996 exhaust mufflers - replace yourself...?

[Track_Puppy]

I think one of my exhaust boxes has started to blow. I've got a feeling I might get stick for saying this(!), but does anyone know if it's possible / reasonably straightforward to remove and fit mufflers yourself??

I had the bypass mod done on the mufflers a year or two ago (sounded great), but now when you rev it the sound of the come-down is different (less "clean" fall in sound as the revs die) and it rattles when idling (once warm). I'm tempted by DesignTek's mufflers, currently on sale for about £500 incl VAT (see link below), which makes them about the same price as a second hand set of genuine Porsche mufflers with the bypass mod done - I think DT's will be quieter but would hope they'd last longer...

http://design9114-px.rtrk.co.uk/fu/prod4954/Exhaus...

Cheers

[MrC986]

Ideally you need a trolley jack & 2 axle stands as without a ramp you probably need to remove the rear bumper & to take off the rear wheels. The only real challenge will be whether the exhaust clamps come off easily or whether they need to be cut off? You would be better off finding a local garage & using their ramp as well as a strong socket set for the exhaust clamps. The solution you have mentioned looks vfm

[dumpy]

Its a doddle. just done mine.

1) Trolley Jack under Sump with big bit of wood to spread the load
2) slacken off wheel nuts
3) Jack up, stick axle stands on rear jack points
3a) edit forgot to say take wheels off makes life much easier
4) Remove rear clamps (Grind off if needs be)
5) Remove 3 bolts holding muffler to bracket.
6) Remove old muffler.

Reverse to put back on. Use new clamps.

More satisfaction doing yourself and no one else to blame if you dont tighten wheel bolts up (Torqued to correct torque please)

Enjoy

Edited by dumpy on Monday 16th January 22:11

[barriejames]

No need to take bumper off look at half a day though and soak the nuts in wd or similar before but yes easy enough to do. Grind off existing clamp and fit new one as they never undo as always rusted

[Track_Puppy]

Thanks gents!

barrie, sorry, do you mean soak the nuts for the new exhaust clamps? Cheers mate

[Maersk]

Naw, spray the existing ones with penetrating fluid for a couple of days before you do the job Plus Gas or WD at a push

[Track_Puppy]

Thanks Maersk (that'd make much more sense, d'oh!!!)

[Gibbo205]

Took one of mine off 997 yesterday due to a suspect baffle gone. With a ramp and some soaking with Plus Gas, it took all of 30 minutes to get it off with bumper and wheels on car. I actually cheated and removed the muffler with the bracket, easier that way, then just take the bracket off the muffler once off car.

The exhaust system on these cars is incredibly easy to fit and remove even with just axle stands.

[Track_Puppy]

Cheers Gibbo, great tip!

[Gibbo205]

Track_Puppy said:

Cheers Gibbo, great tip!

Yep and when you re-fit, turn the bolt around so in future you can take the muffler of even easier by not having to remove it with bracket.

Porsche in their wisdom put the bolt in upside down making it very hard to get too, hence just easier to remove the muffler and bracket together.

[Track_Puppy]

Theft prevention maybe?

Cheers, all noted!

[youngsyr]

Massive thread resurrection, but there's some useful information above so won't hurt to bring it back to the top.

I'm about to swap out the original (now 16 year old) silencers on my 2001 Carrera for a new pair and can see that in theory (and ignoring the obvious rusty nuts and clamps issue) it should be relatively easy to undo the 3 nuts (part 16 in diagram) on each side that hold the silencers onto the brackets without removing the rear bumper, but what I'm struggling with is how you have room to pull the silencer outwards to remove its pipe that slides inside the pipe from the cat (see part 29 for the clamp at this join)?

Looks to me that you'd need to be able to pull at least 3 inches of pipe out by pulling the silencer sideways and outwards, but surely you can't do that with the rear bumper and heatshield in place?

Can anyone who has tried it shed any light on it?

Thanks.

I've attached a diagram so you can see what I mean:

[Slippydiff]

youngsyr said:

Massive thread resurrection, but there's some useful information above so won't hurt to bring it back to the top.

I'm about to swap out the original (now 16 year old) silencers on my 2001 Carrera for a new pair and can see that in theory (and ignoring the obvious rusty nuts and clamps issue) it should be relatively easy to undo the 3 nuts (part 16 in diagram) on each side that hold the silencers onto the brackets without removing the rear bumper, but what I'm struggling with is how you have room to pull the silencer outwards to remove its pipe that slides inside the pipe from the cat (see part 29 for the clamp at this join)?

Looks to me that you'd need to be able to pull at least 3 inches of pipe out by pulling the silencer sideways and outwards, but surely you can't do that with the rear bumper and heatshield in place?

Can anyone who has tried it shed any light on it?

Thanks.

I've attached a diagram so you can see what I mean:

Make it easy on yourself, remove the rear bumper, it saves a lot of faffing about and takes no more than 5-10 minutes to remove.
Edit to add in theory you should be able to slide the securing sleeves to one side sufficiently to enable you to remove the silencer boxes from the cat section... in practice it's not so straightforward ....

Hope this helps :



If the image doesn't load, left click on the box and open image in new window (that'll open in Tinypic's webpage) and click on "View raw image" then click on it again to open full size.

