Re: New (lack-of-)exhaust note on my '84 5000

[Kneale Brownson <knotnook@traverse.com>]

I think there's a muffler (silencer) between the cat and the rear muffler.
At least here is on '86 and '87 5Kqt cars.  If it's still intact, there's a
hangar behind the cat that has two metal arms that attach to a
rubber-bushed bracket bolted to the transmission.  There should be the
rubber O-ring hangars on the muffler that remains.  If you're lacking the
hangars at the rear of the cat and/or at the first muffler, you're
stressing the joints around the cat, which are likely to begin leaking soon
in that case.

Kneale Brownson


At 12:41 PM 12/2/99 -0500, rochow@pixelmagic.com wrote:
>
>I lost the rear muffler today, or rather, I noticed a slight
>variation in the rattling racket it makes and found
>that it was swinging (against the tank on one side
>and the bumper cutout on the other) from its two
>hangers. (So I guess I'll continue to laugh at the folks
>who lose theirs at speed after not heeding my warning
>gestures about it ;)
>
>It now sounds somewhere between a hopped-up
>old Camaro and the average Folgers exhaust system; 
>the (cat-debris-in-muffler-)rattle is basically gone,
>though. (I forget - is there another muffler, or is the cat
>the only item besides straight pipe now?)
>
>While I'm also rather clueless about the best (in this
>case, cheapest) way to fix it - there is, BTW, only
>1/4" of pipe left on the muffler itself, though that
>may just be the remains of a thick welding seam -
>I really need to know if there is any immediate
>danger or risk of further damage associated with 
>driving like this for any amount of time.
>Does the cat have its own rear hanger, or is it dangling
>from on end now the the rear muffler's front hanger isn't
>holding it up anymore?
>
>thanks,
>-gbr
>