Check out my mufflers!
02-27-15, 01:50 PM
#16
Lexus Test Driver
Thanks Double, will be looking into that...as well as washed that use micro fiber cloth...Tee told me about that yesterday. so I have some homework to do...
02-27-15, 01:53 PM
#17
Lexus Test Driver
Funny, my Accord has dual exhaust and I just replaced them both this past summer. Now, the only reason I knew there was something wrong was because I noticed a decrease in acceleration on the highway and the droan was very apparent. But they were the OEM mufflers with a few less that 180k. Our geographic locations have to be a factor!
02-28-15, 06:04 AM
#18
Pole Position
Funny, my Accord has dual exhaust and I just replaced them both this past summer. Now, the only reason I knew there was something wrong was because I noticed a decrease in acceleration on the highway and the droan was very apparent. But they were the OEM mufflers with a few less that 180k. Our geographic locations have to be a factor!
02-28-15, 09:39 AM
#19
Lexus Test Driver
I'd be willing to bet that other things that factor into safe operation of the vehicle go wrong before the actual engine or tranny. Where exactly should I look to observe the engine cradle? Is it as self explanatory as it sounds? I've got some body rust, not horrible, but there. Worst is along the top of the windshield seal and when it rains, it leaks a little bit where the dome lights are, so I cover it when it rains. Also this morning, I was running a little late for work and didn't do my normal 10-15 min warm up after a single digit temp night, and noticed that when I turned the steering wheel, I heard a clicking noise. It quiet down was the car warmed up though. But as you said...my car still runs pretty damn good as well. Still pretty quiet, smooth and hey..it's gets me to where I need to go!
02-28-15, 10:59 AM
#20
Intermediate
Sorry to hear about your mufflers RoadFrog!
That kind of surprises me that they wouldn't use stainless or at least aluminized mufflers on a car that costs this much, but if they use a cheaper muffler on every car, it would only help improve their profit margin. It's kind of like the olive company that takes an olive out of every can/jar, by the end of the year, they saved 300,000 olives and made an extra $100k in profit. The little things add up.
My wife believes that everything happens for a reason and maybe the reason of your mufflers going bad were for you to make your car as quiet as you'd like it. It sounds like $400 was money well spent and you're Happy with how it turned out. Congrats and Thanks for sharing the info!
I see that you live in Indiana, so do you have any Speedway gas stations with touchless car washes there?
The ones near us use a LaserWash system that has under carriage and nice air dryers (90 seconds worth) and do a surprisingly good job of taking salt and road grime off of the car.
I'll run ours through and then go home, put her in the garage for about an hour or two and then wipe her down with some Optimum No Rinse and maybe a coat of wax (not every time for the wax, but every time for the ONR).
Good Luck!
That kind of surprises me that they wouldn't use stainless or at least aluminized mufflers on a car that costs this much, but if they use a cheaper muffler on every car, it would only help improve their profit margin. It's kind of like the olive company that takes an olive out of every can/jar, by the end of the year, they saved 300,000 olives and made an extra $100k in profit. The little things add up.
My wife believes that everything happens for a reason and maybe the reason of your mufflers going bad were for you to make your car as quiet as you'd like it. It sounds like $400 was money well spent and you're Happy with how it turned out. Congrats and Thanks for sharing the info!
CJ, what would you recommend for people who don't wish to drive their cars through the wash stations that have undercarriage sprays but beat the hell out of the car with rotating cloth strips!?
Is there such a place/type of wash station I could be searching for that has undercarriage sprays but does not beat up on the car?
Is there such a place/type of wash station I could be searching for that has undercarriage sprays but does not beat up on the car?
The ones near us use a LaserWash system that has under carriage and nice air dryers (90 seconds worth) and do a surprisingly good job of taking salt and road grime off of the car.
I'll run ours through and then go home, put her in the garage for about an hour or two and then wipe her down with some Optimum No Rinse and maybe a coat of wax (not every time for the wax, but every time for the ONR).
Good Luck!
03-02-15, 08:38 AM
#21
Lexus Test Driver
Sorry to hear about your mufflers RoadFrog!
That kind of surprises me that they wouldn't use stainless or at least aluminized mufflers on a car that costs this much, but if they use a cheaper muffler on every car, it would only help improve their profit margin. It's kind of like the olive company that takes an olive out of every can/jar, by the end of the year, they saved 300,000 olives and made an extra $100k in profit. The little things add up.
My wife believes that everything happens for a reason and maybe the reason of your mufflers going bad were for you to make your car as quiet as you'd like it. It sounds like $400 was money well spent and you're Happy with how it turned out. Congrats and Thanks for sharing the info!
