How to Fix An Exhaust Drone

How to Fix An Exhaust Drone

Exhaust drone is primarily the result of sound waves traveling through the air and vibration that is transferred through a vehicle's frame, body and components. Exhaust drone vibration may also be a result of sound frequency alignment between the engine and exhaust. When the frequencies are aligned, the result is a pressure wave between the engine and exhaust. Sound waves, transferred sound and sound frequency must be controlled to quiet the exhaust. Exhaust system modifications and the application of sound control material will reduce exhaust drone in your vehicle.

Things You'll Need

Resonated tip

Muffler

Steel weights

Lead weights

Ring clamps

Hood liner

CLD tiles

Sound-blocking mats

Seam tape

Exhaust System Modifications

Install a resonated exhaust tip on the tailpipe. Resonated tips are lined with material that damps sound waves. When exhaust gas passes through the resonated tip, the lining damps the sound produced by the exhaust system by as much as 10 decibels.

Replace the muffler. Muffler design and size directly affects the sound profile of the exhaust system. Select a muffler with multiple chambers designed to damp the sound waves. Multiple chamber designs cause sound wave collisions, which reduce the total volume of the exhaust system. Altering the muffler design will also alter the sound frequency of the exhaust system, potentially eliminating resonating pulses in the cabin of the vehicle.

Extend the exhaust pipe by 3 to 4 feet. Exhaust drone not related to the volume of the sound output is a result of the sound frequency of the exhaust system. Lengthen the pipes to change the frequency of the sound. When the sound frequencies of the exhaust and engine match, a drone may occur. Altering the frequency of the exhaust will reduce or eliminate exhaust drone.

Clamp weights to the exhaust pipes. Exhaust drone can be damped by increasing the density of the material through which the vibration must travel. Clamp solid steel or lead to the exhaust pipe both before and after the muffler. Use ring clamps to secure the weight to the exhaust pipes.

Sound Blocking

Install a sound-damping hood liner in the engine compartment. Exhaust sounds produced at the engine and exhaust manifold resonate in the cabin of the vehicle. Hood liners damp the sound output.

Install vibration-reducing mats on the bare metal of the vehicle's interior. Constrained layer damping tiles, known as CLD tiles, will reduce the vibration of the metal. The drone of an exhaust system is amplified by vibrating sheet metal. Damped metal will not transfer as much of the vibration to the cabin. Apply CLD tiles to approximately 25 percent of the metal surfaces to ensure sufficient vibration control.

Install sound-blocking mats in the interior of the cabin. Remove the interior seating, upholstery and trim. Cover virtually all the surfaces in the interior with sound-blocking mats. Connect the mats with seam tape to reduce sound leakage. Reinstall the trim, upholstery and seating.

How to Quiet an Exhaust System

How to Quiet an Exhaust System

Loud exhaust systems can result in tickets in many states. They can also be an annoyance to yourself and others. Your exhaust system could be loud either because of alterations intended to increase the vehicle's performance, or because of failing equipment. Regardless of the reason, there are permanent as well as temporary ways to quiet an excessively loud exhaust system.

Things You'll Need
Muffler
Drill
Steel Wool
Wire


Permanent Fix
Make sure the catalytic converters and the mufflers are working properly. If they become damaged or have been bored out to increase performance, they can be very loud. In most cases, the check engine light will be on if the muffler or catalytic converter are damaged or altered.

Change the mufflers. On most vehicles there are four bolts which hold the muffler onto the tail pipe. If you have dual exhaust, there will be two mufflers. Glass pack mufflers tend to be very loud, but also tend to allow the best airflow. Reactive mufflers are included on most vehicles and are much quieter. Changing your muffler to a quieter one might affect your performance, but can make your vehicle quieter.

Replace your tail pipes. Larger diameter tailpipes tend to be louder than smaller diameter tailpipes. Often larger tailpipes are added to increase performance. If you don't want to reduce your tailpipe size, consider a crossover tailpipe. A crossover lets air travel between two exhaust pipes, which causes the pressure to equalize between the two pipes. The result is higher performance and less volume. If no alterations have been made to your tailpipes, this step will not be appropriate.

Temporary Fix
Drill two very small holes in your tailpipe, about 10 inches from the end.

Shove a wad of steel wool into the tailpipe. The wad of steel wool should go in as far as the holes that were drilled. The steel wool will work as a damper to absorb some of the sound without a dramatic effect on the vehicles performance.

Thread the wire into one hole, through the steel wool and out the other hole. Twist it around the tail pipe to secure it.

How to Make Your Exhaust Sound Deep on a V-6

How to Make Your Exhaust Sound Deep on a V-6

The size of your V-6 engine is the greatest single influence on exhaust resonance. The volume of space the engine displaces determines the actual volume of the exhaust gas output which passes through the exhaust system. The muffler type, muffler design, exhaust pipe design and construction, and attached aftermarket tips will all contribute to the exhaust sound profile produced by any V-6 engine. In terms of modifications, replacing the muffler will allow for the greatest change in sound resonance, followed by the exhaust pipe design and size. Exhaust tips are typically used to amplify or dampen the exhaust sound output.

