2003 S-10

[Basement Paul]

Dats a good one.

It seemed pretty good when it happened. Where's your set?

-BP

[Basement Paul]

The S-10 has developed a pretty ugly rattle from the exhaust. It's worse when it's cold, but sometimes under load I can hear it. It seems to me that the 10 year old Flowmaster has finally let loose inside. That being the case, I ordered one of these:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/flo-9430402

My goal is to have Paul Carson redo my cat-back system with this, and put duals on. I'll do 3" into the muffler, and even though the muffler is only 2.5" outlet, I'll have him put two 3" pipes on it, dumping in the stock location. This muffler should be quieter, which I want, and it should look cooler too.

More to come.

-BP

[TireSmoker]

You sure you didn't drop another wrench in there?

-Dave

[GMJohnny]

Wait 'til Carlisle... there is a vendor there that is mint.... when you
buy from them and install their product on your vehicle, you can
" blow it out your PYPES! "


GM

[Basement Paul]

I thought about the wrench thing, believe you me. But after talking to a few different people, it sounds like a blown out Flowmaster is not that uncommon. I can't wait until Carlisle, it's too annoying to have my stuff sound this junky. Although Pypes are cool!

-BP

[Basement Paul]

So today Paul Carson did the dual exhaust on my truck. My goal was to make it quieter and look cooler. Well, one of those got done: it looks cooler. It's definitely not quieter than before under most conditions. The only time I think it makes less noise is when zooming along at speed and not giving it any excessive gas. There's less drone in the truck for sure, so at freeway cruising it will be a little more relaxed. But there's definitely no sneaking around with it the way it is, especially at WOT. I do think the top end power has improved.

I haven't cut it open yet, but the muffler I took off there sounds like a baby's rattle and rust is just pouring out of it. I really believe the baffles were interfering with the flow for quite some time. We'll find out Wed night if I'm right or not. Between the new plugs and the exhaust, something has to be fixed. I know there's no more rattle at idle or while driving.

-BP

[Maverick]

12" glass pack blanks installed as resonators behind the rear axle cured the Maverick's drone and, IMO, didn't hurt the sound. It was a little quieter but mellow. Got lots of compliments on the sound.

[Basement Paul]

Unfortunately, 4.3 V6's, and IMO all V6's lack the cool note of a V8. It sounds cool at low RPM's, but rev it up and it's not quite the same. The only V6 I think sounded pretty sweet was the 3800, but even at full roar it still sounded like a V6. I guess Nissan's 3.5 and now 3.7 V6 sound pretty sweet too. A lot like a race car. Maybe my truck would sound better with a bigger cam...

-BP

[MostMint]

That is the same muffler I put on the SS I do believe. It is loud but maybe the exhaust being so much further back it is less noticeable. Or I just like it loud.

[Blue_69_malibu]

FWIW: every time I've stood by the fence and watched you race the S-10, there's at least one person (usually more) who are totally shocked to hear your super-charger whine. They just don't expect it out of an S10....but it's always a crowd pleaser!!

And then you cut an oh-something light.......

[Basement Paul]

Today I cut the broken flowmaster open. Jeezus, it's ugly in there! The first two baffles were completely loose and IMO were getting pushed over the opening for the outlet side of the muffler. The third baffle was coming loose, but still kind of half in place. I guess I'm surprised that less than 50k miles would do this to a muffler without ever seeing salt. In hind site, I should have bought a stainless muffler for the replacement. Oh well, in 10 years when this one goes bad, I'll change it as soon as I hear the rattle.




The first picture is how it looked when I cut it apart. The second one is what I believe happens under power. Ugly. I now know where my MPH went too.

-BP

[MostMint]

I would send those pics to Flowmaster and explain the situation. Maybe you'll get a decent explanation. I'm real curious what happened there also.

[Basement Paul]

I tried to register on their website, but that portion wouldn't work on my computer. I'm supposed to see a CAPTCHA code somewhere and I can't so there's no contacting them via email. I won't spend the time calling them as I don't really think it will get me anywhere. Their warranty that they list for their standard muffler like mine is 3 years. Stainless mufflers are warranted forever.... I guess there's a reason the SS mufflers are $170. Not the end of the world either way. Normally I don't keep my cars long enough to wear out a muffler, but I do expect to ruin another one of these in the next 10 years. I can tell you to be leary buying one from a swap meet. Make sure to shake it real good if you do.

-BP

[Basement Paul]

So I think we know the truck wasn't running right so yesterday I spent ALL day trying to figure it out. After breakfast I stopped at Smoke's Garage and picked up his "probe" (huh huh, uh huh) so I could attempt to view my catalytic converter without completely cutting it out of the system. I removed an old access hole from when I had to pull the wrench from INSIDE my exhaust system but sadly it was just too close to get a focused look on the probe screen so I had to cut the pipe. I was able to pull the cat down far enough to see inside and it looks like new in there.



Next I pulled my scanner out and rechecked my running engine functions. Apparently I had my lean code again, but it occurred just off idle and I wasn't too concerned out it. I did clean the MAF and the K&N (yeah k&n) because some forums complained this was the cause of the lean codes.


So after spending A LOT of time welding it back together (it's a blind weld on top and around the side), and cleaning the maf and filter, I started visually scanning the underhood area for anything I could find. Loose wires, broken or loose hoses, connections, ANYTHING! I even retightened all my boost and vacuum related clamps. Then something hit me (in my brain)... this truck is hard on caps / rotors. But I checked and I just put a new one on 10k miles ago. It's an easy job so I pulled it off anyway:







After seeing this ugliness, I raced to AutoZone, bought their GOLD version of the assembly and raced home to put everything back together. Low and behold, problem solved! The truck feels the best it ever has! I suppose with all the fresh tune up parts, the new exhaust, and clean filter, it should.

Now I can't wait to get back to the track. Looks like it will be the Saturday after Carlisle. With the new drag radials, there's potential for a 13 sec pass there. Cross your fingers...

-BP

[Blue_69_malibu]

That, my man, is some really good news!!!