I see that you live in Indiana, so do you have any Speedway gas stations with touchless car washes there?
The ones near us use a LaserWash system that has under carriage and nice air dryers (90 seconds worth) and do a surprisingly good job of taking salt and road grime off of the car.
I'll run ours through and then go home, put her in the garage for about an hour or two and then wipe her down with some Optimum No Rinse and maybe a coat of wax (not every time for the wax, but every time for the ONR).
Good Luck!
That kind of surprises me that they wouldn't use stainless or at least aluminized mufflers on a car that costs this much, but if they use a cheaper muffler on every car, it would only help improve their profit margin. It's kind of like the olive company that takes an olive out of every can/jar, by the end of the year, they saved 300,000 olives and made an extra $100k in profit. The little things add up.
My wife believes that everything happens for a reason and maybe the reason of your mufflers going bad were for you to make your car as quiet as you'd like it. It sounds like $400 was money well spent and you're Happy with how it turned out. Congrats and Thanks for sharing the info!
I see that you live in Indiana, so do you have any Speedway gas stations with touchless car washes there?
The ones near us use a LaserWash system that has under carriage and nice air dryers (90 seconds worth) and do a surprisingly good job of taking salt and road grime off of the car.
I'll run ours through and then go home, put her in the garage for about an hour or two and then wipe her down with some Optimum No Rinse and maybe a coat of wax (not every time for the wax, but every time for the ONR).
Good Luck!
Also, thanks a great bunch for that info! Funny, but call me a brat or ignorant/misinformed, but I always stayed away from gas station car washes because I thought they would be the least maintained and most likely to tear up a car.
Indeed there are Speedways stations in my neck of the woods, quite a lot actually! So i'll definitely be looking into that. May even take a trip over to one near my job on lunch and get a quick spray. The Optimum No Rise-I assume that can be found in a local auto store, correct?
Thanks again Freddy!
03-02-15, 09:39 AM
#22
So THAT'S what my LS should sound like!! LOL.
I just got my car back this afternoon with a new set of mufflers. Soooo quiet. I guess I got my car with leaky mufflers when I bought it. I always thought it was quiet, but I suppose I didn't know any better as I had no other LS to compare it to. I can barely hear it running.
The shop installed Walker mufflers and the grand sum with taxes etc, was 400 bucks. Very pleased.
Again, on the muffler delete idea? No way. I drove on the freeway and around town all day yesterday and this morning, and I was ready to get my muffs put on ASAP. It was droning bad at low rpm (<2k). Sounded awesome at higher revs, but very loud.
I just got my car back this afternoon with a new set of mufflers. Soooo quiet. I guess I got my car with leaky mufflers when I bought it. I always thought it was quiet, but I suppose I didn't know any better as I had no other LS to compare it to. I can barely hear it running.
The shop installed Walker mufflers and the grand sum with taxes etc, was 400 bucks. Very pleased.
Again, on the muffler delete idea? No way. I drove on the freeway and around town all day yesterday and this morning, and I was ready to get my muffs put on ASAP. It was droning bad at low rpm (<2k). Sounded awesome at higher revs, but very loud.
03-02-15, 12:54 PM
#23
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
03-02-15, 01:09 PM
#24
Lexus Test Driver
Sorry to hear about your mufflers RoadFrog!
That kind of surprises me that they wouldn't use stainless or at least aluminized mufflers on a car that costs this much, but if they use a cheaper muffler on every car, it would only help improve their profit margin. It's kind of like the olive company that takes an olive out of every can/jar, by the end of the year, they saved 300,000 olives and made an extra $100k in profit. The little things add up.
My wife believes that everything happens for a reason and maybe the reason of your mufflers going bad were for you to make your car as quiet as you'd like it. It sounds like $400 was money well spent and you're Happy with how it turned out. Congrats and Thanks for sharing the info!
I see that you live in Indiana, so do you have any Speedway gas stations with touchless car washes there?
The ones near us use a LaserWash system that has under carriage and nice air dryers (90 seconds worth) and do a surprisingly good job of taking salt and road grime off of the car.
I'll run ours through and then go home, put her in the garage for about an hour or two and then wipe her down with some Optimum No Rinse and maybe a coat of wax (not every time for the wax, but every time for the ONR).
Good Luck!
That kind of surprises me that they wouldn't use stainless or at least aluminized mufflers on a car that costs this much, but if they use a cheaper muffler on every car, it would only help improve their profit margin. It's kind of like the olive company that takes an olive out of every can/jar, by the end of the year, they saved 300,000 olives and made an extra $100k in profit. The little things add up.