Things You'll Need

Muffler

Exhaust pipes

Exhaust tip

Hacksaw

Muffler Replacement

Inspect the existing muffler to determine if it is a stock or performance muffler. Stock mufflers, installed and often branded by the manufacturer, commonly compromise performance to reduce sound output and costs. Replacement of the stock mufflers may allow significantly more exhaust gas to pass through the system in the same amount of time. More volume will typically deepen the tone of the exhaust.

Select a muffler which will both increase gas throughput and have resonator chambers. To deepen the sound of the V-6 exhaust select a muffler design that allows both minimal exhaust restriction as well as resonating chambers to allow the pulses of the exhaust to collide. Collision of the sound waves and exhaust gas will deepen the tone of the exhaust. Performance exhausts also allow more volume to pass through the exhaust system which may also increase the performance output of your V-6.

Install the muffler. To ensure exhaust gases do not escape the exhaust sytem, nearly all muffler designs require welding around the input and output connections. Local muffler shops typically install pre-purchased mufflers for a nominal charge. Local muffler shops also will provide recommendations for tone and performance and may have performance mufflers available for immediate installation.

Exhaust Pipe Size and Design

Determine if your exhaust pipes are stock. Stock exhaust pipes, as with the muffler, compromise some performance and sound to reduce the costs. Increasing the exhaust pipe diameter by one-half to one-full inch results in an increase of the exhaust throughput of the engine. The tone of the exhaust will generally deepen as the volume of exhaust increases.

Install a dual-exhaust.True dual exhaust systems have one exhaust pipe for each of the V-6 engine's manifolds. Replacing a single pipe exhaust system with a dual pipe system will reduce back-pressure to increase the total gas throughput of the exhaust.

Install a cross-over pipe or a dual-in/dual-out muffler design to allow each side of the dual exhaust to counter-balance the pulsing flow of the other. The result of a flow-balanced dual exhaust with larger pipes will be a deeper more mellow tone.

Exhaust Tips

Measure the diameter of the tailpipe. Place a tape measure over the end of the tailpipe to determine, in inches, the greatest width of the pipe. This will be used to determine what size exhaust tip to purchase.

Select an exhaust tip. Exhaust tips that are flared, dual-walled, beveled or increase in diameter from tailpipe to tip will all amplify the sound of the exhaust to varying degrees. Resonated exhaust tips contain a sound dampening material, such as fiberglass, which will reduce the sound output at the tailpipe. Resonated tips can reduce the volume of the exhaust without sacrificing the tone.

Cut off several inches of the existing tailpipe. Select the length of the cut based on the amount of tailpipe required for removal. Be sure to allow some tailpipe to remain as a means of attaching the exhaust tip. Use a hacksaw to cut through the steel.

Install the exhaust tip according to manufacturer instructions. Exhaust tips may be secured with clamps, screws, bolts or welds. Welds are the strongest connection type and may be directly welded to the cut end of the tailpipe. Clamp-on, screw-on and bolt-on exhaust tips slide over the existing tailpipe and are secured with tension to the pipe.

How Do I Make Exhaust Louder With a Water Hose?

How Do I Make Exhaust Louder With a Water Hose?

The roar of an engine is one of those sounds motoring enthusiasts love, and many a home hobbyist has spent ages trying to tune and retune his car to get the peak performance that comes with a highly charged engine. Others just want to take a shortcut and make their vehicle louder without the tune up. Adapting exhaust systems is the easiest way to accomplish this. If you have a glasspack muffler, one shortcut you can use is to use water to harden the sound-dampening fiberglass inside the muffler.

Instructions
Drive your vehicle enough to significantly heat up the exhaust system. About 30 minutes of uninterrupted highway driving should be enough to heat up your muffler enough.

Leave your vehicle running so it’s sill producing exhaust, and insert a water hose in the tailpipe until it reaches the start of your glasspack.

Turn the water on, and let it run for about three seconds, then remove the hose from the tailpipe. This causes a reaction in the fiberglass inside the muffler, making it rigid and less able to absorb sound. Try not to let water creep up into the exhaust system, as it will react with exhaust fumes and corrode the system.

Drive your vehicle for another 20 to 30 minutes to continue producing exhaust that will flush any water vapor out of your exhaust system. Water vapor will corrode your exhaust system and may also seep into your engine, corroding parts there.

How to Make a Car Exhaust Louder Without Buying Anything

How to Make a Car Exhaust Louder Without Buying Anything

The catalytic converter and muffler operate to dampen sounds and control vehicle emissions. Some states require that all vehicles manufactured after a certain date have both. Increasing the noise level of your exhaust on newer vehicles requires purchasing aftermarket exhaust systems. Older vehicles, such as a 1960's era truck, are grandfathered in, allowing for the use of straight piping. You can modify the exhaust on an older vehicle easily without having to buy any expensive parts.

