Although it’s often neglected and abused, one of the biggest safety parts of an automobile is going to be its exhaust system. It’s in charge of getting all the harmful exhaust gases from the engine out of the back of the car. 

Now the big thing here is exhaust gas contains carbon monoxide which is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and if you inhale enough of it… it’s deadly. So, you don’t want any leaks in the exhaust system. You want to check the exhaust system at least once a year or anytime there’s a change in the noise of the car. 

Alright, suppose you have some pin hole in some pipe or muffler or something, well some things you don’t do. This is very very common. We see this in the repair shop all the time. Somebody takes an old beer can or soda can… cuts it open.. takes some tie wraps.. wraps it around the pipe. Well, number one it’s not airtight so carbon monoxide can still get into the car. Number 2, the tie wraps are plastic, the exhaust system is hot, they melt, the whole thing falls apart. Duct tape, that’s another one. It burns and it melts and all kinds of nasty things stinks up the whole car, so those are things you don’t do.

Now what you can do in some cases, this is a muffler bandage, and it uses special materials that are heat resistant and heat activated so that you wrap it around the offending part, follow the directions, and the heat will cause resins in it to bond it to the part. So that’s something you can do, but remember its temporary so remember you’ll probably have to replace the part itself. 

Alright now, most exhaust systems have stainless steel but even though the exhaust system may be stainless steel the hangers that hold the parts up may not… they rot away and then you have to replace them. We’ll you can buy universal replacements such as we see here, or you can buy specific ones that wrap around the muffler or the pipe to fit it exactly. Big thing is make sure any hanger you use has rubber in it. Then reason for that is the exhaust system is attached to the engine up front the engine moves back and fort or side to side, and if you mount the exhaust rigidly something on the engine or something through the exhaust engine will break.  So, you have to have those rubber parts in the hangers.

Don’t use coat hangers, all the different things that you try, well be very careful with them because you have to remember the carbon monoxide can be deadly to you and your family. And if you have a question or comment, drop me a line right here at Motorweek.