I'd intended to post a smile smilie, but PH has messed everything up so it no longer works as it used to .....

Edited by Slippydiff on Friday 7th April 14:45

[youngsyr]

Slippydiff said:

Make it easy on yourself, remove the rear bumper, it saves a lot of faffing about and takes no more than 5-10 minutes to remove.
Edit to add in theory you should be able to slide the securing sleeves to one side sufficiently to enable you to remove the silencer boxes from the cat section... in practice it's not so straightforward ....

Hope this helps :



If the image doesn't load, C&P the above link into your browser and open it in Tinypic's webpage and click on "View raw image" then click on it again to open full size.

I'd intended to post a smile smilie, but PH has messed everything up so it no longer works as it used to .....

Edited by Slippydiff on Friday 7th April 14:43

Thanks, there's a good right up here on how to remove the bumper and do the whole job, was just hoping to save some time by not having to faff around with the bumper and heat shields.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Porsche-9...

It seems that pretty much the entire job can be done with the bumper in place as long as you've got the car on axle stands or a ramp and the rear wheels off. It's just getting those pipes out of the cat pipes that looks like it will be a pain in the backside with the bumper on.

[Slippydiff]

youngsyr said:

Thanks, there's a good right up here on how to remove the bumper and do the whole job, was just hoping to save some time by not having to faff around with the bumper and heat shields.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Porsche-9...

It seems that pretty much the entire job can be done with the bumper in place as long as you've got the car on axle stands or a ramp and the rear wheels off. It's just getting those pipes out of the cat pipes that looks like it will be a pain in the backside with the bumper on.

The rear bumper is held on with four screws along the top (2 minutes max) two bolts in the rear arch (3 minutes a side max) and 4 bolts attached to the lower edges of the bumper (2 minutes aside max) bumper is then off (don't forget to unclip/disconnect the number plate loom).

The heatshields have 7 bolts holding them on, all easily removable (5 minutes a side max).

Trust me, if getting the bumper off was a complete PITA , I'd have left it on and struggled with it in situ, but it's soooo easy to remove, it's no brainer.
In the time it'll take you to get the car up on stands and remove the rear wheels, the bumper will be off.
I removed the boxes and cats with the car on the floor (and a GT3 is a few cms lower than a C2/4......

Edited by Slippydiff on Friday 7th April 15:58

[anonymous-user]

Slippydiff said:

The rear bumper is held on with four screws along the top (2 minutes max) two bolts in the rear arch (3 minutes a side max) and 4 bolts attached to the lower edges of the bumper (2 minutes aside max) bumper is then off (don't forget to unclip/disconnect the number plate loom).

The heatshields have 7 bolts holding them on, all easily removable (5 minutes a side max).

Trust me, if getting the bumper off was a complete PITA , I'd have left it on and struggled with it in situ, but it's soooo easy to remove, it's no brainer.
In the time it'll take you to get the car up on stands and remove the rear wheels, the bumper will be off.
I removed the boxes and cats with the car on the floor (and a GT3 is a few cms lower than a C2/4......

Edited by Slippydiff on Friday 7th April 15:58

100% agree, get the bumper off. The three nuts that hold the silencer retainer bracket onto the engine bracket WILL have seized and at least one or two will snap; you'll then need to remove the silencer from said bracket and grind the back of the welded stud off and replace with a bolt. The two long bolts that hold the silencer to the bracket will also be seized and break. The spacer tubes that support the silencer within this bracket will likely have seized onto the bolts too.

I'm sure you're getting the picture that if the exhausts have been on for any time more than a few months, everything will have got hot and seized up!

You are far better off working on it all with the arse of the car up in the air on stands, bumper and heat shields off, and buy new bolts everywhere..

[youngsyr]

Thanks guys, I'll take your advice and report back.

Slightly concerned about you mentioning seized sleeves that there bolts slides through - these are over £20 each and could well mean a wait of a few days with there car off the road as I haven't ordered any yet (have ordered replacement clamps, bolts and nuts)

[anonymous-user]

youngsyr said:

Thanks guys, I'll take your advice and report back.

Slightly concerned about you mentioning seized sleeves that there bolts slides through - these are over £20 each and could well mean a wait of a few days with there car off the road as I haven't ordered any yet (have ordered replacement clamps, bolts and nuts)

The long ones were alright on mine, but the short one not..

[monty999]

Did mine for some dansk stainless sport recently. Job was quite easy, as has been said just take the bumper and heat shields off. I left the wheels on (drove it on wood ramps in order to work underneath). Pulled the boxes off with the mounting bracket- just one of the studs sheared off but ground off the head of the stud which left the hole for new stud and replaced with bolt tack welded to stop it turning although could have put a spanner on to tighten up. A new fitting kit is a must (about £30 for the lot from eurocarparts).

[Pope]

youngsyr said:

Thanks guys, I'll take your advice and report back.

Slightly concerned about you mentioning seized sleeves that there bolts slides through - these are over £20 each and could well mean a wait of a few days with there car off the road as I haven't ordered any yet (have ordered replacement clamps, bolts and nuts)

Good luck with just replacing the bolts on the bracket if you need to remove it; if the long and short bolts are seized in the sleeves they can make removing the bracket without damage impossible (and the brackets are around 200 quid each!!)