Creaky exhaust on Miata NC

Hi,

The exhaust on my 2008 2.0i Sport NC has really got creaky of late - and by
creaky I mean that as it expands/contracts, you can really hear the darned
thing, even while the engine is still on. I've never known a noisier steel
exhaust and it's so crazy I wonder if anyone else has experienced this?

Grateful for any feedback

C.

Like, snapping / popping sounds caused by expansion / contraction? Or, it
vibrating against other things?

Chris
99BBB

"Chipper" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
>
> The exhaust on my 2008 2.0i Sport NC has really got creaky of late - and
> by creaky I mean that as it expands/contracts, you can really hear the
> darned thing, even while the engine is still on. I've never known a
> noisier steel exhaust and it's so crazy I wonder if anyone else has
> experienced this?
>
> Grateful for any feedback
>
> C.
>

Hi Chris,

Snapping, popping sounds caused by expansion/contraction for sure. It's
just really excessive and has only really started to happen in the last
2-300 miles. Note that the car has only done 3k! I've had it on a ramp and
all seems well, the cat hasn't been damaged or anything.

Thanks for the fast response btw!

C

"Chris D'Agnolo" > wrote in message
...
> Like, snapping / popping sounds caused by expansion / contraction? Or, it
> vibrating against other things?
>
> Chris
> 99BBB
>
> "Chipper" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Hi,
>>
>> The exhaust on my 2008 2.0i Sport NC has really got creaky of late - and
>> by creaky I mean that as it expands/contracts, you can really hear the
>> darned thing, even while the engine is still on. I've never known a
>> noisier steel exhaust and it's so crazy I wonder if anyone else has
>> experienced this?
>>
>> Grateful for any feedback
>>
>> C.
>>
>

My guess is that it's just because your car is so new. By the time you get 8
or 10k on it it will likely be less noticeable however, it could be that the
metals they are using are just prone to this. Hopefully a couple NC folks
will chime in here for you but 3k miles, it's not even broken in yet ;-)

Chris
99BBB

"Chipper" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Chris,
>
> Snapping, popping sounds caused by expansion/contraction for sure. It's
> just really excessive and has only really started to happen in the last
> 2-300 miles. Note that the car has only done 3k! I've had it on a ramp
> and all seems well, the cat hasn't been damaged or anything.
>
> Thanks for the fast response btw!
>
> C
>
> "Chris D'Agnolo" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Like, snapping / popping sounds caused by expansion / contraction? Or, it
>> vibrating against other things?
>>
>> Chris
>> 99BBB
>>
>> "Chipper" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> The exhaust on my 2008 2.0i Sport NC has really got creaky of late -
>>> and by creaky I mean that as it expands/contracts, you can really hear
>>> the darned thing, even while the engine is still on. I've never known a
>>> noisier steel exhaust and it's so crazy I wonder if anyone else has
>>> experienced this?
>>>
>>> Grateful for any feedback
>>>
>>> C.
>>>
>>
>
>

On Nov 14, 11:52*pm, "Chris D'Agnolo" > wrote:
> My guess is that it's just because your car is so new. By the time you get 8
> or 10k on it it will likely be less noticeable however, it could be that the
> metals they are using are just prone to this. Hopefully a couple NC folks
> will chime in here for you but 3k miles, it's not even broken in yet ;-)
>
> Chris
> 99BBB
>
> "Chipper" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
>
>
> > Hi Chris,
>
> > Snapping, popping sounds caused by expansion/contraction for sure. *It's
> > just really excessive and has only really started to happen in the last
> > 2-300 miles. *Note that the car has only done 3k! *I've had it on a ramp
> > and all seems well, *the cat hasn't been damaged or anything.
>
> > Thanks for the fast response btw!
>
> > C
>
> > "Chris D'Agnolo" > wrote in message
> .. .
> >> Like, snapping / popping sounds caused by expansion / contraction? Or, it
> >> vibrating against other things?
>
> >> Chris
> >> 99BBB
>
> >> "Chipper" > wrote in message
> om...
> >>> Hi,
>
> >>> The exhaust on my 2008 2.0i Sport NC *has really got creaky of late -
> >>> and by creaky I mean that as it expands/contracts, you can really hear
> >>> the darned thing, even while the engine is still on. *I've never known a
> >>> noisier steel exhaust and it's so crazy I wonder if anyone else has
> >>> experienced this?
>
> >>> Grateful for any feedback
>
> >>> C.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I've got 5,000 miles on my '09 and if anything, I think the exhaust
has gotten a bit quieter. I normally only hear it for a few seconds
after I've stopped the car. The colder weather may be a factor, but I
don't know if it would make it better (lower absolute temperature) or
worse (greater temperature extremes).

I'm only a sample of one, and in the Miata forums, people have
remarked on the noise when you turn off the engine, but to the extent
that you've described, I do not think your situation is normal,
certainlt not typical.

I have no advice, since it's not a problem/solution that I've read
about, but I suggest you search the groups/forums as it's likely to
have happened to someone before. Perhaps loosening and re-tightening
the associated fasteners when the system is warm would alleviate some
of the mechanical stress (if that's even the root cause and it's not
something internal to the exhaust system). Good luck

Net

Chris/Net,

Thanks for the reply guys. I haven't seen anyone else really complain about
it, but I did take it back to the dealers and it was a new one for them.
For what it's worth, I think you're about right and with time this will
settle down. I was thinking along the same lines as Net and perhaps
loosening the various couplings when the engine is warm, kinda stress
relieving the system if you know what I mean.

