Steve_O

Well, after jacking my car up, checking all the bolts, checking the clearance between the body and the system, i am at a loss as to what's making noise with my Skunk2 Mega Power exhaust. Here's a pic of where the noise is coming from loudest. as you can see, the system clears fine:



it just started yesterday morning and it only happens when the car and exhaust sytem are cold and when the motor is at a certain RPM. once the car warms up or rev the engine up, the rattle goes away. i had an idea that it might be how the hangers on the piping are welded; that there might be a tiny gap between the arm and the pipe and the vibration is making them slightly knock against the piping.

i checked the clearance of the system with the body above it and everything seems to be fine. another theory i tested was maybe it was hitting the heat shield above the resonator or it was the shield on the converter but this is the strange part...if i rev the engine and keep it in and around 1000-1500RPM it makes the noise. let the engine come down few hundred rpms lower or higher, it stops (or if the car has warmed up all thw way). now, if i push on the resonator and give it a littel nudge to one side, it stops. as soon as i let it hang n it's own, it comes back. keep in mind tho that the system DOES NOT touch anywhere and the bolts are all tight. i checked three times LOL

sorry for a minor issue but i hate things like that with my car and this was a pricy exhaust system so i figured it shoulnd't do it at all. i have yet to install the rear muffler because Skunk2 must have packed my box on a Friday at 4:30pm as I got a coupe rear muffler section in my box . i only have the mid-section installed right now.

any help or anyone else have this problem?


Modified by 519RACING at 7:21 PM 3/11/2004

-auSTIn-

Sorry i cant help you out but I would like to know too, my car does the same thing at the same RPM's. Especially when its cold.....But mine isnt Skunk 2, (5 zigen)

Steve_O

do oyu have a skunk2 exhaust as well?

im thinking maybe the heat shielding above the system is the culprit but why would it stop wheni give the exhaust a push?

ihate this ****

SD_EM1

i too had a rattle with my exhaust system. turned the car on, lifted it, and it was coming from the cat (carsound) hitting my heatshield. i just bent the shield back a bit, and the problem vanished.

i sort of did the checking process you did... where you rev the engine to a specific rpm, and the rattle would come out.

now i have this strange high pitched rattle that i only get in the morning...sounds almost like a whistle, but it's not. maybe it's the same sound as yours? not sure.. but anyway, good luck finding it.

btw, i have an apexi n1

Steve_O

true. might be why the rattle goes away when i nudge the exhaust or rev the engine up. but it didn't appear to be hitting anywhere tho.

i'm gonna do downstairs soon to the garage now that the car has sat to cool off and see if i can find it in a while.

i know it's not bad but it is SERIOUSLY loud whenit's cold in the morning or when it's been outside at work and i start it when i go home.

Grip

my buddy bought that piece of **** exhaust ...his car doesthe same thing..we looked and looked everywhere and the fitment was fine..so we decided to take the exhaust off and remount it just for the hell of it..well when we removed it we found a 5 inch long split in the pipe right on the top of the tube..so it was impossible to see..it was on top of the first bend after the resonator towards the gastank...he called skunk 2 and they wouldnt help him out..they said he had to take it to a local shop and have it welded...so he did...ever since then ive hated that exhaust ..i dont know why or how it happened..but the tubing split..i guess there was a seam under the polished metal or somthing

Steve_O

Well, I removed the entire mid-section, shook out and checked everything (no rattles in the converter or any noise at all from it), re-mouted everything back up and checking all the bolts twice, i started the car and the rattle was still there. i crawled along under the car wiht my ear close to the piping and i think i found the problem:



that is where the rattling was loudest. to me the hanger appears to have been welded only 3/4 of the way on each side leaving a tiny gap between it and the piping where it's welded on as if it was elevated at the moment they attached it. my only guess as i was lying under the car is when it's cold there is enough space to allow movement and the rattling. i figure when the pipe and hanger get hot, the metal expands and the gap closes which makes the rattling stop. also, if i push up ith slight pressure on the resonator or on the rubber clamps to take the weight off the hangers, the noise stops as well. the hanger is welded on at the sides only and there's no complete weld all the way around.

since i have just the mid-pipe on and no rear muffler section at the moment im not sure if having the muffler part on as well wil stop the rattling. i won't be receiving my muffler section until middle of next week so i'll have to endure it til then.

