Advice on replacing 94-97 Accord muffler? Dealing with rubber hangers?

If the idea of buying OEM is to get the same thing one gets with the
original equipment, it only stands to reason that the warranty for the
the original equipment be the same as the OEM replacement parts.

In effect, the warranty is somewhat limited.

 

Why not just buy them? They don't take much space, and they cost less
than the labor is going to cost you for this job. Once you have them,
you have them forever.

 

Why not just buy them? They don't take much space, and they cost less
than the labor is going to cost you for this job. Once you have them,
you have them forever.

 

Tis always good to be in a position to chose one's battles. I
remodeled our kitchen with the paid help of a friend/contractor that
included a full demolition, redesign and about 700 sq feet of tile
(front entry and bar area included, boy that old parquet floor was
tough to pull up). We filled a 40 yard dumpster....and it took about
3 weeks.

After that, I ended up having the kid down the street cut the lawn for
the rest of the summer (let him use my tractor, a couple of acres) and
I taught him how to do routine maintenance on cars for me. He learned
something, made a few bucks and I got a rest!

I just didn't feel like doing it myself.

 

Tis always good to be in a position to chose one's battles. I
remodeled our kitchen with the paid help of a friend/contractor that
included a full demolition, redesign and about 700 sq feet of tile
(front entry and bar area included, boy that old parquet floor was
tough to pull up). We filled a 40 yard dumpster....and it took about
3 weeks.

After that, I ended up having the kid down the street cut the lawn for
the rest of the summer (let him use my tractor, a couple of acres) and
I taught him how to do routine maintenance on cars for me. He learned
something, made a few bucks and I got a rest!

I just didn't feel like doing it myself.

 

The first replacement (the one I paid for) was OEM. The second one
had no chromed tips on the exhaust outlets, looked cheaper, and didn't
last as long. There was no lifetime warranty with that one and it only
lasted a few years. Maybe the dealer ripped me off. This was circa 1990.

 

The first replacement (the one I paid for) was OEM. The second one
had no chromed tips on the exhaust outlets, looked cheaper, and didn't
last as long. There was no lifetime warranty with that one and it only
lasted a few years. Maybe the dealer ripped me off. This was circa 1990.

 

BREATHE!!

Ah.....

Now, please put away the torches and pitchforks!

I'm not suggesting he try to build some crazy shelf-like structure to
support the car! The idea is to drive the front of the car up onto the
ramps, then sequentially jack the rear corners, letting each rear tire
down on a sandwich of FLATLY STACKED boards, or possibly large, flat,
solid bricks.

I must admit that the frangible nature of the brick makes me a little
nervous. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that particular material.
OTOH, I might choose the bricks-of-death over some of the China-Mart
jackstands I've seen...

I also brain farted on the board size. I don't know where the hell '6'
came from. A tall stack 6 inches wide isn't such a hot idea! A pile of
4~5 2x12s would be much better.

 

BREATHE!!

Ah.....

Now, please put away the torches and pitchforks!

I'm not suggesting he try to build some crazy shelf-like structure to
support the car! The idea is to drive the front of the car up onto the
ramps, then sequentially jack the rear corners, letting each rear tire
down on a sandwich of FLATLY STACKED boards, or possibly large, flat,
solid bricks.

I must admit that the frangible nature of the brick makes me a little
nervous. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that particular material.
OTOH, I might choose the bricks-of-death over some of the China-Mart
jackstands I've seen...

I also brain farted on the board size. I don't know where the hell '6'
came from. A tall stack 6 inches wide isn't such a hot idea! A pile of
4~5 2x12s would be much better.

 

Well, yeah. That's the point I thought I was making.

Which is why I ultimately said, "If you don't see yourself doing lots of
your own work past, say, light bulb changes, just get the pro's to fix
your car. Nothing wrong with that at all. I don't do my own roofing or
windows; I pay pro's to do that."

 

Well, yeah. That's the point I thought I was making.

Which is why I ultimately said, "If you don't see yourself doing lots of
your own work past, say, light bulb changes, just get the pro's to fix
your car. Nothing wrong with that at all. I don't do my own roofing or
windows; I pay pro's to do that."

 

Ok, the plot thickens a bit.

There's a local guy who posted on Craigslist as a Honda mechanic,
with dealership experience. I contacted him, and he offered to do
the installation for $60 if I ran into trouble, assuming I already
had the parts.

And I've been spraying the bolts with PB Blaster daily, and will see
if I can loosen the nuts sometime in the next day or two. They
don't look rusted up at all. The car is a 94, but only has 63K
miles on it, so I think there's at least a chance I won't have to
cut the bolts.

Anyway, with the backstop of the local mechanic, I think I will go
ahead and order the Bosal muffler and gasket from RockAuto, and a
new hardware set if I can't get the bolts loose. I understand it's
not a Honda muffler, but I think there's a reasonable chance it's a
pretty good muffler and will last long enough.

