How to Change a Muffler
Exhaust mufflers or silencers are not designed to last very long unless you have a stainless steel exhaust system. Therefore the average car might see four or more exhaust systems during its lifetime.
It is unusual for the whole exhaust to need changing and usually it is one muffler or silencer which has blown. The average exhaust pipe system will have two mufflers one in the centre of the system and one near the tail pipe. Exhaust pipes are prone to rust because of the elements and the added complication of condensation inside of the pipe. This means the pipe can rust inside and out at the same time.
How can onechange a muffler?
First the car will need to be jacked up and supported by addition axle jacks for safety. The car should be jacked high enough to move about underneath the car without snagging on things and hurting oneself. If you are changing the middle muffler, you need to completely remove the exhaust system from the front exhaust pipe. You’ll need to remove the U clamp using a small spanner. Now you’ll need to remove all exhaust brackets and hangers holding the exhaust to the chassis using a small spanner.
To get the exhaust to break away so you can remove it from the car will require wriggling and pulling it at the same time. If this doesn’t work, you’ll have to try knocking the exhaust pipe of with a heavy screwdriver. Once you have the system off, you can pull it out from underneath the car for examination.
Once the system is out from underneath the car, it will be easier to dismantle the muffler from the rest of the exhaust system. If you are changing just the tail muffler you can remove just the muffler and tail pipe alone leaving the middle muffler undisturbed.
The new centre muffler will now need connecting and securing to the end silencer and tail pipe before taking back under the car for reconnecting to the rest of the exhaust system. Before doing so examine the rest of the exhaust system and end silencer; if they are badly rusted it might be prudent to change these at the same time.
On some small cars like the original Mini, the exhaust might come in one single piece where the centre and tail pipe cannot be individually dismantled. Changing an exhaust muffler requires minimum mechanical skills and is in the reach of most DIY mechanics.
