Time For a New Exhaust

[TransporterM45]

A few days ago I started hearing some rattle from the exhaust so i took it in to my local muffler shop and some part rusted and broke. the shop were asking about 100 to put in a new one but i thought it was too much. I might as well put in a new exhaust. i just told them to weld a straight pipe in place of that part. they did and charged me five bucks. Im not too familiar with exhausts so im wondering whats the name of this part and how much is it? im now thinking of putting a complete flowmaster exhaust system because that part gave the exhaust the unique infiniti sound. now it sounds like a regular car. i missed the growl at start up.

has this happen to any of you guys? i think its all that snow and salt taking effect on the exhaust.

[M45-Zero260]

Greetings fellow Illinois M45 owner!

I had this same problem shortly after I got my car, it is called a resonator. Mine rusted and broke in the same exact spot, and I just had my local muffler shop weld in a straight pipe in it's place simply because I needed the car immediately, and he did not have the part in stock. The resonator is supposed to minimize or remove certain harmonics at different RPM's from what I understand. The only difference I notice is around 70 mph on the highway (and at 2-thousand-something rpm) I will hear a hum. Not real loud, but not where I would want to set my cruise for a long period of time.

I have a feeling that this may have been just about broke on your car for a while if you had a rumble on start-up. The car is supposed to sound quiet. Here's a link to what mine sounded like the night before I got it fixed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRa_vSSSiLQ

Now it's almost as quiet as a Lexus. I wish it had more of a sound to it, but after thinking about re-doing the entire exhaust, I wasn't sure if I wanted it to sound like a muscle car all the time, and I didn't want to mess with possibly reducing the HP by not having enough back pressure.

My car came from TX, so I didn't think it should have rusted and broke after only 3 years, but the nearest Infiniti dealer in Barrington, IL would not cover it under warranty (because the heat shield on one of the cat converters had a rock-chip on it which they thought might have caused the resonator to "break")and wanted over a grand to replace the entire cat system (because it is supposedly all 1 piece)

Either way, keep us posted if you do happen to re-do the entire exhaust, I would be interested in how it sounds!

[TransporterM45]

Thanks for the reply and thats the exact sound my car made. It became kind of annoying after a while of driving on the highway.

I been doing some reading on this forum on the mufflers u guys have put on ur m45/35 and so far im not really sure on what go for. i want something thats not too loud at higher speeds and growls when you punch it. do u guys have any suggestions?

[lswaidz]

Same thing happened to me about 3 months after I got my car. Under hard acceleration I let off the gas at high revs and BOOM my car sounds like an old 5.0 liter mustang GT. The entire resonator broke off at the rear welds and was hanging down under the car. It was still under warranty, so Infiniti sent a flat bed and fixed it for free. There is clearly a defect with that weld, as I've heard this frequently happens.

[F1SportsFan]

Maybe this only happens to cars in IL? I have never had that problem unless the previous owner already dealt with it. It would be nice to have a bit more growl from the exhaust. More BMW sound, less Lexus sound...

[1rareM45]

My car had less than 10k miles and had spent it's entire life in a garage in FL before I bought it. The resonator broke off at the same exact weld. Dealer wanted to charge 1300 bucks to replace the entire "Y" pipe. I went to the dealer unannounced and asked to see the car. It was obvious to me that the part was defective due to a bad weld. The weld looked "cold" and did not have enough penetration.

Long story short, I complained and they replaced the whole thing at no charge.

[M45-Zero260]

Good job on pursuing your case! You must have better negotiating skills than I do, or a better customer service dealership. They wanted to replace my entire Y pipe as well for around the same cost. I complained, called the 800 number several times, had it investigated by Infiniti Corporate, and followed up with a letter expressing my disappointment and mailed it to the President of Barrington Motorwerks, IL. That was August 2006, and I never heard back. They still send me pamphlets and postcards about their new cars, but I will never step foot in that stealership again.