Things You'll Need

Angle grinder

Drill

Instructions

Cut the exhaust pipe with an angle grinder where the exhaust pipe meets the muffler coming out of the engine.

Cut the hangers on the disconnected pipe with the angle grinder and remove the excess pipe. You will see two to three hangers connecting the pipe and the frame extending towards the rear of the vehicle. Cut all of them.

Drill three holes near the tip of the remaining pipe along the bottom edge. The holes will cause some reverberation, increasing the noise level.

What Is an Exhaust Resonator?

What Is an Exhaust Resonator?

Internal combustion engines usually make a lot of noise while they are running, and this noise can be annoying and exhaustive to your ears, especially when it is heard for a long period of time. Thus, mufflers were created to reduce the noise generated by the exhaust system. Exhaust resonators, meanwhile, further reduce the noise by making sound waves that cancel noises out.

Structure

A typical automotive exhaust resonator is made of a hollow steel cylindrical tube and is attached to the muffler of an exhaust system. This type of resonator is designed similar to that of an acoustic resonator, which creates an “exhaust note” that gives the exhaust noise a less annoying and more pleasant tone. The sound can be enhanced by means of adjusting the exhaust note.

Function

Exhaust resonators are usually add-on features in exhaust systems. They are placed together with the mufflers along the exhaust pipe and work primarily to decrease exhaust noise. The exhaust noise passes through the resonating chamber, which in turn tunes the sound to cause destructive interference in order to be canceled out by the opposite sound waves.

Availability

Being an add-on device, exhaust resonators are provided by aftermarket manufacturers and can be installed on muffler systems of internal combustion systems, such as automobiles and motorcycles. Some vehicles already are equipped with tuned exhaust systems with resonators, thus making the exhaust pipes capable of pulling the combustion products out of the chamber faster with reduced sound. Most aftermarket producers improve the exhaust tuners, as these help the vehicle perform more efficiently.

Advantages

Exhaust resonators provide a wide array of benefits to vehicle owners. Aside from reducing the noise from the engine’s exhaust system, resonators also enhance overall engine performance and smoother driving because more horsepower is yielded without wasting as much fuel. Noise suppression also helps in passing fuel emission tests, as the resonator prevents chassis rattling, an effect that usually leads to contaminated fuel emissions.

Support

Aside from exhaust resonators, catalytic converters also are part of the overall exhaust system to help the muffler perform its function of reducing exhaust noise. However, instead of canceling out each other's sound waves, their effect is to restrict the sound coming out of the exhaust pipe. Catalytic converters work hand in hand with exhaust resonators in reducing and suppressing engine noise, thus allowing the vehicle to achieve optimum engine and driving performance as compared with using mufflers alone.

What Is the Function of the Exhaust System?

What Is the Function of the Exhaust System?

An exhaust system carries waste gases and other combustion products away from an automobile engine. It allows the vehicle to operate with minimal noise, smoke and pollution transmitted to the environment. A properly maintained exhaust system is essential to the clean and efficient operation of the car.

Function
For the internal combustion engine that drives trucks, cars and motorcycles, the exhaust system carries waste gases away from the engine and through a system of manifolds and pipes. The exhaust system is an essential part of a vehicle engine and must be kept in good working order, otherwise engine performance and mileage will suffer.

Exhaust Manifold
The exhaust manifold is the first component of the exhaust system. It comprises a stainless steel, aluminum or cast-iron unit that adjoins the engine's combustion cylinders and collects exhaust gases from the combustion process. Car enthusiasts have the option of detailing their engine with exhaust headers or extractors, which are a series of pipes that are individually linked to the cylinders. The exhaust is funneled into a collector that directs the exhaust to the secondary components of the exhaust system. This arrangement allows the engine to run more efficiently.

Mufflers
A system of exhaust pipes carries the exhaust gases through a muffler, which contains a series of baffles that damp the noise of the engine combustion and escaping gases. Without a muffler, the noise of combustion would escape directly from the exhaust pipe, creating a tremendous distraction for drivers and pedestrians. By law in all states, automobile mufflers must be in good working condition.

Catalytic Converter
A catalytic converter completes the ignition of gases that have been incompletely burned within the engine's combustion chamber. The catalytic converter prevents pollutants such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides from escaping into the atmosphere. By law, the catalytic converter must be in good working condition, and many states require annual testing of this component to assure that the vehicle is emitting minimal pollutants into the atmosphere.

Tailpipe
The engine exhaust finally reaches the tailpipe, which is made of stainless steel or steel tubing. The exhaust pipe vents the gases behind or above the vehicle. Modern exhaust systems have reduced automobile pollutants by a considerable amount in the past few decades and have helped to reduce smog and other pollution in most large cities.