Exhaust Pop

[te51levin]

Originally Posted by mr2tim

The only time my N/A cars did this I usually found a loose fitting in the the exhaust assembly or a cracked exhaust manifold, burnt seal rings between the exhaust manifold and the downpipeb(2 ea). (1 tiny pin hole is all it takes?)

Bingo.

If you have significant popping on decel, it is almost always due to an air leak somewhere in the exhaust system. Cracked exhaust manifolds are common on AW11s. So are loose, poorly built, or rusted exhaust systems, missing or loose hardware, and blown out gaskets. I've even seen a couple with missing exhaust gaskets.

In most cases, problems with these cars are caused by poor maintenance and shoddy repair. The cure is usually to put it back the way it should be rather than trying to re-engineer something that would work perfectly if it wasn't worn out, rusty, broken, or built out of off-brand parts by a high school dropout making $10.61 an hour at Speedy Muffler.

[Timon]

Well to my knowledge the exhaust isn't missing anything or cracked - but who knows it could be cracked at the common, #4. I haven't taken the heat shield off. When I put on the Magnaflow I did get a new flange gasket, but the rest of the exhaust is stock.

[hosh]

Originally Posted by Timon

Wouldn't your oil pressure gauge have dropped off completely if it was running that low? My car is leaking a bit from the oil pan (I need a new gasket), and when it starts getting low, the oil pressure gauge reads lower than normal - hinting that the car needs oil.

pressure was normal that morning. I was only turning 3000 at shift until i came off the exit, nailed it and went into a turn. No time to react to oil pressure gauge.

Also I would make an educated guess that you have a cracked exhaust. All 4 of the cars I've dealt with have had cracked manifolds. Quite a few more that i just know about also.

[328FTW]

Mine pops and it doesn't have a crack or leaks but the exhaust is very short and any unburnt fuel flames and any lean out means it pops more.

[Timon]

^ I noticed after adjusting the air/fuel mixture for a bit more lean it popped much louder, and more often. In the spring I may pull off the heat shield and check for any cracks, unless I fail emissions in Feb. then it will be forced to be sooner.