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I have a friend whose muffler exploded as he was driving up a hill. I’ll be taking a look at the car within the next several days. Just want to get some tips on what I should be looking for.
The only thing I know of that could cause this is a backfire. I was reading online and some people were saying a plugged exhaust could cause it, but it seems like it would have to be one heck of a plug to explode a muffler???
Assuming a backfire caused it, is there a good place to start…leaking fuel injector, cylinder misfire, burnt exhaust valve (he said no check engine light came on even after driving it for a while with the exploded muffler).
Does anyone have experience with a exploded muffler or a really severe backfire problem? Once it happened though the car didn’t keep backfiring so it must have been some kind of crazy one time event.
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I’ve seen this happen with extremely rich conditions. The muffler gets filled with fumes and heats up enough for the fuel to ignite. I’ve also seen this happen with a backfire as you suggest. I’d start with a general performance diagnosis for starters. Detailed information on that here.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-performance-issues
Please keep us updated on what you find.
[quote=”JayMann07″ post=148864]I have a friend whose muffler exploded as he was driving up a hill. I’ll be taking a look at the car within the next several days. Just want to get some tips on what I should be looking for.
The only thing I know of that could cause this is a backfire. I was reading online and some people were saying a plugged exhaust could cause it, but it seems like it would have to be one heck of a plug to explode a muffler???
Assuming a backfire caused it, is there a good place to start…leaking fuel injector, cylinder misfire, burnt exhaust valve (he said no check engine light came on even after driving it for a while with the exploded muffler).
Does anyone have experience with a exploded muffler or a really severe backfire problem? Once it happened though the car didn’t keep backfiring so it must have been some kind of crazy one time event.[/quote]
Once it happened, it removed the restriction..
[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=148876]I’ve seen this happen with extremely rich conditions. The muffler gets filled with fumes and heats up enough for the fuel to ignite. I’ve also seen this happen with a backfire as you suggest. I’d start with a general performance diagnosis for starters. Detailed information on that here.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-performance-issues
Please keep us updated on what you find.[/quote]
Thanks! I’ll definitely try and post my findings
[quote=”GearheadTool” post=148877]Once it happened, it removed the restriction..[/quote]
Do you mean that you think it was because of a restricted exhaust????
[quote=”JayMann07″ post=148885][quote=”GearheadTool” post=148877]Once it happened, it removed the restriction..[/quote]
Do you mean that you think it was because of a restricted exhaust????[/quote]
Sorry for the delay in my reply.
I suppose you could say “restricted,” yes.. If there was enough gas and/or fumes to ignite the mixture or substance coating the insides of the exhaust, then the flash-bang that caused the explosion (also interesting as to full tank of gas vs empty or depleted.. The full tank is MUCH less likely to explode because of a lack of VAPORS, VAPORS explode first… Ever seen someone drop a cigarette into a pail of gasoline and it just goes out? I have… I thought we were going to die.. No vapors. Vapors ignite. Anyways) if the substance flashed off and hence exploded where it was concentrated, then, I would venture that whatever was “restricting” it is now gone, yes.
I hope the muffler is the only thing that exploded and the rest of your exhaust is in tact.
Got to take a look at the vehicle today…2000 Mazda 626LX 2.0 Automatic ~100K
Back story is that it was going up a hill and suddenly reved up to 6000rpm…then the muffler blew. Apparently this reving is intermittent and happens maybe a few times a month. I didn’t try and diagnose it because it seems far too intermittent to mess with. Also had no codes.
I did come to the conclusion that it was a transmission problem. It’s not a drive by wire and the throttled worked fine. I don’t think there’s anything that could suddenly cause enough air to enter the engine to raise its rpm to 6000. Therefore, I figure the transmission must be making a logic mistake (or a sensor is lying to it) or has a mechanical failure causing it to suddenly gear down way too low.
I hate leaving a problem unsolved, but I felt it would be chasing the wind. I’m open to anyone’s suggestions if they have seen this or something similar.
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