so, i've had my dch on for about a year now. this never happened before but it happened to me twice already, and its really getting irritating. as illustrated in the first pic, most si owners should be able to point out what is wrong right away.



anyways onwards and upwards, the first time this happened, i went to the track called famoso raceway in bakersfield (some of you may know where it is), i ran the whole night and the car was solid all night. when we were leaving i noticed the car sounded different, like there was just a lot more bass to the sound, so we stopped at the chevron next to the freeway and looked at it. and i noticed the muffler was pushed up against the bumper. this is the result of the first time.



the 2nd time happened when i went to get an alignment at the dealer. so the fact that this happened after the techs got behind the wheel has pretty much made up my mind that techs like to beat on customer cars.

and the 3rd time this happened, i was driving in the rain. the fact that hills with rain water plus hondas don't mix very well, i had a feeling this was going to happen. even with vsa on, it still spins a little bit, but as soon as the tires break loose, you can hear the exhaust hitting the bottom on the chassis.

but anyways i found out the problem and what causes it. its when the motor exerts force and what happens when the motor tilts back is the exhaust gets pulled towards the front of the car, and on the way back, if the pull was far enough, it will catch onto something but not quite sure what it is. i think its the hangar catching the bracket that the grommet goes onto, as illustrated in this pic, you can see one of my hangars are bent.




you can see in this pic where the hangar catches the bracket as it is torn up where the contact is.



my exhaust setup is shown here. it is the dcrh with the stock mid pipe and axleback.





the quick fix to this is just a long flathead screwdriver and you just pry the muffler back into place. it may take some bending with the hand depending on how bad it is. but im curious if anyone else has this happen to them??

 

Well all that's happening to me is the muffler tip turns gold after a couple weeks and I get that tiny black patch on the bottom tip just like you do. But some simple degreaser clears it right up good as new.

As far as actually bending the muffler tip....never had that happen to me. And I've had mine on for over 1.5 years. But I also never really go to the drag strip very often so I don't exert alot of abuse on my car.

 

in the first pic i was actualy referring that the fact that my muffler was closer to the bumper than it should be. but i found out the problem today and took care of it. quite odd that it happens.

 

That's exactly what I thought he was talking about in the first pic too.

I use Turtle Wax chrome cleaner/polish to spruce up my exhaust tip. Works great!

 

I haven't noticed that problem and I drove pretty hard when I had my stock exhaust. If you plan on keeping the rest of your exhaust stock, I reccommend getting the INGALL'S ENGINE TORQUE DAMPER. It's called a stiffy too. I have this on my car and the engine does not move at all and it helps alot with axel hop.

 

i have the torque damper.
the motor still moves even at the stiffest setting which is 9mm.

 

Does running a race header without a cat cause the discoloration of the muffler tip?

 

Yep. All that "un-filtered" exhaust cakes up on the tip and makes it look an ugly gold color after a couple weeks. But some simple degreaser literally melts the color away and your tip is good as new again.

 

Even on a stock setup that tip will get pretty dirty.

 

X2

 

True. But the addition of a RH seems to accelerate the process. At least that's what I've come to notice

 

How do you pass emissions with no Cat? Do you swap yours when you get it inspected?

 

new cars here in ca, dont have to be smogged for 6 years.
my car is about to be paid off in 15 months.