Muffler removed itself, possibly corroded from running rich?

[lofapoo]

Or am I just paranoid?

My muffler came "un-done" from my exhaust system, and I was wondering how the insides could be so caked if it was running right. I believe it was replaced by the PO somewhere down the line but if not then this could be a explained a bit easier. My guess is that either it got hit by one too many speedbumps, ****ty muffler quality, or possible corrosion. Maybe you could give me some advice based on the pictures? Car seems to run just fine; rarely died on me when cold, perhaps a slight electrical issue (grounds? alternator? idle?) with the headlights - they are dimmer at idle but once you give it a little gas they brighten up. Also has a tapping noise coming from engine bay at times (not timing chain), but I doubt it could be related unless it's a tapping valve causing burnt oil or unburned gas flow through the exhaust? Forgive my ignorance, I just wan't my ride running right.



Look at the bottom of the bumper above where the exhaust should be. The blackness is not like normal dirt from the roads which is easily removed with a good wash of the car. I've seen this sort of thing happen with cars running rich or burning oil.



Looking down into the hole where the inlet stub should be. It was ripped right off the muffler. Corrosion + speedbump, or just too many speedbumps?



Old turd sleeping with the worms. Another shot of the ripped hole.



Looking into the exhaust piping



The rest of the muffler, still attached (welded on, yay now I get to cut the pipe to put the new one on)



Looking into the tail pipe, one of the tips MIA due to speedbumps



Another shot

Already got a new OEM muffler with all I need to install it correctly, after I cut the pipe to fit the extention pipe over it so I can pass emissions this month, and hopefully I won't find some bad news about the running condition of my KA.

[Nightstalker]

try using degreaser on that bumper to take that black stuff off? Cause i kno my rear bumper looks waaay worse then that cause i burn oil and it gets all over the bumper..a good clean down with degreaser should make it go away

[lofapoo]

Aye, when I get the time to really detail the exterior I'll be cleaning it off. Just wondering what I can do, if there's anything I can do, to keep it from coming back.

[GhostDriver]

Just curious but....how does it sound sans muffler?

Mine is really annoying the **** outta me because it has a hole and is really raspy around 2k so the thought has crossed my mind until I can get one fabbed up asap.

[lofapoo]

Sounds great at idle, there's a point inbetween 2k and 4k RPMs where the rumble can really be heard in the cabin (gets old, that's why I row through the lower RPMs ) and towards the higher RPMs it sounds really nice, throaty and raw, but not practical for daily use. Ordered a Soundmaster Napa OEM style muffler for 50 bucks, can't go wrong. Looks exactly like factory aside from the lack of exhaust tip covers.

[GhostDriver]

The thought is tempting. I can't stand the noise any more.

[lofapoo]

What, new muffler or no muffler?

Sounds fun either way :p

Great gurgle and occasional backfiring

New muffler goes on tomorrow.

[cdlong]

water is a natural byproduct of combustion.

water makes mild steel rust and corrode.

your car is fine.