My car is a Ford Focus, although this problem could occur with any car I guess...
I got the (original) exhaust replaced recently on my 1999 1.8i Focus Zetec (flex pipe, centre silencer and back box) but the new one appears to be blowing and is as loud as the old one was getting, if not worse !
The noise varies with speed - get the car up to 30mpg and you can hear a loud rasp from the rear of the car. Between 45-60mph and the rasp starts to resonate throughout the car pretty loudly, giving a loud 'booming' noise. Once you get over 60mph, it gets quieter again.
It's certainly far louder than I think is acceptable, even taking into account that a new exhaust is likely to sound different from an old one. It's also not the 'metallic' sound that you get from a new exhaust before it eventually gets coated inside - I can hear that sound and this is something else.
It's only a standard exhaust and appears to have been fitted correctly - the guys at ATS have been pretty good about it so far and have checked it out thoroughly, tightening all the joints, but can't find anything obviously wrong with it - it doesn't blow or make the noise when it's stationary and doesn't when you rev the engine either - it only does it when the car is driven.
It could be that one of the new parts is faulty of course, so the next stage is to take one of the guys out and show him just how loud it is but before I do, I was just wondering if anything else could be causing it ? ie. catalytic converter, wheel bearings etc ?
The exhaust appears to be hanging correctly, so isn't touching the bodywork and I've recently done a bit of DIY on the heat-shield to secure it, so I don't think it's that that's causing it.
Any ideas ? Any comments appreciated - cheers.
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Give it 500mls and see how it is then im sure it will be quieter they need to carbon up inside!
if after that time it is still "booming" then take it back ask them to replace the rear silencer.
18 yrs ago id have loved that noise when i was a boy racer !!! good luck.
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This may not be relevant to your car, but I have often found that cut-price exhausts are noisier, probably because the metal is thinner.
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The noise varies with speed - get the car up to 30mpg and you can hear a loud rasp from the rear of the car. Between 45-60mph and the rasp starts to resonate throughout the car pretty loudly giving a loud 'booming' noise. Once you get over 60mph it gets quieter again.
It's only a standard exhaust and appears to have been fitted correctly - the guys at ATS have been pretty good about it so far and have checked it out thoroughly tightening all the joints but can't find anything obviously wrong with it
Pattern parts are rarely as good as the originals. You should have got genuine parts fitted by a Ford dealer. Their RapidFit departments are very competitive.
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L\'escargot.
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have you had the bonnet up?...could be the exaust manifold gasket blowing
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cheap exhaust made out of bean tins,they are all louder than oe spec
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You'll have to take my word for it that the noise my car is making is not simply down to the difference between a pattern exhaust and an original dealer fitted exhaust - this is something else - either a badly fitted exhaust, or another problem.
Trust me - if Ford were competitive, then I wouldn't have been going to ATS. Ford wanted over £300 for a new exhaust - I don't think anyone would call that competitive.
My car has done 70,000 miles and is coming up for 8 years old. If you would only ever get genuine parts fitted by your dealer to your car if it was that age, then you must have more money than sense !
Actually, I usually split the difference by buying Ford parts and fitting them myself. One look at the state of my (original) exhaust told me that this was the one job I'd be better off paying for !
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After a bit of further investigation, it turns out that this incredibly loud rasping/droning noise tends to ease off when going round left-hand bends, which is starting to point towards a dodgy rear left wheel bearing.
This also might explain why getting a new exhaust made very little difference to the loud noise the car was making with the old exhaust !
I'll read up on wheel bearings and look into this a bit more - thanks for all your comments.
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>>...this incredibly loud rasping/droning noise tends to ease off when going round
>>left-hand bends which is starting to point towards a dodgy rear left wheel bearing.I'll read up on wheel bearings and look into this a bit more - thanks for all your comments.
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If it is making that much din then jack it up and spin the wheel and it should be obvious.
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Focuses (Foci?) are notorious for eating rear wheel bearings. IIRC theres a mod that fixes this.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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>This also might explain why getting a new exhaust made very little difference to the loud noise > the car was making with the old exhaust !
this might have been a clue.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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AFAIK these exhausts were one piece frm the cat back from factory. Replacements, whether Ford or pattern are two pieces from cat back. Could be as simple as the centre joint not being sealed properly?
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This forum is a great place for getting different opinions and advice - thanks again for your replies.
RE: 'jack it up' - yes, I'm just waiting for a break in the weather so I can jack the car up and check the wheels.
RE: 'Foci notorious for eating rear wheel bearings' - yes, I've read a few other threads on the subject on here. Sounds like I've been lucky gettig 70k miles out of mine !
RE: 'this might have been a clue' - yes absolutely, although the noise the car makes is not typical of a dodgy wheel bearing and sounds more like a noisy exhaust to my ears. I've associated this noise with my old exhaust being dodgy for over 6 months now, hence the reason I presumed that there was still a problem with the new exhaust.
RE: 'centre joint not being sealed properly' - yes, this was the first thing that was checked and was resealed/tightened. The fact that the exhaust sounds perfectly fine when the car is stationary, even when you rev the engine hard, was starting to point towards the problem being elsewhere.
