Car Trauma

After many months of noise and one failed attempt at repair, the noise that my car's exhaust was making has finally been fixed.

This summer has been irritating; all the heat, the longer commute in a car that has black leather seats, no air-conditioning and a CD player that has had better days. So when you can't hear yourself think when you start the car, or accelerate, because something in the tailpipe is blowing up - there's not much relaxing. No Fahrvergnügen.

The noise had escalated, and I returned to Mad Hatter Muffler for another shot at hope. Initially I was told there is a small hole in the muffler, but that was not causing the major noise. I know there could be a problem with the exhaust manifold, and understand it would cost a few hundred bucks to repair. It's a 22 year old Volvo with 237.000 miles on it, there are some repairs that would not be worth the expense. The mechanic and I talked about this, but then he said he'd take the car off the lift and take a closer look.

He emerged from the garage area with a diagnosis of a broken gasket between the manifold and the downpipe. The cost, about $50, which would have been so much more if I had gone to a dealer or just about any other shop I can think of. If you're having trouble with your exhaust system, I highly recommend Mad Hatter Muffler, they've done good by me several times in the past few years. Yes, that was a plug.

With the gasket repaired I started the car and heard...the engine, and little else. Idling is quiet, acceleration sounds normal. I keep flinching, waiting for the loud sound to happen, but it does not. The relief is incredible.



There's still a bit of life in the 760 yet. Not sure if there's enough to go to Buffalo in it come October though. At least the rest of the summer will be quieter.