[ukamath]

A friend of mine owns a 2005 Getz GL. It has covered about 44K Kms. About 6 months back, the exhaust suddenly started to sound more sporty - (read as LOUD). Over a period, the noise worsened and he found it difficult to even listen to soft music in the car. Investigation revealed that there was a big crack which has turned into hole (as big as a marie biscuit) in the rear section of the silencer, very close to the exhaust.Rust is also seeping to rest of the silencer assembly running towards the cat and the engine. The fuel economy has not drastically gone down though - nothing noticeable.Strange!

This morning, he called up one of the Hyundai service centers and they have qouted a price of 11K + labor to change the silencer. Since this is too epensive a proposition, I am looking at expert opinions from T-BHP users on the following.

1. Has any Getz owner encountered such a problem? If yes, what was the solution?
2. Is it ok to drive the car with the silencer in the current state? Will it worsen in the future, have an impact on the engine and FE.
3. Will welding the silencer in the right places help? If yes, any recommendations for a good welding place in Bangalore.

Would appreciate any help out here.

Thanks.

[SirAlec]

If you change the whole thing it is expensive.

Tell him just to replace the muffler. He is quoting along with the cat-con i guess.

Or if you find a very good gas wielder, it will be a cheap job as Rs, 250.

He will put a steel patch over it. Well this works only if the whole thing is not rusted. Or he will create a even a bigger hole.

A similar Jugad job.

[rjstyles69]

The santro had a history of end cans turning sporty over time and sounding like an after market end can. Definitely yours could be the 1st case on a getz.

Investigation revealed that there was a big crack which has turned into hole (as big as a marie biscuit) in the rear section of the silencer, very close to the exhaust.Rust is also seeping to rest of the silencer assembly running towards the cat and the engine.

Is this end can itself which has rusted ? Can you post some pictures, would be easy for us to tell you what is the best way out.

[ukamath]

Here are some pics of the rust on the Getz.

This is of the rear end of the silencer.



This is of the rest spreading across the silencer.

[SirAlec]

This will be very hard to repair as its on the bend. Bend should always be smooth with no restrictions.

Just check, is this hole on the pipe which is a part of muffler (i am assuming this) or its before that.

Make sure as replacing just the end can is much cheaper. @ about 2k.

[rjstyles69]

Thats a huge gaping hole. From the looks of it the muffler/end can needs to be changed. I see the joint in the image where the intermediate pipe connects to the end can assembly.

You are better off going to some local mech in bangalore who is good at fabricating end cans. Usually the price is in the under 2500 bucks.

[Sankar]

Check at Car Automobiles/Popular at JC road, they may have a aftermarket OE replacement unit for lesser price.
or
Is the muffler fine with no holes? Then go to a local dependable garage and get the pipe section changed.

[Hashim]

Get in touch with a local garage who has a good denter. Tell him to cut this rusted bent pipe and replace with a bent pipe cut from other used silencer. They usually have lots of old silencers lying with them for jugad purposes.
IMPORTANT: Before the denter puts new pipe, ask him to make sure its of almost same size and most important has same bent angel otherwise silencer setting is disturbed and it rub against the under body.

[ukamath]

Guys,

Thanks for all the advice. Here is the update. We went to the old auto part market in Shivajinagar, did some looking around and found a person who deals only in Hyundai parts.Got the rear part of the silencer with the muffler for 700Rs after some bargaining.
Took it to a local mechanic and he fixed it up for 100Rs. Now that part works fine…

My problem now is this.
This mechanic did some sanity check on the front pipe and found that it has also corroded to a large extent. While checking, he hit it a little here and there and now the front pipe (the part after the CAT) has approximately 15 small holes which leak the exhaust.The area that has these small holes is the straight pipe.. no bends. The car now makes almost the same amount of noise. This guy is charging me 900Rs for welding this part which we felt was too much.

Any suggestions on how to proceed from here and any place in Bangalore that we can get the silencer welded or repaired?


Thanks!

[chandan]

I've done 90k in my Getz & had the same problem.Got it welded twice.It lasted for about 10k km.But,finally I had to change it yesterday as I'm planning on a long drive in July.Trident quoted Rs 12000/- + labour for the center & rear silencer.I got it for Rs 4100/- + Rs 150 labour on JC road(Bagrecha automobiles).This is a Delhi make & silences the noise a lot but not as much as the original.

[ukamath]

Originally Posted by chandan

I've done 90k in my Getz & had the same problem.Got it welded twice.It lasted for about 10k km.But,finally I had to change it yesterday as I'm planning on a long drive in July.Trident quoted Rs 12000/- + labour for the center & rear silencer.I got it for Rs 4100/- + Rs 150 labour on JC road(Bagrecha automobiles).This is a Delhi make & silences the noise a lot but not as much as the original.

Thanks for the suggestion. Trident quoted me the same price. We have fixed the rear part and need to fix the center part (around 5.5k as quoted by Trident). The usage of the car is around 8k per year. Would like to try out the option of welding the center assembly once before replacement.
Any suggestions for a good place to get it welded?

[jinojohnt]

From what I learnt from the Mechanic, two main reasons for rust in mufflers are given below:

1. Water vapour from exhaust - petrol, if burnt properly, produces water vapour also. This water vapour condenses inside mufflers, causing rust. This effect is found more in cars that are used for short drives. On long drives, the mufflers become hot enough to repel the drops of water.

2. When you dash across water logged roads, the muddy water splashes on the outside of the mufflers, causing rust in the long run. Slowing down a little helps.

Nevertheless, the mileage of the car doesn't drop much because of a leaking muffler.

[SirAlec]

Originally Posted by ukamath

Guys,

Thanks for all the advice. Here is the update. We went to the old auto part market in Shivajinagar, did some looking around and found a person who deals only in Hyundai parts.Got the rear part of the silencer with the muffler for 700Rs after some bargaining.
Took it to a local mechanic and he fixed it up for 100Rs. Now that part works fine…

My problem now is this.
This mechanic did some sanity check on the front pipe and found that it has also corroded to a large extent. While checking, he hit it a little here and there and now the front pipe (the part after the CAT) has approximately 15 small holes which leak the exhaust.The area that has these small holes is the straight pipe.. no bends. The car now makes almost the same amount of noise. This guy is charging me 900Rs for welding this part which we felt was too much.

Any suggestions on how to proceed from here and any place in Bangalore that we can get the silencer welded or repaired?


Thanks!

Yup! 900 for wielding job is too much. Trying the same kabadi wala would be a sensible thing to do.

[ukamath]

Guys, here is the scoop. Over the weekend, we looked up some local mechanics around Mathikere (actually, on the road that leads into Mathikere from IISc) and actually found a welding,tinkering smechanic shop. The guy there offered to check the silencer and close all the pores for a decent Rs 350.
He toiled over it for the next 2.5 hours and got it in shape. We paid him Rs 400. Car feels pretty good now. No extra noise. As good as new. Hope it lasts for atleast a year. The deal - We saved a good 10,000 bucks by not going to Trident - Jugad therapy works!

[SirAlec]

Good to know that your problem got solved that too at nominal costs.