I've been scoping out the situation pretty carefully, and it appears
in terms of physically moving the old muffler out and the new one
in, it isn't absolutely necessary to jack the car up at all. And
the bolts and rear hangers are reasonably accessible. The front
hanger - not so much, but at least I can reach it.

Not having done this before, it looks like the plan would be to
remove the bolts first, and break the connection at the gasket.
Then that would let me move the whole assembly around a bit to get
the hangers off. Then installing the new muffler would be the
reverse, probably hooking up the front hanger first, then the
rear hangers, and the gasket and bolts last.

Well, I'm sure it will be more difficult than it looks, but I think
I can get it done. But if not, I can bail out and get the mechanic
to do it.

 

Ok, the plot thickens a bit.

There's a local guy who posted on Craigslist as a Honda mechanic,
with dealership experience. I contacted him, and he offered to do
the installation for $60 if I ran into trouble, assuming I already
had the parts.

And I've been spraying the bolts with PB Blaster daily, and will see
if I can loosen the nuts sometime in the next day or two. They
don't look rusted up at all. The car is a 94, but only has 63K
miles on it, so I think there's at least a chance I won't have to
cut the bolts.

Anyway, with the backstop of the local mechanic, I think I will go
ahead and order the Bosal muffler and gasket from RockAuto, and a
new hardware set if I can't get the bolts loose. I understand it's
not a Honda muffler, but I think there's a reasonable chance it's a
pretty good muffler and will last long enough.

I've been scoping out the situation pretty carefully, and it appears
in terms of physically moving the old muffler out and the new one
in, it isn't absolutely necessary to jack the car up at all. And
the bolts and rear hangers are reasonably accessible. The front
hanger - not so much, but at least I can reach it.

Not having done this before, it looks like the plan would be to
remove the bolts first, and break the connection at the gasket.
Then that would let me move the whole assembly around a bit to get
the hangers off. Then installing the new muffler would be the
reverse, probably hooking up the front hanger first, then the
rear hangers, and the gasket and bolts last.

Well, I'm sure it will be more difficult than it looks, but I think
I can get it done. But if not, I can bail out and get the mechanic
to do it.

 

The 1995 Accord that I now own has 78,000 miles, and the muffler was
replaced about 5 years ago with an aftermarket unit that works great, so
far anyway.

That OEM Honda muffler was not anything special.
It went through very hard use on a lot of short mileage trips, and then
failed at about 10 years and only about 45k to 55K miles of use.

I have had stainless aftermarket exhausts on 3 different cars over the
past 24 years, including my current '91 turbo Miata, that were all
better and longer-lasting than what came on the Accord. Not equal to
Honda OEM, superior.

Sorry if I am pissing in the knowledge pool, but this is my personal
experience.

Pat

 

The 1995 Accord that I now own has 78,000 miles, and the muffler was
replaced about 5 years ago with an aftermarket unit that works great, so
far anyway.

That OEM Honda muffler was not anything special.
It went through very hard use on a lot of short mileage trips, and then
failed at about 10 years and only about 45k to 55K miles of use.

I have had stainless aftermarket exhausts on 3 different cars over the
past 24 years, including my current '91 turbo Miata, that were all
better and longer-lasting than what came on the Accord. Not equal to
Honda OEM, superior.

Sorry if I am pissing in the knowledge pool, but this is my personal
experience.

Pat

 

er, dare i point out that when you talk of replacement with bosal,
you're NOT talking about replacement with several hundred dollars of
stainless? or am i not supposed to call "bullshit" and simply play along?

bottom line, it's your car dude - you go ahead and do whatever you want.
but you're fudging the facts, and misrepresenting them here. that
makes you look like an ass.

 

er, dare i point out that when you talk of replacement with bosal,
you're NOT talking about replacement with several hundred dollars of
stainless? or am i not supposed to call "bullshit" and simply play along?

bottom line, it's your car dude - you go ahead and do whatever you want.
but you're fudging the facts, and misrepresenting them here. that
makes you look like an ass.

 

The muffler on my Accord is not stainless.

My experience has been that a Honda muffler, at least one from 1995, is
not this super high-quality piece of equipment compared to what I
replaced it with.

I have read a number of your posts, Mr. Jim Beam, and you are truly a
master of presenting yourself as an ass, so there is a bit of the pot
calling the kettle black here.

Have a nice day, and good luck finding someone else to fight with
online. Don't hit those keys too hard now.

Pat

 

The muffler on my Accord is not stainless.

My experience has been that a Honda muffler, at least one from 1995, is
not this super high-quality piece of equipment compared to what I
replaced it with.

I have read a number of your posts, Mr. Jim Beam, and you are truly a
master of presenting yourself as an ass, so there is a bit of the pot
calling the kettle black here.

Have a nice day, and good luck finding someone else to fight with
online. Don't hit those keys too hard now.

Pat

 

you know, when you first said "bosal" and "cheaper", i was completely
under the impression that you were /not/ talking about $600 of custom
stainless. clearly i was mistaken!

don't choke on your bullshit there dude - you'll need it for your rose
garden.