[szh]

Hmmm ... I would have thought that this probably would be fixed by Infiniti under the emissions warranty requirements that are longer than normal car warranties! Mandated by Federal laws ...

I am surprised that Infiniti Corporate did not help properly.

Z

[M45-Zero260]

Well, that was exactly the case I was trying to plead to Corporate, because I got the info about the Federal Emissions Warranty Requirements from 2 local muffler shops, and my local Nissan Dealer. They were all convinced that this should and will be replaced by Infiniti.

As per my earlier post above, upon making an appointment and driving an hour to that dealer, they discovered that a "rock chip" or "ding" in one of the heat shields on the cat converter had obviously caused the resonator to "break". All Corporate did was back up the dealer's findings, and told me (by this time, the terminology had evolved to "extensive damage" to your heat shield) that as a result of the damage, my resonator broke away from the pipe at the weld. (I wish I had a pic uploaded to show the less than 1 inch 'ding') So, I was pretty upset at this point and told them that if I were to smack a hammer into the side of my driver's side door, then I should expect the door to "fall off" in a few months as a result of the ding or "damage"

Anyway, it was my first Infiniti (and Nissan product), so I just chalked it up as maybe I haven't paid my dues yet to get a break at a dealership. IMO, they should have done things differently so I could be telling people about my positive experiences instead of writing on this Forum about my 1 negative.

For the record, It's not the cars fault, and I still love the car!!!

[lswaidz]

After my resonator broke off, I called Infiniti of Lisle where I bought the car, and due to my distance from the dealership and the fact my car was "undriveable" (the resonator was just hanging off, scraping on the road) they sent a flat bed down and paid for me to get a rental for the week it took them to fix the car. No questions asked, obviously a major defect in the vehicle. It would be interested to take a look at all of our VIN numbers and see when our manufacture date is... perhaps one of the welders had a "rough weekend" and did some bad work. It would certainly be worth looking into. Now that I'm having other exhaust problems, the good thing is all the work they did is covered under warranty so even though my Elite warranty doesn't cover the exhaust, the original workmanship warranty does.

[flizsr45]

I had the same problem. The Infinity of Cincinnati stealership split the cost with me so they say. They said the part cost $1100.00 bucks and they would split the cost with me which they did, about a month ago now I have to take it back because I hear the same noise.

[MaxBolus]

Well, I just went thru the same thing- fwiw:been noticing a louder than normal buzzing/groaning at some rpms..then my son took the car out last week and returned saying he heard a 'bang' and the car was VERY loud got under it the next day and saw the break at the back of the resonator..was able to get the pipe back into the resonator and drove it gingerly for a few days.Anyway, called around, Infiniti estimated $950 so I took it to a guy that does custom stainless exhaust. He looked at it and said "that can be welded"..I was out of there in less than 10 minutes and 'only' $40. Best news I had all week

[jbillion]

Maybe this only happens to cars in IL? I have never had that problem unless the previous owner already dealt with it. It would be nice to have a bit more growl from the exhaust. More BMW sound, less Lexus sound...

Maybe your IL theory is true, cause I also had this problem. I actually bought my car with this weld broken. I loved the rumbling/growling sound of the exhaust and did not realize that it was because of a broken weld. When I took it in for my 60K service, they fixed the resonator under warranty. I think I need an after market exhaust to get that sound back

[infinitedrift]

I have this problem as we speak and in all truthfullness I love the noise it makes, it sounds so deep. I will eventually get it fixed but no time soon. In the morning have a little rattle during warm-up but it wont happen again the whole day.

[striz923]

... I will eventually get it fixed but no time soon. ...

Be aware that if it breaks off driving down the interstate and happens to come off (god forbid) that it could strike another car causing injury and so forth. I speak from experience (no injury) as I was driving down the interstate and was hypnotized by a muffler hanging in the car infront of me when a 4 foot section broke free and kicked up end over end. I whipped over in time, and thank goodness there was nobody in the lane beside me or else it would have been ugly. Man I feel old talking about public safety, knowing some of the crap I have done with/to/in my cars.