Muffler

June 11, 2013 7:30 AM

I drive a 2004 Hyundai Elantra GLS. I don't know what happened but the muffler stopped working. Basically, my car started making more and more noise over a several weeks and I procrastinated taking it in, and then one day a couple of weeks ago it's like the muffler stopped working entirely. My car is now quite loud. My question is any idea what happened and how much it will cost to get it fixed?
posted by nooneyouknow to Travel & Transportation (13 answers total)

No idea what happened. Probably around $200.
posted by dawkins_7 at 7:31 AM on June 11, 2013

The gradual increase in noise is probably a small rust hole, somewhere in the exhaust pipe or muffler, slowly increasing in size. You could perhaps get away with finding where that hole is, and replacing the smallest section of the exhaust system possible. It might be a better idea to replace the whole thing while you're at it, or you might be back in the shop next month.
posted by jeffjon at 7:35 AM on June 11, 2013 [1 favorite]

I've replaced tens of mufflers. Find yourself a good local muffler shop, something not branded nationwide, as I've had the best luck with these. They are also the cheapest.
Should run you between $75.00 & $ 130.00. Depending on how much damage there is to existing muffler. Feel free to get multiple quotes.
It is a very easy fix. 25 mins tops. Good luck.
posted by QueerAngel28 at 7:35 AM on June 11, 2013

No idea, and it likely is a pretty straightforward thing to get fixed, but you should be aware that in many places you can get a ticket for driving without a muffler, which would increase the cost.
posted by advil at 7:36 AM on June 11, 2013

You should get it fixed, part of the exhaust might have broke before it gets to the muffler. This could lead to exhaust leaking into your cabin. This happened to me once when I went over a big bump. I've also had mufflers just break from rust
posted by thylacine at 7:54 AM on June 11, 2013

I don't think they even bother to fix mufflers these days. There is a reason Meineke got into the general service business! They simply rip and replace, which has always been a simple and relatively cheap process on any car that I've owned. Unless there is something odd about your car it shouldn't cost more than $200.
posted by COD at 8:09 AM on June 11, 2013

Have you looked at the muffler itself, to see if there is a hole in it or anything? I strongly recommend getting out a little scrap of carpet, half-wedging yourself under your car, and taking a gander at your exhaust from front to back to check for holes, broken welds, or rusted out spots.

I ask only because this just happened to me, but it has nothing to do with the muffler. The original, "quieter" noise happened when an exhaust pipe up near the catalytic converter developed a small hole. As I procrastinated, the hole gradually got larger and the noise gradually got louder.
The eventual sudden huge increase in noise happened when the bracket that had been holding the rusted-out exhaust pipe broke clean off, so the pipe is now hanging/banging around free underneath the car, which makes a lot of noise. The bracket went straight across the hole horizontally, like so -- Ɵ -- which is probably what was making the hole wider rather than taller.

This is one of those fixes I would happily perform myself with an unwound wire coathanger if there wasn't a gaping hole in my exhaust pipe that made the interior of my car reek of exhaust, but alas. My muffler and the rest of my exhaust system are in perfect condition, though, so it will be a very cheap repair -- based on previous exhaust repairs, it'll be around $80-100 for a new bracket and connector pipe at my tiny local awesome repair shop. If it is your muffler, yeah, ~$125-$150. (Your prices may vary on locale.)

My advice is to first look everywhere under your car to see what/where the problem is, and only go to a repair shop shrugging and saying "it's making a noise, I don't know what's wrong!" if there are no clearly visible problems.
posted by divined by radio at 8:16 AM on June 11, 2013

This is almost definitely corrosion on the underside of your exhaust resulting in either a rust hole or a bad connection (failed clamp or joint) between the muffler and the rest of the exhaust system.

What is remarkable is that this used to happen all the time, and now it doesn't. Growing up in the Midwest, I remember a non-stop stream of exhaust system repairs on my parents and later my own cars - this would happen around every two years - up until the end of the 90s. Now cars can go for years or get over 100k before needing a new exhaust. If you told someone in the 70s that your car made it 9 years without an exhaust repair, they'd be shocked.
posted by eschatfische at 8:16 AM on June 11, 2013 [1 favorite]

An exhaust system is a long tube from the engine to the back of the car, built from shorter pieces of tube, with the muffler near the back end, a catalytic converter towards the front end, and maybe a resonator somewhere in-between. Any of these parts or the joints between them can fail, and a hole in the muffler itself or anywhere in front of the muffler will be noisy. The only way to know where the hole has developed, and thus which parts will need to be replaced is to look at it.

I remember a non-stop stream of exhaust system repairs on my parents and later my own cars - this would happen around every two years - up until the end of the 90s. Now cars can go for years or get over 100k before needing a new exhaust.

IME, only OEM exhaust systems are good for the long term. Aftermarket exhaust components are generally very much inferior, and can still fail every couple of years in some conditions.
posted by jon1270 at 8:29 AM on June 11, 2013

We had a muffler + exhaust + a few brackets replaced about a year and a half ago. Muffler already has a small hole in it from rust (about an inch and a half long, looks more like a tear than a hole). Work was done by the dealer. So yeah, the OEM system lasted ~8 years and the replacement didn't last a quarter of that.

Best bet is to have it fixed before it gets worse. Cutting out and replacing the rusty spot can stop the damage from spreading, which is what caused us to have the entire thing replaced (the brackets were our original problem, a weak/breaking bracket caused the exhaust tube to start cracking near the converter).
posted by caution live frogs at 8:35 AM on June 11, 2013

I had a 2005 hyundai accent that had what sounds like a similar problem. Turns out the muffler is connected to the exhaust system with a flex pipe, a sort of woven metal pipe that is pretty prone to rusting through. Slowly got louder, then was basically completely un-muffled. Super embarrassing to drive a car that was that loud! It also caused problems with some catalytic converter sensors, leading to a check engine light that was always on. Anyway, the flex pipes cost a couple hundred dollars.
posted by bepe at 9:37 AM on June 11, 2013

I drive exactly this car--same year and everything--and recently had an exhaust system issue, but mine was centered around the front of the car and the oxygen sensor. I had two major symptoms: 1. My 'Check Engine' light came on, and 2. The car started making a lot more noise.

I got several quotes from several mechanics, ranging from $1800 to $250, depending on what they wanted to do to my car. The dealership wanted to remove and replace the entire converter ($1850), whereas other repair shops offered options to replace with used parts ($900), all the way down to one who wanted to patch and re-weld the current system ($250). I figured that the cheapest option wouldn't last as long, but if I replaced it five times in the next 10 years, I'd still come out ahead, so I went with the $250 option. Seven months later, it's working just fine.

I really recommend getting several quotes and not biasing the mechanic with too much detail about what you think the problem is when you do--let him/her figure out the scope of work and tell you what it'll cost to fix.
posted by yellowcandy at 12:27 PM on June 11, 2013

As you appear to be a muffler greenhorn I suggest you get more than one opinion. Some workshops have been known to exagerate the nature and scope of the work required in these situations.
posted by BenPens at 12:54 AM on June 12, 2013