup is stock at the moment and sounds a lot like what you described. My whole exhaust is pretty rusted through from the cat converter to the muffler and no longer hangs properly (hence why I'm replacing everything). It is also very loud and sounds nothing like it did when I first bought the car. I get the stuttering raspy noises you described when I let off the gas and shift as well. It may be normal with a y-pipe, but I know it's not normal for a bone stock exhaust setup like mine. You may have another component that needs to be replaced, either your muffler or your b-pipe (if the noise isn't being caused by your y-pipe). Id take a look under your car to see if everything looks solid or not

 

I looked under the car when I put on the y-pipe a few months ago and everything looked fine to me.

Please let me know if your sputtering noises go away after you install your new exhaust!

 

I had the same issues about 1-2 months ago (97 also), the side of my stock muffler had two holes beginning to rust out and parts of my exhaust were beginning to let go. The main center hanger's weld was beginning to let go of my exhaust and there was a loose piece up by the flexpipe.

With all these things going wrong within a month or twos time I had all variations of the sounds you described... I had a friend tack the weld back together so my exhaust didnt fall apart until I got a custom exhaust done..

Sounds great, paid $275 for full catback, 5-year warrantee on pipes and lifetime on muffler; custom bent pipes and fully welded.

 

Yea, it sounds exactly like the problems i have after i installed my budget. It turns out my muffler is all rusted out. The B-pipe is just as bad. Looks like it's time for a new cat back system anyways.

 

Thing is I'm in CA so the chance of rust being the issue is relatively low. I'm planning on redoing the catback section as soon as the Apex'i WS comes out for the 97-99. But in the meantime, anyone else have any ideas? Am I having the symptoms of a bad/clogged cat?

 

I'm willing to put money down that your exhaust is going (like I described in my first post)...and it turns out the other guys that have replied experienced these same noises you're describing when their exhausts were rusting out and falling apart as well. Have you owned the car since it was new? If not maybe it wasn't a California car before you bought it. I'm in Massachusetts and my car was a New York car prior to me owning it, so you never know. I may have my car back as early as tomorrow night, but otherwise not until Tuesday or Wednesday. I will def let you know whether the sputtering is gone or not upon getting the car back. In the meantime goodluck!

 

Thanks for the help so far guys.

I am the second owner and it's always been a California car...unless carfax lied to me.

 

Hey got my car back this morning with the budget b-pipe and Borla muffler on it. Almost all the weird sounds are eliminated now. It's deep and throaty, doesn't really drone like my stock exhaust was before since it was all rusted out, it sounds deeper, and is still louder than stock but definitely not obnoxious by any means. I still get a slight sputter when I rev in neutral, but not as bad as before (quite normal for just about any exhaust except stock), but no more sputters while shifting. I'm going to try to get some soundclips up today and host them on my server. I will post the link once the clips are up and you can check them out (now that I think of it I should have recorded the car with the stock exhaust before having the new one put on, then it would give a better comparison). Oh well!

 

u notice alot of wierd sounds with no restrictions in ur muffler