My wife believes that everything happens for a reason and maybe the reason of your mufflers going bad were for you to make your car as quiet as you'd like it. It sounds like $400 was money well spent and you're Happy with how it turned out. Congrats and Thanks for sharing the info!
I see that you live in Indiana, so do you have any Speedway gas stations with touchless car washes there?
The ones near us use a LaserWash system that has under carriage and nice air dryers (90 seconds worth) and do a surprisingly good job of taking salt and road grime off of the car.
I'll run ours through and then go home, put her in the garage for about an hour or two and then wipe her down with some Optimum No Rinse and maybe a coat of wax (not every time for the wax, but every time for the ONR).
Good Luck!
SO I found one about 10 minutes from my job. It does one heck of a job my friend! As I drove up to it and saw how short the bay was, I thought "How in the world does this work?". But I drove in and parked and let the sprays do their thing. The only thing I didn't like though, was the you only get about 30 seconds of hot air drying and they were stationary and from above the car. None on the side, so I had to slowly drive the car out of the bay and let it dry the best it could. There was still a considerable amount of water on the car, but for what it does, I can not and will not complain! I went to AutoZone after the wash and they didn't have the Optimum No Rinse. I'll try O'Reilly's and AAP later this week. Now i'll just have to find one near my home and i'll be set for the Spring/Summer!
Thanks again!
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FreddyG (06-06-18)
03-03-15, 10:20 PM
#25
Intermediate
Hey Freddy, Im pretty sure this is our first time interacting, so I like to extend a virtual handshake!
Also, thanks a great bunch for that info! Funny, but call me a brat or ignorant/misinformed, but I always stayed away from gas station car washes because I thought they would be the least maintained and most likely to tear up a car.
Indeed there are Speedways stations in my neck of the woods, quite a lot actually! So i'll definitely be looking into that. May even take a trip over to one near my job on lunch and get a quick spray. The Optimum No Rise-I assume that can be found in a local auto store, correct?
Thanks again Freddy!
Also, thanks a great bunch for that info! Funny, but call me a brat or ignorant/misinformed, but I always stayed away from gas station car washes because I thought they would be the least maintained and most likely to tear up a car.
Indeed there are Speedways stations in my neck of the woods, quite a lot actually! So i'll definitely be looking into that. May even take a trip over to one near my job on lunch and get a quick spray. The Optimum No Rise-I assume that can be found in a local auto store, correct?
Thanks again Freddy!
I got mine here, but you can get it on Amazon, or pretty much anywhere online. I got the big jug of it and mix it when I need to. My jug has lasted over a year. I mix it two caps per one spray bottle. You can quick detail with it or use it for clay barring. It's pretty handy to have around. As a matter of fact, I just used it to wash our car in the 45 degree garage with a bucket and the car looks Great! (I filled with two gallons of water and two ounces of ONR and sponged away). There are some pretty good instructional videos on Youtube for it, if you're curious.........................
Optimum No Rinse.......
Sorry for rambling.
**UPDATE**
SO I found one about 10 minutes from my job. It does one heck of a job my friend! As I drove up to it and saw how short the bay was, I thought "How in the world does this work?". But I drove in and parked and let the sprays do their thing. The only thing I didn't like though, was the you only get about 30 seconds of hot air drying and they were stationary and from above the car. None on the side, so I had to slowly drive the car out of the bay and let it dry the best it could. There was still a considerable amount of water on the car, but for what it does, I can not and will not complain! I went to AutoZone after the wash and they didn't have the Optimum No Rinse. I'll try O'Reilly's and AAP later this week. Now i'll just have to find one near my home and i'll be set for the Spring/Summer!
Thanks again!
SO I found one about 10 minutes from my job. It does one heck of a job my friend! As I drove up to it and saw how short the bay was, I thought "How in the world does this work?". But I drove in and parked and let the sprays do their thing. The only thing I didn't like though, was the you only get about 30 seconds of hot air drying and they were stationary and from above the car. None on the side, so I had to slowly drive the car out of the bay and let it dry the best it could. There was still a considerable amount of water on the car, but for what it does, I can not and will not complain! I went to AutoZone after the wash and they didn't have the Optimum No Rinse. I'll try O'Reilly's and AAP later this week. Now i'll just have to find one near my home and i'll be set for the Spring/Summer!
Thanks again!
I was pretty impressed the first time that I used it too. I think that the dryer settings can be changed by the Speedway because ours here are set to 90 seconds, which is a pretty long time. I do agree though that the dryers would be nice to get the sides too, but I also have no complaints, especially when it's cold out and 72 degrees in the car.