I've had someone more experienced than me in these things sit in the back and he also agrees that the problem lies with the wheels rather than the exhaust, so it's looking like I'll need to replace the rear bearing(s). I'll start a separate thread to get people's experiences of changing bearings !
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Take it back to where you had it fitted. Regards Peter
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Reject it ASAP.
Put your hand over the tailpipe to seal it after starting the engine, can you hear a hiss? or does the pressure build up and leak past your hand? This will show if it is leaking.
The chances are this is a rubbish exhaust (most are). The myth "wait a few hundred miles and it will be quiet" is just a way of fobbing people off until they forget/get used to it. Hence new cars aren't noisy, and neither are cars which have replacement exhausts under warranty with the proper parts.
See if you can get a proper Ford exhaust or one at Ford Rapid Fit.
The fitter can send it back under warranty, so ask them to fit a better make or type.
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See if you can get a proper Ford exhaust or one at Ford Rapid Fit.
RapidFit fit genuine parts.
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L\'escargot.
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They also fit "non genuine" parts if they havent got stock at the time !
What is a "genuine" Ford exhaust? They dont make them !
But this problem isn't the exhaust anyway .
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have you tried the simple wheel bearing play test? jack the suspect wheel up and put your hands at 3 and 9 oclock position and try to move the wheel, then try the 12 and 6 oclock position if there is any noticeable movement the bearing has probably shot it, new one bout £18.00 plus labour , 45 mins tops
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Thanks guys - it's been back to ATS and they've been very helpful, to their credit. After the second visit, I confirmed with them that the exhaust isn't blowing at all, by observing them carry out the test you mention.
They actually took the car out and suggested that the rear wheel bearings might be to blame - I've had this backed up independently by someone else. The fact that the noise almost disappears when going round left-hand bends (in my case) is a classic symptom of a dodgy wheel bearing.
I'm going to do the bearing(s) and this should eliminate the problem, hopefully.
Rest assured I'll be returning to ATS if I'm still at all unhappy once this is done !
Thanks for your comments - I'll conclude this thread once the work's been done.
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Internal exhaust Baffle plates may be loose or something.
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exactly the same thing happened to my focus, had a rusty backbox, so thought it was blowing got a new one fitted, but it was still noisy, took it back for inspection, given o.k. took it to local garage diagonosed rear wheel bearing........now sorted. good luck with yours.
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mikej - 'I'm going to do the bearings..'
I wonder how you got on because I tried to do my duff Focus bearing [44,000ish]- absolutely impossible to bang it out of the drum! The helpful chap who MoTs our cars and who rescues me from my incompetence said that unless you have the right equipment it's impossible to change them as a do-it-yourself job. Clever old Ford!
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"unless you have the right equipment it's impossible to change them as a do-it-yourself job"
Yes, I can confirm that this was certainly the case for me - this is the first job I've ever started on my Focus that I've had to get outside help with.
On the Focus (at least on my Mk1 with rear drums), the outer part of the rear wheel bearing is perfectly flush with the hub. This means that once the inner bearing race is destroyed (which is inevitable if you're using a hammer, no matter how careful you are), there is no lip or edge to have a go at with a hammer and punch. I even took my drum to an experienced DIY mechanic friend of mine who said he'd not seen one like it. He had a go at removing it with me and he said this was the first bearing he'd ever failed to get out !
Once both inner parts are removed, there is just a slight taper half-way down. I was told on another forum that a 32mm socket would fit down inside and wedge on this taper which might allow it to be hammered out, but I wasn't willing to risk destroying my (borrowed) socket to try it ! I did try with a very thick metal washer but just succeeded in distorting it, giving me some indication of the forces that would be needed.
So.....following a recommendation from a friend of mine at work, I took my drum to a small, local garage and the guy pressed the old bearing out and the new bearing in......for nothing ! (Ford wanted £28+VAT)
He said it only took him 2 minutes, so it just goes to show how easy a job like that is with the right equipment (some kind of industrial press with the right-sized 'drifts' in this case)
The extremely loud droning noise has now gone, the car feels much smoother when rolling and my faith in after-market (standard) exhausts has been fully restored.
On the whole, I'm quite pleased with the outcome. The exhaust had needed replacing for some time, so the droning noise was the perfect excuse to get that done anyway, even if it didn't solve the problem ! The bearing was only an extra £18 from Unipart.
To conclude the thread for anyone who's looking into Focus exhausts - my standard ATS exhaust is no noisier than the original Ford exhaust and was around half the price, with a 3 year guarantee. I'm not expecting it to last another 8 years like the Ford exhaust did though...they never do, do they ?
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Old type replacement exhausts-the ones with slots in- could be fitted using a thin U-bolt clamp.Modern ones without the slot must use the heavy type clamp and it should be tightened till the outer pipe of the pair has deformed sufficiently to clamp the inner-very few fitted by DIY-ers ever get tightened sufficiently.
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"Exhausts will get quieter in a few hundred miles is a myth" but they will definitely get quieter in the first few miles-at least good ones will.This is because when the system is manufactured,the filling of the mufflers-usually basalt wool-is placed in the muffler in a very thin plastic bag-to protect the environment and the person assembling the system-also to ensure the right amount goes in.The bag melts after the first few miles-gives off a slight smell of hot plastic and a reduction in the noise level.
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