My sister had what appeared to be a wig hanging out of her exhaust :eek: about 6 months or so ago - we all thought someone had played a prank! However my Mum has had the same on her P reg Vauxhall Astra tonight and I thought this was a bit odd, and decided to type it into google. Apparently it is some of the exhaust starting to fall apart. Does anyone know how long the car can be used when it is like this? Does the exhaust need to be replaced? :confused:

I know it will probably effect the performance if it is slightly blocked, although it goes ok at the moment. Any advice greatfully received.

It will be the packing material used as insulation (Sound deadening) in some exhausts, as car exhausts tend to be welded / sealed (the silencers) it's more then likely on it's way out, perhaps if possible get it on a set of ramps and check underneath. It could be a cracked seam and may be possible to get it welded..

Cheers for that. I did some work on my sisters car a couple of weekends ago - applying some exhaust filler on 2 joints and the back box. I couldn't see anything wrong other than it rusting away a bit. I will have a look at my mums car at the weekend if I get a chance.

The silencer baffles are falling apart. It's not going to hurt it seriously, but be prepared to replace the exhaust soon.

dont pull it out its miles and miles long!!!

Lol - my dad was trying - and my sister had a load trailing behind her in the summer. Don't worry - wont be pulling any more out of it for the time being!

I've seen them where the dislodged sound deadening blocks the rear pipe causing the engine to really struggle, with a noticeable power loss. Replacing the rear box should sort it.

Set fire to it, that should sort it...

Have to say that I've only every seen this happen to Vauxhalls! My Dad's chavalier twice and a mates corsa... must be the design they use

If you're trying to get it out use gloves! It's normally fibreglass, and you can make a right mess of your hands if you're pulling on it and they slip!!

This happened to my corsa years ago.

Id look at replacing the backbox soon as mine fell off.

I remember this happening on my mums Ford Ka when i was driving it. Noticed the stuff hanging out then one day the car wouldnt pull the skin off a rice pudding resulting in me limping to the service station then it dying on me. Think it cloggd the exhaust and drank all the coolant because that was stone dry.

One new exhaust and coolant top up and it was off like a good un.

Anyone who's read Pete Mccarthy's book "McCarthy's Bar" will remember him having the same trouble and thinking a crow had flown up his exhaust pipe, much to the amusement of the garage where he took it.

Phil

Thanks for all of the replies - no I don't think we will be setting fire to it Mr Grumpy! Its a good car even though it is a Vauxhall!!

I wished I had worn gloves as I am feeling the effects of trying to pull some of it out yesterday - my hands are itching a bit! :thumbdwn:

I will try and get a look at it over the weekend. I don't think it has lost any power yet - obviously when it does it will need to be sorted.

My sisters Felicia appears to have a hole in the exhaust too - so it looks as if I might be under two cars at the weekend!

I once had the inside of my exhaust fall apart on my old Rover 214. The car suddenly has no power and the engine felt really strained, so in my infinate wisdom, I dipped the clutch and revved the nuts off it. It made one hell of a bang when the rear silencer literally exploded :eek:. All the power came back though!

Nice one! I will tell my mum to do that if hers loses power! Lol!

Is it the carpet coming out?

PS Had it on my old Primera, didn't cause a problem but I changed back bit of exhaust anyway.

Anyone who's read Pete Mccarthy's book "McCarthy's Bar" will remember him having the same trouble and thinking a crow had flown up his exhaust pipe, much to the amusement of the garage where he took it.

Phil

In the middle of reading it now... yeah first thing that came to my mind was McCarthys volvo

I had a similar thing on my Renault 5 some years back so drove madly to to my mates with my new back box for him to fit and when i got there noticed my back box was on fire lol.....