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YOUR RESEARCHWhat does a rusted muffler say about a 50K mile 2003 C2
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Replace yet
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Didn't need to be replaced yet, but weren't worth repairing/salvaging.
What does a rusted muffler say about a 50K mile 2003 C2
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Didn't need to be replaced yet, but weren't worth repairing/salvaging.
What does a rusted muffler say about a 50K mile 2003 C2
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What does a rusted muffler say about a 50K mile 2003 C2
Run cycles insufficient
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Suggestion
Sounds like a lot of short running cycles insufficient to bake off condensation in the exhaust system.
What does a rusted muffler say about a 50K mile 2003 C2
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Recently took possession of a 2003 C2 and while the car seems well taken care of at 50K miles I was surprised to find that the muffler had totally rusted and needs to be replaced. Seems strange to me that a single owner 50K mile car would have a rusted muffler?
Does that tell anything about the car and how it was driven. Apparently first owner did not winter drive and kept it garaged and there is not a lot of rust on the underbelly.
Thanks Jon
Sounds like a lot of short running cycles insufficient to bake off condensation in the exhaust system. Was the car by the ocean, or perhaps a northern climate where roads are salted in the winter, as proximity to salt would accelerate corrosion of steel parts.
Can you tell if it rusted from the inside or outside? From inside is definitely a result of short trips. Otherwise, you may be dealing with a flood victim.
The short trip scenario carries with it other problems. The oil will never reach operating temperature. This is one of the things to worry about in the life of the IMS bearing (among other things). You may want to get on an oil analysis routine and even do a short-change to gather more data on the state of the engine.
My 996 was in Colorado for a while. The only things rusted on my car were the mufflers. One of them had a crack so I replaced them and the catalytic converters went out too. The rest of the car is showroom fresh. Mufflers live a hard life due to all those heating and cooling cycles. The vertical nature of these mufflers also means they are going to retain water better, which isn't good. It doesn't surprise me much, and honestly I don't think it's a big deal or anything to worry about. I'd replace them and get on with my life. When cooling if there is a enough humidity in the air you will at some temperature reach the dew point and condense water in the muffler. This has been the enemy of exhaust systems since their invention.
Aren't the mufflers pretty notorious for coming apart? My car is fairly low mileage at 53k and the muffler seams were starting to get bad and the hardware that held everything on was basically crumbling. I am in the northeast so we have winter but I am not sure how much the car was driven in it.
Mine were rusted (from the outside). Didn't need to be replaced yet, but weren't worth repairing/salvaging. However the car was very well maintained. It was probably just the environment it was driven in. I wouldn't worry about it too much, and I would recommend using this opportunity to get a set of Fister sport mufflers. Without a suitable core to send back they'll be about $1k but in my opinion worth every single cent. You'll get rust free mufflers, cleaned up and painted, with the Fister mod that sounds absolutely amazing.
