Muffler Troubles - Printable Version
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Muffler Troubles - RussWhite - 09-22-2012
Thought I should take a little time and document some of my latest projects in case it might help somone in the future.
This project should have been addressed a long time ago. Totally my fault for not doing that. When I had the coach out for pre-purchase inspection in Phoenix at Williams for the dyno run, they noted the muffler was loose somewhere above the inlet.
It finally caught up with me doing the big climbs out west. The paint got singed on the wall of the small bay with the power cable. I decided them to do something when I got back.
The muffler intself is probably ready for replacement, but I first wanted to address the looseness. Contacting Newell with pictures of the muffler resulted in John Clark's saying they had the muffler and hangers in stock - $870 and $59. Mike Ellis said "positive it's broke at the stainless flex just above the floor". He also advised the repair would require removal of the engine fan and radiator! All I could see were dollars flying through the air.
Apparantly in my case Newell purchased 5" dia. stainless steel flex and welds a 5" short piece of exhaust pipe on each end. The flex goes from the exit of the turbo just through the floor of the engine compartment. The entire distance is wrapped in an insulating blanket. Access back in there is just not possible.
I didn't ask Mike how he knew where it would be broken, but I bet it is not the first one to fail there. I decided to take it apart and see what I could do.
I have included pictures that will help tell the story and explain what my words may not make clear. I cut the old hangers and the muffler was out. Sure enough, the connection between the short exhaust pipe and the stainless flex was no longer connected. If you look at that piece you will see the weld is just fine, but the first rotation of the flex broke away. What could I do?
Well, the stainless itself looks very good - no surprise there I guess. I really didn't want to drive to Miami nor did I want to let someone local start taking the fan and radiator out. On top of that, what assurance would I have that the origianl design would not fail again in the same way?
I decided to purchase a much longer piece of pipe and put it up inside the flex. It would be so long that it could not come out unless the muffler was removed. It might not be totally gas tight, but it would be very close. I planned to purchase a "T" bolt band clamp, but that didn't work out. The stainelss flex is just took strong to compress.
I purchased the hangars and when they arrived they were is no way similar to the existing ones. After cutting them to shorten their reach and drilling holes in the floor of the engine compartment to mount them I was able to make them work.
It was difficult to force the pipe into the flex, but that is not really a bad thing as I think it will stay right where I put it. I used small floor jacks to help me reinstall the old muffer, after having it welded up at a local shop. I may still need to replace it but that will be easy now that I have the inlet and hangars all fixed. I still need to shine up the tip and install the 6" saddle clamp that is not here yet. Russ
RE: Muffler Troubles - encantotom - 09-22-2012
hi russ,
fantastic job. thanks for explaining it to us
tom
RE: Muffler Troubles - whatsnewell - 09-22-2012
Hey Russ....while my coach is considerably older than yours...1982....I had a similar problem develop 3 years ago, and the culprit was the stainless steel flex pipe welds. I bought 10 feet....minimum order, and instead of having it welded back in place I used two stainless steel connector clamps...one on either end, and it is holding to this day. I had to cut out the bad flex pipe, but this time if it fails I'll just remove the clamps and put a new piece in from what I have left, which is about 7 feet. The first picture is before I put the clamp/connectors on. The second shows after the clamps were installed. I got all the stuff from Ryder Fleet.
RE: Muffler Troubles - folivier - 09-23-2012
Guess I got lucky, mine broke at the top of the flex pipe. Wasn't completely separated but starting to leak. I put a stainless clamp on it and checked for leaks. So far it's working out.
RE: Muffler Troubles - Chester Stone - 09-23-2012
Great information which I will save on my computer for the future. I had a similar problem with the flex pipe broken and loose. While in Mexico, we removed the muffler to get access to the flex pipe, then using a low power welder, the flex pipe break was welded. It seems to be holding but this gives me an idea of what to do if it fails again. I also had a problem in that the stainless tail pipe directed the hot exhaust toward the front of my car, thereby damaging several cables. I cut the fiberglass to the left of the exhaust and was able to direct the hot exhaust to the street.
RE: Muffler Troubles - RussWhite - 09-23-2012
Forest - I guess you did. I suspect your configuration must be very different from mine. The top of my flex is connected at the exit of the turbo and there is no access to do anything there without removing the engine fan and radiator. Sure hope mine doesn't break there next :-)
RE: Muffler Troubles - ashley - 05-31-2013
Great job Russ