if it still doesn't stop after putting the muffler on, i'm going to take it to a local shop and have them put a weld around the entire hanger where it attached to the pipe.

i know this isn't a big thing and it's almost petty but **** like this pisses me off. especially after the price we pay for these things. i guessi just get mad because i think i should hear nothing but the sweet symphony of exhaust note after dropping a grand for a performance exhaust system . I must have gotten one made and packed on a Friday


P.S. for those who have this exhaust, do your hangers stick out of the rubber mounts that far? there seems to be a lot of extra hanger there and the rubber mounts are as far back as they can go on the body mounting points

krskrypto23

Yo 519RACING...
first of all, thanks for the detailed write up.. i think it's legit to be pissed about that junk.. cuz i have the same exact freakin' problem.. i also wanna know if anybody out there knows anything about this rattling in the morning.. i have the same exact problem with my apexi ws muffler (custom piping 2.25)
thanks...

2000blackgsr

I have the exact same problem with that exhaust. Only when its cold it does it, but if I hold the muffler still with my foot it stops. I'm at a loss, and I don't have a clue how to fix it.

I don't think my hangers stick out that far, but it was a while ago when I put it on and I haven't really paid attention to the hangers since then.

deeksmooth

i had the same problem with my s2 exhaust... this is the 3rd s2 setup i've bought cause i was very pleased with it the 2 times i got it for my del Sol... once w/ my d16 and once w/ my b18.

i ordered it for my 99 hatch and out of the box, the guts or whatever inside the muffler were rattling intensely, and no, the silencer was not in. so i sent it back, and Jim in the RA dept took like 2 months to straighten the situation out. i finally got it back and here we are 3 months later, doing the same **** PLUS rattling at the resonator like you guys have. i think they put less effort into their exhausts in the past couple years. i just hope this isn't the case for their cams and valvetrain parts because that's one of my next steps.

i'll never get a s2 exhaust again , i'm replacing w/ CTR catback... mmm QUIET.

EG6[B16A1]

same here! I have a Apexi WS...same rattling noise I get too. I wonder if its the bushings?

krskrypto23

is it the heat shield? i know this has been covered like crazy.. i guess i'll check tomorrow morning..

PAdelsol

I also have the Skunk2 exaust on my delsol and also had a rattling problem. For the money I paid for it I was very disappointed!

My problem was that the section of the exhaust piping that snaked around the gas tank had to tight a clearence and when it was cold it would rattle to beat all hell against the gas tank! Aside from being annoying it was destroying the undercoating of the gas tank. I had to cut two inches out of the piping b4 the tank to pull it back away from the gas tank.

Pain in the ***, great sounding, over-priced exhaust.

bad93ex

I had the same problem with my R*SR exhaust but it doesn't matter what exhaust you have.

It was the heat shield on my cat that caused the problem.

Jimmy

iTrader: (5)

Catalytic Converter...

I had this problem with my apexi N1..Bolted my test pipe on and viola the problem was gone..

Two weeks later i got tired of how bad it sounded and put my cat back on and there the rattle was again..

I'm not 100% sure that this is your guys problem...

*BUT*

To double check and make sure here is how you can check your CAT

Get a rubber mallet and get underneath your can and tap the bottom center of the cat

If you hear like something is loose or moving around its time for a new cat

If it dont make a sound then you should be good

krskrypto23

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PAdelsol &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I also have the Skunk2 exaust on my delsol and also had a rattling problem. For the money I paid for it I was very disappointed!

My problem was that the section of the exhaust piping that snaked around the gas tank had to tight a clearence and when it was cold it would rattle to beat all hell against the gas tank! Aside from being annoying it was destroying the undercoating of the gas tank. I had to cut two inches out of the piping b4 the tank to pull it back away from the gas tank.

Pain in the ***, great sounding, over-priced exhaust.</TD></TR></TABLE>

got any pics of the gas tank area that your talking about?

CHRIS 1.8

I had a 28 inch resonator and I had weird rattling noises. I checked every inch on my exhaust setup and it turned out something got loose in the resonator. I cut the resonator off and hit one end to the ground and it made the same rattling noise as when the resonator was on my car.