Stay Warm
Roadfrog.... I Apologize for the hijack!
03-04-15, 08:38 AM
#26
Lexus Test Driver
You're Welcome and Good to meet you CRowe14! (Virtual Handshake)
I got mine here, but you can get it on Amazon, or pretty much anywhere online. I got the big jug of it and mix it when I need to. My jug has lasted over a year. I mix it two caps per one spray bottle. You can quick detail with it or use it for clay barring. It's pretty handy to have around. As a matter of fact, I just used it to wash our car in the 45 degree garage with a bucket and the car looks Great! (I filled with two gallons of water and two ounces of ONR and sponged away). There are some pretty good instructional videos on Youtube for it, if you're curious.........................
Optimum No Rinse.......
Sorry for rambling.
Glad to hear that it worked out! I was pretty impressed the first time that I used it too.
I think that the dryer settings can be changed by the Speedway because ours here are set to 90 seconds, which is a pretty long time. I do agree though that the dryers would be nice to get the sides too, but I also have no complaints, especially when it's cold out and 72 degrees in the car.
Stay Warm
Roadfrog.... I Apologize for the hijack!
I got mine here, but you can get it on Amazon, or pretty much anywhere online. I got the big jug of it and mix it when I need to. My jug has lasted over a year. I mix it two caps per one spray bottle. You can quick detail with it or use it for clay barring. It's pretty handy to have around. As a matter of fact, I just used it to wash our car in the 45 degree garage with a bucket and the car looks Great! (I filled with two gallons of water and two ounces of ONR and sponged away). There are some pretty good instructional videos on Youtube for it, if you're curious.........................
Optimum No Rinse.......
Sorry for rambling.
Glad to hear that it worked out!
I was pretty impressed the first time that I used it too. I think that the dryer settings can be changed by the Speedway because ours here are set to 90 seconds, which is a pretty long time. I do agree though that the dryers would be nice to get the sides too, but I also have no complaints, especially when it's cold out and 72 degrees in the car.
Stay Warm
Roadfrog.... I Apologize for the hijack!
I wasn't aware you could wash the car without first rinsing it off with a hose. Have you experienced any surface scratches/swirls?
My cars body needs a pretty good detail treatment this Spring, as there are swirls and light scratches and I have quite a few water stains that wont come out on the hood. I'll be watching the youtube video shortly! Thanks a grand Freddy! The next exchange i'll send a PM!
06-05-18, 07:16 AM
#27
If you came to check out some fancy new mufflers or exhaust, sorry. 
No.....these are my mufflers which I removed in order to address a buzzing/rattle from the heat shields. When I removed the mufflers I was quite surprised to find this:
Attachment 355754
Attachment 355755
I only took a pic of just the one muffler, but the other looks the same. The rust and corruption was only on the top side of the mufflers, and could not be seen other than by removing them. The undersides were like new. To add insult to injury, they were full of water LOL.
The only bright side to this, was it allowed me to check out how the exhaust sounds with them removed. I WILL say that it sounds pretty cool, but not something I would want to listen to all day long. So no straight pipes for this ride.
So now I have two exhaust shop locally putting together an estimate to replace them. Unfortunately it will have to be custom as neither shop had any prices or availability on aftermarket (Borla, Flowmaster etc). I don't want anything loud or low restriction.
I welcome any feedback, especially from those who have replaced their systems.
No.....these are my mufflers which I removed in order to address a buzzing/rattle from the heat shields. When I removed the mufflers I was quite surprised to find this:
Attachment 355754
Attachment 355755
I only took a pic of just the one muffler, but the other looks the same. The rust and corruption was only on the top side of the mufflers, and could not be seen other than by removing them. The undersides were like new. To add insult to injury, they were full of water LOL.
The only bright side to this, was it allowed me to check out how the exhaust sounds with them removed. I WILL say that it sounds pretty cool, but not something I would want to listen to all day long. So no straight pipes for this ride.
So now I have two exhaust shop locally putting together an estimate to replace them. Unfortunately it will have to be custom as neither shop had any prices or availability on aftermarket (Borla, Flowmaster etc). I don't want anything loud or low restriction.
I welcome any feedback, especially from those who have replaced their systems.
06-05-18, 10:04 AM
#28
Racer
Thanks for reviving a 3 year old thread. This reminds me to completely rinse down my undercarriage and the top of my mufflers. I can still taste some road salt off of the mufflers. I usually drench the top of my mufflers in foaming engine cleaner to lift dirt and salt away. Those touchless car washes don't really cover the full length of the under carriage.
