Hey guys. On my way to work I realized that the tone of my exhaust was different. It sounded louder and lower. Also something is rattling right under the front 2 seats. Can you guys guess what it can be? My guess is it can be something with the exhasut system?? I dont hear anything from the engine and the CEL is not on, so im not sure what it can be. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

Do you have stock exhaust? Heat sheilds on the stock exhaust often become loose and rattle. Crawl under the car and take a look, won't hurt to take them off, or better yet get an aftermarket exhaust

 

Heat shields can protect against fires if you ever park on high grass (such as at fairs, athletic events, etc).

Note that the stock exhaust (both muffler and A-pipe) you get from the dealer comes with a lifetime warranty, on parts only if you have it installed elsewhere, and on parts and labor if you let the dealer do it. Yeah, you have to pay for it once, but the next time, you won't. So if you plan to hold onto your car for a long time, that may be a factor in deciding which exhaust to get.

(The dealer just replaced the muffler on our high-mileage GS-R for free under this warranty. Woo hoo!)

 

everthing is stock besides the muffler. the car drives fine its just that darn rattle and different exhaust tone makes it feel like im in a different car

 

The exhaust tone probably changed because something is coming loose. Get it fixed before it gets worse and starts dragging - either yourself, or at an independent mechanic, or at an Acura dealer. Exhaust problems are not particularly complicated, but I would stick with OEM parts or better, rather than a generic auto parts store muffler etc.

 

It's probably a heat shield.

 

Thats what i thought but the thing is my exhaust sound has changed. When i rev my car in neutral, as my rpm drops right at 1.5k rpm the muffler makes like this weird farting noise. lol. So i dont think its my heatshield.........i think something just came loose. ahhhh its causing stress

 

I had the same problem about a year ago. I took off the catalytic converter and a piece of the element inside the cat came loose and was rattling around. I mainly noticed it when it was idling, so it sounds similar to your problem, and the rattling was coming from the same area you mentioned. I took out the cat, broke up the loose piece a little and poured out all the loose pieces. Put the cat back on and I have not had any problems since. In order to check if that was where the rattling was coming from, I just hit the cat with my hand and I could hear something was loose inside.

 

Remove the cat and take a look. I had this same problem and it turned out that my o2 sensor was a little bit loose. I tightened it down and the problem was solved.

 

just wondering is there a write up of how to remove the cat??

 

There is not much to it. Just remove the bolts from both sides and take it out. I removed the bolts from the exhaust first, then the exhaust manifold. Make sure you have something that can support your exhaust pipe when you disconnect the cat and remove the secondary O2 sensor or disconnect it so you dont mess up the wiring when you pull the cat out.