Hope this gives you an idea

kingSfit

must be the hanger

Steve_O

looks like i'm not the only one with this issue

i removed the entire mid-section and separated the two pieces and after checking everything from the bolts, converter, heath shields and both pieces of the mid-section, my guess was right and I figured out what the probelm was. if you look in that pic i posted where i circled the hanger, the spot where they are welded to the piping there WAS a small gap where the welds ended. i wish i had a better pic or a close up to show exactly what i mean. but whenever i pushed up on the resonator with my hand slightly it went away so i knew it had to be something with the piping itself.

i went to midas and had them put some spot welds with the ARC welder around where the hanger attaches to the piping. afterwards i went to visit my friend who is the assistant mgr at the mtn bike shop and let the car sit for a few hours. when i started it the rattleing was gone. when i have time and can get a professional welder who can make a complete weld with a stick welder I'll get it done completely. but so far the spot welds have eliminated the rattling.

the gap (even tho it can barely been seen) must have had enough space when the metal was cold and retracted to create the rattling. since metal expands when heated, my guess is the gap would close as the hanger and piping got hot and expanded. i am supposed to be getting my replacement muffler (they packaged a coupe rear muffler section into my box) this week so hopefully that goes smoothly.

maybe this will help some of you with your rattling issues.

P.S. i've read and also been told that the skunk2 mega power exhaust and Skunk2's springs are made by RS*R when they had the INVIDIA name. if you check out the Invidia exhausts they look almost the same

Nitrous151

mine does this too bugs the **** out of me

Steve_O

from my experience over the last few days with this, if you are under the car and the rattling stops when you push up on it, it's probably the hangers like mine were.


lemme seee if i cazn find a clearer pic to show you where my problem was. abck in a few

EX R8ED

I had that problem with my S2 exhaust...but it was a loose silencer

deeksmooth

k, invidia - s2 - rsr are all the same company... or i should say, the exhaust are made by invidia for s2 and rsr.

at first construction they were better... something, or someone got lazy and now their **** IMO. the guts in the muffler and resonator break loose and their RMA (atleast skunk2's) turnaround time is TERRIBLE.

that's my .02

Steve_O

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by citrEK &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">k, invidia - s2 - rsr are all the same company... or i should say, the exhaust are made by invidia for s2 and rsr.

at first construction they were better... something, or someone got lazy and now their **** IMO. the guts in the muffler and resonator break loose and their RMA (atleast skunk2's) turnaround time is TERRIBLE.

that's my .02 </TD></TR></TABLE>


I searched for fun last night on JDMCivic.com about that topic using combinations of "RS*R" and "Skunk2" and found quite a bit of discussion on the topic. According to the RS*R website, they used to offer the Invidia name but ceased to offer it after 1996. Here's the link to the RS*R FAQ section where they talk about the INVIDIA name issue. I guess there must have been enough questions about it because in the *** there's also a link to an official letter from RS*R Japan's president about it:

[URLhttp://www.rs-r.com/faq.htm][/URL]

I also found something interesting which i'm sure you will be able to spot the similarities

The label on the side of my Skunk2 exhaust box:


The label on the side of the INVIDIA exhaust box:


A pic of the Skunk2 exhaust from my website:


An pic of the INVIDIA exhaust system (from another online retailer):


Some striking similarities here. Well, the RS*R site did mention that a company bought the INVIDIA name around 1996 and Skunk2 has been in business since before then so maybe it's possible that the "independent company" which bought the INVIDIA name was actually Skunk2. But I live in southwest Ontario Canada so I'm not an expert on it. I know for sure that there are some striking similarities between the two systems.

Then again I've read that RS*R was the original manufacturer of the INVIDIA line and then it was sold but RS*R still makes the Skunk2 exhaust and springs.

I guess as far as turnaround time for Skunk2, I'll find out because my dealer said they're supposed to get my exhaust in by today and I'm calling them in a few hours.

Ive read many good things about the S2 and IMO if I had to choose only one other exhaust other than S2 it would be the APEXi N1. I don't have my car slammed since i autoX it so I don't think the exhaust piping clearance issue wold be much of a problem.

VRD^don

my car does the samething too but mines not a skunk2.. its a tanabe..and i found out that it was the carsound cat that was rattling..it was loose...so i tighten it ..and noise went away..yeah it was cold too...try looking if your cats loose..