exhaust puffing out muffler weep hole

[Dave Tidman]

The basics
2003 nissan frontier XE
2.4L KA24DE manual transmission
131,000 miles on the clock

I’ve recently noticed a little more exhaust noise from the truck. I though it was because the clamp from the input pipe to the muffler rusted away, I replaced that and then discovered the exhaust puffing out the weep hole in the front of the muffler. It is not coming out in a steady stream at idle, it puffs at about 2 puffs/second or so. Also at idle, the main exhaust stream seems to pulse a bit. I have no codes, performance is good, and gas mileage is good. I’ve done the catalytic knock test on the muffler to see if anything is loose in there, but that seemed good. BTW, this is the original exhaust.

I’m thinking this is the beginning of a clogged muffler. I’ve searched the google machine for diagnostics for this problem and found nothing, and I don’t want to fire the parts cannon at it without a good indication the part is likely to fix the issue. Are there any other diagnostic tests I can run on this to find the issue? Would a vacuum gauge test give any indication of the beginnings of a clog (I don’t have a vacuum gauge, but could probably get one if it would help here)?

Thanks!

Topic

[Ty]

Being that the muffler is 13 years old id say its time to replace it.

[Chris]

I’m pretty sure muffler’s do not have weep holes. If exhaust is coming out anywhere but the end of the tail pipe there is a leak that should be fixed.

[Richard Kirshy]

[quote=”94newtome” post=176358]I’m pretty sure muffler’s do not have weep holes. If exhaust is coming out anywhere but the end of the tail pipe there is a leak that should be fixed.[/quote]
Pretty sure quite a few do…

Specifically to drain condensation.

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[Ty]

That’s absolutely correct some factory mufflers do but also some don’t.

[Author]

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