Driving with no muffler

[skate1968]

Yesterday i was passing someone on the highway. As i approached their car i heard this awful noise. I thought that their car had something seriously wrong. But after i was 6 car lengths ahead of them i realized that it was not their car that was making the horrible noise, it was mine.

So anyway i was dragging my muffler. I pulled over and took the muffler completely off of my car and put it in my trunk. Problem solved -- i drove to my next appointment.

Is there any risk in me driving without a muffler? The pipe between the cat and muffler is completely severed. The pipe broke about 3 inches away from the muffler.

Could i drive it like this over the weekend? Can i go to work now? Or do i need to get this muffler put back on right away? (i'm going to be making this descion over the next 20 minutes)

thanks for reading

 

[skate1968]

oops (double post)

 

[Nyquist]

Other than severely irritating your neighbors, it won't have too much effect on the car.

If it's a V-6 it won't sound as bad as a 4. V-8? It might sound pretty.

 

[StevieC]

Nothing wrong with doing it for a short while, however it's not good for the environment because in your case your Catalytic Converter isn't running and helping to combat some of the harmful exhaust that your engine puts out. Also your engine is designed with a some back pressure created by the exhaust system in mind so it could cause carbon build-up in the engine by not having this.

In short, a short time won't hurt but get it fixed as soon as you can.

 

[skate1968]

Thanks very much to both Stevie and Nyquist.

 

[StevieC]

Good luck! Try to get a Stainless Steel Pipe versus a Galvanized pipe... It's a bit more and harder to find at Muffler shops but it will last the rest of the life of the vehicle!

 

[chevrofreak]

If it's a V6 or an I4 I beg you to fix it ASAP as those sound worse than fingernails on a chalkboard when uncorked. If it's a V8, leave it as it

 

[NYEngineer]

If you have a little pipe to connect to, can't you do the soda can and two hose clamp trick to get through the weekend? Hope you don't have a date with that car.

 

[StevieC]

If he has a date, she might like the vibration that the missing muffler might create!

 

[skate1968]

Originally Posted By: NYEngineer
If you have a little pipe to connect to, can't you do the soda can and two hose clamp trick to get through the weekend? Hope you don't have a date with that car.


Actually it was the beer can and hose clamp trick that i was already using.

 

[StevieC]

Borrowed time huh?

 

[skate1968]

 

[Eddie]

Drive with front vents open and rear window cracked. You don't want exhause fumes sucked into the car.

 

[StevieC]

Where's the fun in that?

 

[drivewaytech]

I rebuilt a 350 in an old Chevy pick up of mine and wanted to get the engine up to temp to properly torc the head bolts. I didn't bother connecting the tail pipes to the manifold because I wanted to get to a stopping point for the day. Needless to say, I conveniently did not attach the tail pipe for a few days. It sounded awesome.

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
however it's not good for the environment because in your case your Catalytic Converter isn't running and helping to combat some of the harmful exhaust that your engine puts out.


I've never seen a catalyst behind a muffler ..why would his be not "running"? Quite a few older model Fords had no mufflers, just cats. One would reason that if there was some dwell time factor ..that at some point in the vast rpm/exhaust volume variance that this would span high and low regardless of what downstream restriction was there ..or not.

What did I miss here

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted By: skate1968
Yesterday i was passing someone on the highway. As i approached their car i heard this awful noise. I thought that their car had something seriously wrong. But after i was 6 car lengths ahead of them i realized that it was not their car that was making the horrible noise, it was mine.

So anyway i was dragging my muffler. I pulled over and took the muffler completely off of my car and put it in my trunk. Problem solved -- i drove to my next appointment.

Is there any risk in me driving without a muffler? The pipe between the cat and muffler is completely severed. The pipe broke about 3 inches away from the muffler.

Could i drive it like this over the weekend? Can i go to work now? Or do i need to get this muffler put back on right away? (i'm going to be making this descion over the next 20 minutes)

thanks for reading



Sorry I visualized the wrong section of pipe when reading his post. Thanks for the correction Gary.

In this case it wouldn't be harmful to the engine or environment in any way... Just loud!

 

[Gary Allan]

Well, there's always the CO factor and CO2 factor ..even if the cat is there

Side note: I had just dropped off the VP of Marketing for a company I was a rep for (emerging company) at the airport. We had just done a lunch demo at Gilbert/Commonwealth Associates, a major outfit. I just made it out of ear shot and the exact same thing occurred.

I was thankful that I didn't have to drive around with him with it sounding like that. It would have really been a hit pulling into the clients parking lot.

 

[demarpaint]

I wouldn't drive it too long that way especially if you spend a lot of time in traffic. The exhaust that is supposed to be exiting the rear of your car is exiting under it. It's not too healthy for you or your passengers when idling or stopped in traffic, or at a light. Humans need Oxygen to live on, auto emissions do not support life.

All kidding aside its not healthy for you! The car will be fine either way.

HTH
Frank D

 

[chevrofreak]

Unless the car has a lot of leaks in the floor pan, he won't be sucking in any more fumes than he would get from all of the pollutant belching tailpipes surrounding him in traffic already.