Are there different types of resonators? Something was rattling in my resonator, so I got it changed at a different shop. My car is now quiter, but when I hit vtec, it sounds like a big fart, it used to be a high pitch sound. Not only that, but my car feels slower. Can this be from just the resonator?

 

I'm not too sure but I know what your talking about. I took off my resonator and got a 2.25" straight pipe from the catalytic convertor and now my car feels like it lost a bit of power, unless the mechanic who put on my piping didn't do a good job and left some air leak.

 

resonators have a catch way and a free flow way....maybe before your resonator was installed with the free flow end, and this time its the catch end, creating your problem...just a thought because I have two resonators due to no cat....one turned the catch way to act as a cat kinda, and one turned free flow to just help with the noise a little bit, my car is not really quiet though, but its got a deeper tone to it, i like it, and for only 250 dollars in the whole thing it beats paying 500 for a cat back and still having to get rid of the cat and put some sorta pipe in its place....

 

are all resonators like that? when you say your car has a deep rumble, which way is your resonator installed? thanks.


[Modified by import_racer, 5:29 AM 7/16/2002]

 

No, not all resonators have the louvers that catch sound(and more importantly,flow) one way and not the other. The better types of resonators are perforated (nothing sticking into the air flow) and absorbs the sound with fiberglass material.

If the muffler shop installed the louver type that sticks into the airflow, performance will suffer. (Actually it will be better if they installed it reversed as it wont catch the airflow, but it still will hurt performance.)

 

I saw a dyno and yes you will lose 2-3 hp