Cheers

C.
"NetMax" > wrote in message
...
On Nov 14, 11:52 pm, "Chris D'Agnolo" > wrote:
> My guess is that it's just because your car is so new. By the time you get
> 8
> or 10k on it it will likely be less noticeable however, it could be that
> the
> metals they are using are just prone to this. Hopefully a couple NC folks
> will chime in here for you but 3k miles, it's not even broken in yet ;-)
>
> Chris
> 99BBB
>
> "Chipper" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
>
>
> > Hi Chris,
>
> > Snapping, popping sounds caused by expansion/contraction for sure. It's
> > just really excessive and has only really started to happen in the last
> > 2-300 miles. Note that the car has only done 3k! I've had it on a ramp
> > and all seems well, the cat hasn't been damaged or anything.
>
> > Thanks for the fast response btw!
>
> > C
>
> > "Chris D'Agnolo" > wrote in message
> .. .
> >> Like, snapping / popping sounds caused by expansion / contraction? Or,
> >> it
> >> vibrating against other things?
>
> >> Chris
> >> 99BBB
>
> >> "Chipper" > wrote in message
> om...
> >>> Hi,
>
> >>> The exhaust on my 2008 2.0i Sport NC has really got creaky of late -
> >>> and by creaky I mean that as it expands/contracts, you can really hear
> >>> the darned thing, even while the engine is still on. I've never known
> >>> a
> >>> noisier steel exhaust and it's so crazy I wonder if anyone else has
> >>> experienced this?
>
> >>> Grateful for any feedback
>
> >>> C.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I've got 5,000 miles on my '09 and if anything, I think the exhaust
has gotten a bit quieter. I normally only hear it for a few seconds
after I've stopped the car. The colder weather may be a factor, but I
don't know if it would make it better (lower absolute temperature) or
worse (greater temperature extremes).

I'm only a sample of one, and in the Miata forums, people have
remarked on the noise when you turn off the engine, but to the extent
that you've described, I do not think your situation is normal,
certainlt not typical.

I have no advice, since it's not a problem/solution that I've read
about, but I suggest you search the groups/forums as it's likely to
have happened to someone before. Perhaps loosening and re-tightening
the associated fasteners when the system is warm would alleviate some
of the mechanical stress (if that's even the root cause and it's not
something internal to the exhaust system). Good luck

Net

By the way, I kind of like the little pops / snaps of an exhaust expansion /
contraction. It's not as exciting as the huge boom we used to hear about 5
seconds after an RX3 was turned off, when the unburned gasses in the exhaust
would get hot enough to ignite in a nice / loud backfire ;-) You could
practically set your stopwatch by it on some of them.

Chris
99BBB

"Chipper" > wrote in message
...
> Chris/Net,
>
> Thanks for the reply guys. I haven't seen anyone else really complain
> about it, but I did take it back to the dealers and it was a new one for
> them. For what it's worth, I think you're about right and with time this
> will settle down. I was thinking along the same lines as Net and perhaps
> loosening the various couplings when the engine is warm, kinda stress
> relieving the system if you know what I mean.
>
> Cheers
>
> C.
> "NetMax" > wrote in message
> ...
> On Nov 14, 11:52 pm, "Chris D'Agnolo" > wrote:
>> My guess is that it's just because your car is so new. By the time you
>> get 8
>> or 10k on it it will likely be less noticeable however, it could be that
>> the
>> metals they are using are just prone to this. Hopefully a couple NC folks
>> will chime in here for you but 3k miles, it's not even broken in yet ;-)
>>
>> Chris
>> 99BBB
>>
>> "Chipper" > wrote in message
>>
>> ...
>>
>>
>>
>> > Hi Chris,
>>
>> > Snapping, popping sounds caused by expansion/contraction for sure. It's
>> > just really excessive and has only really started to happen in the last
>> > 2-300 miles. Note that the car has only done 3k! I've had it on a ramp
>> > and all seems well, the cat hasn't been damaged or anything.
>>
>> > Thanks for the fast response btw!
>>
>> > C
>>
>> > "Chris D'Agnolo" > wrote in message
>> .. .
>> >> Like, snapping / popping sounds caused by expansion / contraction? Or,
>> >> it
>> >> vibrating against other things?
>>
>> >> Chris
>> >> 99BBB
>>
>> >> "Chipper" > wrote in message
>> om...
>> >>> Hi,
>>
>> >>> The exhaust on my 2008 2.0i Sport NC has really got creaky of late -
>> >>> and by creaky I mean that as it expands/contracts, you can really
>> >>> hear
>> >>> the darned thing, even while the engine is still on. I've never known
>> >>> a
>> >>> noisier steel exhaust and it's so crazy I wonder if anyone else has
>> >>> experienced this?
>>
>> >>> Grateful for any feedback
>>
>> >>> C.- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
> I've got 5,000 miles on my '09 and if anything, I think the exhaust
> has gotten a bit quieter. I normally only hear it for a few seconds
> after I've stopped the car. The colder weather may be a factor, but I
> don't know if it would make it better (lower absolute temperature) or
> worse (greater temperature extremes).
>
> I'm only a sample of one, and in the Miata forums, people have
> remarked on the noise when you turn off the engine, but to the extent
> that you've described, I do not think your situation is normal,
> certainlt not typical.
>
> I have no advice, since it's not a problem/solution that I've read
> about, but I suggest you search the groups/forums as it's likely to
> have happened to someone before. Perhaps loosening and re-tightening
> the associated fasteners when the system is warm would alleviate some
> of the mechanical stress (if that's even the root cause and it's not
> something internal to the exhaust system). Good luck
>
> Net
>