Many thanks to those helping me with my engine temp issue.

I've another issue and that is the muffler, it's rusted out, actually peeling away in layers and has several holes. Previous owner must have tried to fix with some type of gunk that is now giving way. Obviously I'm going to have to replace the muffler but the one I have on there now has a nice little rumble so I'm thinking it's not "stock", possibly done when the conversion was done on it by Elk. Any suggestions without going "high dollar"?

From the cat back it looks like the exhaust has spent the last 50 years submersed next to the Titanic so I'm thinking I'd be better off doing the pipes as well. I think it will make live easier for my (hero) nephew Especially since Monroe quoted me $445 for the job. I'm sure I could get just as good quality labor for two cases of Coors Light;-)

As always, thanks for your input. It is much appreciated.

Carolyn

 

Perhaps post a pic and someome will be able to clue you in on what type of muffler you have, and you can make a decision from there.

I got a magnaflow cat installed with a 50 series Flowmaster Cat back, back in '05 for a little more than your quote

The novelty of a burbly v8 has worn off, and I wish it were quieter

 

The gray "gunk" is probably a patching compound called Muffler Weld - absolute junk. Not worth the package it comes in and used quite often to hide a noisy muffler when selling a vehicle.

The rumble you hear is most likely being caused by a deteriorating muffler interior, especially based on what you say you are seeing on the outside of the muffler.

Dodge Ram Van exhaust pipes are stainless steel from the factory, so unless someone replaced them with something inferior they should be able to be used again with a new muffler many more times during the life of your van.

Hopefully someone has not trashed your exhaust factory pipes -- if so they have done you a real disservice.

 

It makes sense on where the rumble is coming from, sounds a bit like the A-Team coming down the street. A stock, quieter muffler would be more mature, especially at my age ;-).

Anyone have any problems with a Walker quiet flow stainless steel direct fit? It looks pretty much like what is under there now. And I'm thinking all else I need to order is two new u-bolts.

The van isn't my daily drive so I thought I'd crawl under there and see if I can get the old muffler off myself. I checked the tail pipe and, despite the rust, does feel solid, as does everything forward to the cat converter. While I was down there I hit everything that needs to come apart with some deep creep (I need to buy stock in that company) and had a go at getting the ubolts off. Deep Creep did fast work, loosening up thos rust molecules so that when I ended up taking a ball peon hammer to them they just melted right off -hence my need to buy new ones Front end of muffler slides around loose on the pipe, rear part is still stuck fast so I hit it again with more deep creep. So, IF (big IF), I'm able to get the muffler to work loose on the pipe, will it slide straight off or do I need to remove the tail pipe (hopefully not).

Thanks, your thoughts welcome, as always.

Carolyn

 

See, this is where I always end up in trouble. The reason the muffler won't come off, I think, is because the clamp was so tight it put a groove in the muffler and no amount of pounding is going to let it slip off.

Carolyn

 

See, this is where I always end up in trouble. The reason the muffler won't come off, I think, is because the clamp was so tight it put a groove in the muffler and no amount of pounding is going to let it slip off. I've read about sawzalls and torches. Neither am I comfortable using. I'm going to see If I can find a blade for my dremel and try to cut it off. I don't know what else I can do that doesn't require Popeye biceps.

I'm guessing the exhaust pipe is also grooved and will need to be straightened before I can install the new muffler?

Carolyn

 

Forget the dremel. Go saw-zal.

Did my exhaust last year. Total was $735. That is from the manifolds to the tail pipe end. Nobody in my area would touch the job but one local shop. Their view was, Got to have a large muffler with high flow; helps the Hp and fuel economy. Found out it also has a slight throaty rumble until the rpm's level off. Not really bad at all though.

Yes, it has helped the fuel economy surprisingly. Also, found out that since 2000-2003, the flange brackets from the exhaust pipes to the manifolds are irregular sizes. They are hard to come by and are not standard Mopar. This goes for the Ram Truck, and Dakota with the Magnum enignes for those years too.

Later on, I did find out that Meineke had the right stuff and the job would have been $200 less. Bummer for me then. But I keep saying that the higher flow exhaust muffler and high flow CAT must be saving the $$$ in fuel to recoup that $200. Well, it just makes me feel better thinking that. LOL

I also did the semi-Fastman mod to the TB to increase the air-intake. Noticeable performance with the pedal, fuel mileage increased as well.

With the other smaller MPG improvements and the exhaust tuning, the van actually had hit 19.7mpg hwy. I never ever got it past 16 before after a good tune up.

 

I got it off, and it smashed my finger when it hit the driveway. I figured it was going to bite me after I pounded on it for two days. Going to run to advanceauto and borrow their pipe expander before I put the new muffler on. Hopefully this will be the end of this tail... Oh, I used a grinder I got at harbor freight. First time I used one of those.

I wish I could have afforded to do the whole shabang but with the economy, I cant see putting in that kind of money on a hobby vehicle. Better to use $$ to pay bills ;-)

Thanks guys!

Carolyn

 

Just to let you know the new muffler slipped on fairly easily, as those things go. Lubed the muffler and exhaust pipe with synthetic oil, used a big ol' block'o wood to get the muffler almost level with the exhaust and eased everything together.

I found 4 holes just smaller than a pencil on the top and 3 larger ones on the bottom along with some thin spots and really small holes. I should take a pic and post it but I worn out and finger hurts like hell, even after I relieved giant hemotoma under the nail.

Started the van up and it sounds a bit throaty, not nearly like it did, but I'm happy with it. I've got to take the tool back tomorrow so I'll see if I've recovered any hp or (hopefully) the O2 Sensor code will go away.

Thanks for the hand holding, guys.

Carolyn

 

Generally, the only thing that will make an O2 sensor code go away is replacing the O2 sensor.