Monday, July 5, 2010

Care & Feeding Of Your Cars Exhaust System

At CarLotta Credit and Car sales, we know your monry is important to you...here are a few tips to help.
The exhaust system is seldom noticed by car owners until something is wrong.
An exhaust system is metal piping system used to direct burnt gases away from the engine running into the muffler and going out in the open air. It will include several of the following systems:

* Starting at the engine, exhaust manifolds are intended to gather exhaust gases spent by burning fuel and channel them into one tube. They are often made of cast iron to endure the extreme heat. They are extremely durable and will normally last the life of a car. If they do fail, it is normally a stress crack. This may be able to be welded or replaced. Any leaks in your exhaust system can be dangerous as gases may leak into the interior of the car.

* Next in line is the muffler. The main function of a muffler is to reduce exhaust noise. They are along the exhaust pipe and it uses a resonating chamber which is constructed to reduce the sound coming from the engine.These do wear out and need to be replaced. Rust from the outside, or condensation from the inside are the main culprits.

* A catalytic converter follows the muffler and is a mechanism used to decrease the amount of poisonous gas emitted from a combustion engine. Since the late 1970's , it is used today in the USA and other countries around the world. It uses a reaction (chemical or metal) to "trap" some of the worst of the pollutants emitted by your cars engine. The accumulation of the pollutants does cause them to fail every 70,000 miles or so. Your vehicle will not run properly, and some cars will not run at all if the converter is blocked. A blocked converter can also cause you "check engine" light to come on.


* The pipe and the tail pipe is the end of the exhaust pipe where it vents to open air and it is used to connect the other components together. This pipe, and its connectors do rust and may need to be replaced

Because it is located externally and under the hood the exhaust system is easy to reach and you can do the repair yourself if you have the proper equipment. Otherwise just bring your car to the nearest repair shop so your exhaust system can be fixed. We recommend the muffler chains (Cole, Mieneke, Midas) as they are usually less expensive and give a lifetime warranty. Get a quote from 2 different shops just to be safe.

With proper care and feeding your cars exhaust system will last a long time and will not need major repairs.
CarLotta, http://www.carlottacredit.com/

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