Indie Shop Says I Need a New Muffler on my F430

I took my F430 in for an annual service and I wanted them to address a rattle/buzzing I'm hearing on the left side of my exhaust between 3000-3500rpm. I got a call a few minutes ago from the indie shop telling me that my muffler is "blown."

The car has 6600 miles on it and its an 08 that has had the header campaign already completed. Is it a common occurance to have the muffler be "blown"?

I've done my fair share of research on the forum and I've proposed broken exhaust brackets, or a stuck valve or a bad valve, etc and the shop says all of those are fine.

So now I turn to you guys for a little help, anybody heard of something like this? or maybe am I getting my leg pulled?

 

I'll bet you have a broken weld somewhere on the outside.

 

The explanation that was given to me was:

The insides of the muffler are blown. It happens when water gets in there and water breaks down whats inside the muffler.

 

I had an aftermarket Remus exhaust that did the same thing. At a certain RPM, it would buzz. I took the tips off as I suspected there was a broken weld. Voila, the bracket that held the two tips together were broken. It was a hairline break and difficult to see. I cut the thin metal off both tips and the noise went away. I'm suspicious how water could get inside when we all know that a lot of condensation comes out at start up.

 

Go down to the shop and have them show it to you in person. If it's the exhaust, it should be very easy to spot. Good luck.

 

My old 430 had a similar rattle. It was where the tip went on to the exhaust system. It was just on one side of the tip, noticable from the backside (inside) of the car.

I had the dealer add a few tack welds on there and it fixed the rattle.

I have no idea what they mean about the muffler being blow?

 

Sounds like I just need to go over there and sort this out. I'm a little disappointed that the shop would attempt to sell me so quickly on getting a new muffler from Ferrari or go with aftermarket.

Thanks guys, I'll post my results when I get there a little later this afternoon.

 

The very fact that you're attending an Indie shop suggests to me that they're less likely to be suggesting replacement parts for the sake of it as they probably don't have margin on those parts.

As suggested, take a run down and ask them to show / explain the diagnosis.

For what it's worth I think the mufflers normally last much longer but you know yourself sometimes you're just not lucky and a muffler goes out on any car much sooner than normal. It's just the way of it in my experience.

Good opportunity to explore the world of after-market alternatives!

 

The mufflers from the factory can gt a seam that opens and thus the buzz.. The expansion me contraction of he metal only lasts so long before it opens and white dust goes everywhere..

 

Don't let them weld on the car w/o disconnecting the battery, they probably know to do this, just doesn't hurt to remind them...don't want to smoke any of the many computers on board..

 

Are they sure it is not the left side exhaust bracket that is cracked so you get some rattle? That is a very easy and pretty cheap part to replace. I can't believe a 08 with that mileage has a "blown" muffler. I wonder if there is any way in the world the muffler is considered part of the emissions system like the headers to get fixed under emissions warranty. I doubt it though. Maybe get a second opinion? Also, I bet if it is really shot, you may be able to find a good used factory one for cheap as many people dump them for aftermarket units.

 

Ok after visiting the shop, vrsurgeon seems to have hit the diagnosis on the head. They demonstrated to me that the muffler box slides from side to side a good amount where they should be connecting to the pipes that go out to the tips. I guess there is some white dust that is in the engine bay as well.

Not a huge amount of dust, but it will get worse over time. The rattle is coming from the metal vibrating together where the pipes meet the box. We put some pressure on the box with the car started and the rattling stopped when he gave it gas to 3k rpm.

I could go with finding a used muffler to replace my "blown" one but we're going to try a few tack welds around the pipes to the muffler box and see if that fixes both the rattle and the dust.

 

I'll be going back tomorrow to pick the car up after the welding so we'll see if that fixes the problem. For those who mentioned the tips, I brought that up and we checked the tips while I was there and they are solid.

We also re-inspected the mounts and the brackets and everything seems to be in tact, no cracks.

 

I had the dust issue and you could tell where the dust was coming out--in my case, it was the left side where the pipes exit the main 'can' of the muffler before turning down. I took out the muffler, and had a local welder seal around each of the four pipes where they exit the muffler. Fifty bucks in welding and a couple of new gaskets and it was fixed. You certainly won't need a new muffler for the dust issue.

 

The mufflers don't "blow". They are resonator chambers surrounded by insulating material which is wrapped in a stainless steel outer. The outer can open at the seams and the white insulation material escape (the white dust) but the actual muffler will still operate.

Your buzzing is likely to be a loose heat shield or broken mouting bracket - both are common F430 problems.

I suggest you take the car to someone who knows what they're talking about.

 

I agree.

These guys sound like grease monkeys, not F430 technicians.

Matt

 

Any update as I'm very curious? Also how many 430's does the shop see a week?

 

Update: The tack welding of the seams around the muffler box and the pipes seems to have done the trick. It has eliminated the white powder in the engine bay and the bad buzzing/rattling I was hearing at 3k-3500rpm. I'm still hearing a very faint buzz in that area and I'm going to take a look at the exhaust bracket welds myself and pull the tips off to see if any of those are cracked.

But by FAR, the buzzing/rattling has been completely reduced to almost nothing.

Would a new muffler have fixed the problem, yes it would have, but as far as I was concerned, buying another used F430 stock exhaust could exhibit the issue again quickly. I've only had the car for 650 miles and when i bought it, it was fine!

MVDESQ: the shop is well versed in working with F430's. They specialize in italian exotics: Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and they also do Rolls.

I would name the shop, but they were fair about it and I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression with my Thread Title. They did a great job.

 

Glad to hear all is well. You can check that left exhaust bracket yourself from the top looking down with a flash light. However, if you want to repair it you have to remove the diffuser. If the car is cool and you have a lift the entire job takes about 40-45 minutes.