of all the stupid... Resonator cracked in half...

[everpresentnoob]

So I daily drive my 1990 Z around 170 miles a day. About 83 miles to work and then home again. Love driving the car, but it does seem to have a number of annoying little issues that pop up. Mostly I can solve and repair them myself. But I believe that I have finally had an issue that i cannot repair myself happen.... And its a stupid one...

Driving to work last week I hit a dip in the road and suddenly me car got a lot louder and rather than being smooth, the motor seems to run a little rougher. well not rougher like its not running well, just I can feel it more in the seat of my pants. When I got home and crawled under the car I found that one of the resonators on my exhaust had cracked the entire way around where the back wall of it is welded to the outer can. My resonators are not bottle shaped, but more can shaped. wider than my exhaust piping, but the front and back are flat, not tapered.

So due to the damn weld failing that is the source of the noise. I got that and cannot really fix that in my driveway as I dont have a welder. Thinking about just cutting out my resonators and clamping pipe in their place. Not sure I want to do that though as my car is a touch loud before the cracked piece. no clue what exhaust I currently have, but it looks like the HKS exhaust.

I know the correct way is to go have an exhaust shop weld in new resonators, but ballin on a budget here.... and its a tight budget... Has anyone ever ran an NA with out the resonators? does it sound like crap? How much louder is it?

Im assuming the new rough feel to the car is simply exhaust pulses escaping the newly vented resonator and hitting the underside of the car, or possibly a back pressure imbalance left bank vs right bank. Im not driving it right now until I get it fixed, but man, my sentra just dosent make me smile the way the Z does!!

Does any of this make any sense? any one have any advise? Any one near DC/Virginia/Maryland have a stock cat back they dont want?

[NolimitZ32]

Is it the resonator (suitcase looking thing at the back) or the cat that cracked? Sounds like the cat to me.

[everpresentnoob]

Nope. Not my cat. As you can see its right by the diff, just infront of the axle.

[everpresentnoob]

You can barely see the edge of my cats farther forward. I have a Vibrant Ultra Quiet in my shed that I never installed on my sentra, I may buy another and have a local welder put them in. But I think the one I have is 2.25 and I believe my exhaust on the Z is 2.5 so that might not work so well. Perhaps I can find a helpful shop that will exchange my 2.25 one for a 2.5 if I buy the other from them and have them do the welding... But until I cando that any temp fixes? ie, delete them and replace with straight pipe?

[DCaff300ZX]

Tough situation with the DD, been there done that...
I will always advise to do the right thing which is replace, and resonators aren't the expensive parts there, but I also understand current need/no fix $.
I'd not try cobbling non-Z32 stuff, but might try the straight pipe idea for a short spell until resonator/repair funds become available as the resonator really isn't a performance part, more quieting part and as you guessed, without it you get louder. Not ricer/fart can loud but louder than before, and depending also on your muffler's ID's on how loud.

[NolimitZ32]

Eww cheap aftermarket cans cracked. Being that its the resonator you could look for a factory catback to replace this stuff you have, those are cheap if they can be found.

[z.Leinbach]

Just get a magnaflow xpipe put on. I have one on mine and its much quieter then the H

[everpresentnoob]

well i went to cut out the dead resonator last night... Burned out 4 blades on my sawzall... Good grief! and I found that the piping is 2 3/8's which of course I cannot find in any of the local parts stores. And also now that the thing is cut out I can very well drive it to an exhaust shop.... 2.25 tubing fits inside my existing pipe nice and snugly, so I think am just gonna do that and then put a clamp on it. later I can get a shop to replace the entire thing. Im borrowing my inlaws truck right now, Boy, 175 mile round trip commute each day sucks in this thing. damn truck is a GAS HOG!!

[NolimitZ32]

14mpg = MURICA!

[everpresentnoob]

well, got a piece of pipe put in today. 2.25 fit rather tightly inside the existing pipe. used the traditional horseshoe style clamps on it, and the existing pipe is rather thick walled SS and was REALLY hard to clamp down. I still have a slight leak on one of the joints, but it will work until I have a day off and can get it into the shop to be welded. Noticed that looking into the muffler, it is coming apart inside, so perhaps I should just look for a new exhaust setup. love these cars. Nothing ever goes wrong on them...

[DCaff300ZX]

Glad you looked at the muffler as yeah, it looked to me like a full service job was needed and especially since you drive so far daily. I used to do even more miles daily on my NA which took a huge toll, would have been far worse had I not kept after it so well with maintenance after joining here, and learning how to do it all.
Good Luck!