PSE Baffle Repair . . . advice please

Hi guys Over the last few days my PSE has got louder and basically sounds shite, i intially thought it may have been a corroded joint bolt causing a poor seal thus leaking and hense the increased volume. HOWEVER . . . Ive had it up on the ramp and it appears to be leakless. . . . .so it got me thinking . . . . . the baffles !!! urghhhh more expense. As im sure you are all aware replacement baffles for PSE are bloody extortionate, however i have seen on other forums people that have had the same problem and had their baffles cut open and repaired and then welded back together?? I have a friend that owns a garage so id get them to do the job . . . my question is however does anyone have any experience of PSE baffle repairs and if so could you kindly shed some light on exactly what needs to be done ?? Many thanks Dave

Presumably when you say replacement baffles you mean replacement silencerrs/mufflers (one each side.)? Indeed I have not really heard of baffle problems at all. Mufflers usually rot through at the seams after many years, but if you are sure thats the problem..... I've not heard of anyone (with the exception of Lloyd 6 on this forum) trying to open up the muffler to effect a repair to a broken baffle. The main reason its difficult is that if the car is a few years old then the outer seam will have some corrosion and prove very difficult to split or reweld/ refold. I tried to get a seam rewelded but it was hopeless. Best solution I would think would be to purchase a good second hand muffler for the correct side and then cut and reweld the PSE bypass pipe and switch valve to the new muffler. It would of course be easier to put a second hand PSE muffler on but tjese are rarer than hens teeth and quite expensive when they do rarely come on ebay. Resident expert on muffler mods is Lloyd 6 so if he's around Im sure he'll be on here soon and give better advice than me

Hi Everyone, I would be interested in a solution to this as I too have a similar problem. When the PSE muffler is cold (drivers side only) there is a vibration (rattle) inside the muffler that acts like a 'reed' as the exhaust blows through the system. It is worse at cretain rev ranges as the rattle resonates. When the muffler gets hot it quietens down, but never completely goes away. My indi daignosed loose baffles and says it is not uncommon. Presumably the weld holding the baffles have either failed or have corroded. I've toyed with the idea of opening it up for a repair, but indi recommends just living with it for the time being as it is really only a problem when cold.

Interesting that its not an uncoomon problem. Presumably the indie or OPC solution is simple replacement or did your indie refer to opening the unit up and rewelding?

hmmmmmmm ive been thinking about this situation most of the night and im now in my office and feeling like crap due to no sleep lol ive decided that it cant be the muffler at fault, as when i switch the exhaust to silent it does actually go silent with exception of the faulty noise, what im thinking is that i have a corroded clamp at one of the joints that isnt holding a seal any longer causing the exhaust to blow. . . LOUD ! Im gonna have the entire exhaust removed and refitted with new clamps and gaskets. Ill post updates. With reference to the baffle fault, apparently its possible to open up the muffler with a plasma cutter and weld the loose baffle back into place and then MIG the muffler back together again. . . You need to go to a garage where the staff arent just fitters but are more old school machanics with welding skill.

I presume you have checked the heat shields, as they often sound like a loose baffle. If you give the (cold) silencer a clout with your hand, you might be able to hear a loose baffle rattling inside.

Although I dont have PSE on my car, I'm sure I read somewhere that as they age the loud to quiet valve operated by the dash switch can start to rattle?

My PSE has also been rattling on the driver side It's inside the silencer as well, and therefore not thought to be repairable and needs replacing.

You CAN repair a loose rattling baffle. All you need to do is go somewhere that is caperble of cutting open the box with a plasma cutter and then welding the baffle back into place and then welding the box back up again, this can be done. You need skilled machanics not fitters.

bear in mind that the mufflers on a 996 are double skinned with a poor quality stainless steell outer case that is in two halves and folded together. After a certain age the folds get splits in them and become rusty from the inside part.This makes them rather difficult to reweld. Best of luck cutting them open and trying to mend them. Let us know how you get on

ok basically so far ive had the car checked for leaks and there is none and secondly ive been told that the baffles are not rattling so it appears that my PSE is leak free and solid. . . . . this was dianosed by a garage other than my usual specialist. The car still sounds wrong, ive been driving it in silent mode as i just dont like the sound when its in loud mode anymore. I have got it going in to the Porsche pecialist tomorrow. Im suspecting its a problem with the vacumm actuator that controls the flap, i heard a noise like a tyre being let down coming from the drivers side (the loud side) when the problem started, im thinking that the flap maybe not functioning properly. Anyway ill find out tomorrow. Im actually considering getting rid of the Porsche now as i really cant be bothered to deal with this sort of thing as i dont have the time, im considering maybe a BMW or a Audi TT, something newer with warranty.

Little update . . . . My cars been in two different garages and all they do is put it on the ramp examine it from cold, block the exhausts and look for leaks.. . then when they dont find anything tell me there is nothing wrong with it and send me on my way. I am actually a qualified tech so this type of thing annoys me, looking from under the car only means that 50% of the exhaust is on display also using a single clamp on each joint on the exhaust to test if its a slack joint is also a good thing to do however this type of thing seems to fall into the 'cant be bothered' box . So ive decided that at the weekend i shall remove the rear bumper and heat shield and i shall clamp each joint to test if i have a poor seal on any of them. Until i get to do this im gonna have to put up with having a blowing exhaust and driving around on quiet mode, im so annoyed by this and its making my car feel like a piece of ***** .