Stock exhaust removal........Ideas?

Hey guys.......another dumb question.

I got some slip on mufflers and I can't seem to get the stock mufflers off. I tried heating up the pipes via running the engine for a couple minutes and it didn't seem to help the process.

I took the bolt off (the only one I could find) that holds the mufflers on and only the right side seemed to have any play in it..............the left muffler didn't want to budge.

Any ideas on how to get that muffler off? I tried even heating the pipe with a butane torch and that didn't seem to help anything.

As far as I know the PO didn't change anything and the pipes were stubborn as ever.................any help that anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated.

The bolt that holds the collector in place didn't want to come loose (wish I had an impact wrench 8O )

Love this site............and love XJ's..............please help!!

 

There should be two bolts that hold the mufflers on. One at the passenger peg bracket in the back and another at the front of the muffler. The front bolt is a clamp and may be hard to see unless you lay on your back. Loosen the front clamp bolt, remove the rear bolt and the muffler should slide off with a little wiggling.

 

If Fozzie's method doesn't work, just add a penetrating oil and a rubber mallet (maybe a wood block to tap on the muffler lip too)! Good Luck!!

 

Mine came off fairly easily, but if they don't, try some good penetrating oil like Pblaster, etc and a rubber mallet as mentioned above. As also mentioned above, make sure you get both (2) bolts on each muffler. If you get to the point where you need a torch, save the butane for lighting cigars, and get your hands on a real torch.

 

I may be interested in your right side muffler if you are going to get rid of it. Previous owner decided to lay the bike over on the right hand side and scraped mine all up. Not to mention caving it in also.
Take out both bolts and wiggle that critter up and down and it should come right off.

 

Elbow grease and a chisel helped me...

 

That's funny, the PO laid mine down on the left side and my left muffler is scraped up. so should I call dibs on lefty?

 

Thanks guys, I'll give the penetrating oil a try. samsr, I'll let you know when I get them off and we can talk further!

Well, off to work for the day......gonna be a long one too! :lol:

 

Probably rust so the penetrating oil is the way to go. Had this problem taking my header pipes out. Clamps were loose but the rust wasn't!

 

Dispatcher, there are two bolts holding the muffler on? I only saw one that was on the hose clamp around the muffler where it enters the collector.

Am I missing one?

Also got some penetrating oil on it this morning, so when I get home from work I'll give it another go.

Thanks again for all the help everyone...........absolutely love this site!!

 

There should be another bolt towards the middle to back of the muffler that attaches it to the frame or passenger peg bracket and supports the weight of the muffler.

 

Sounds to me like samsr should be removing your mufflers........

 

I like the way you think Carl!!!

Yeah, I did get the one that connects the mufflers to the footpeg bracket, just making sure there was nothing else connecting the muffler to the collector.

Put on the penetrating oil tonight, gonna give it some time to soak in and then take another crack at it.....fingers crossed (or otherwise I'm going to take a pick ax to it and pull it off the "easy" way! :lol: )

I'll keep everyone up to date and I'll see how the new pipes sound and perform before I decide on getting rid of the stockers or not.

Thanks again!

 

OK, so I got the penetrating oil and sprayed it liberally on the connection between the muffler and the collector, took a piece of 2x10 and proceeded to hammer away. Still no luck in getting it loose. :evil:

The left side now has a little play in it, but still will not come loose. Am I missing something? :?: Any other ideas to try would be greatly appreciated as I'm at wits end trying to get these dang things off!

 

FWIW, my dad and used to use D&L Handlceaner to loosen up stuff.

Get the part heated up and slather on some D&L. It would bubble and melt in.

Let it cool and start tugging.

Also, another one is to keep the inside pipe cool and the outside pipe hot so it would expand. A propane torch judiciously applied to the outside pipe near the joint might expand it enough for some WD40 or D&L to creep in. tug and twist. A helper works out well here.

 

First, look to see that every mounting connection is undone and free.

Vinegar:
You can shoot some regular vinegar in there and wait until the chemical action works to dissolve the rust and allow you to get the parts separated.

Since we're dealing with the exhaust collector ... and you don't want to have to insert tools into the joint to spread and collapse the two elements ... possibly doing serious damage to the collector ...

Another approach would be ...
Muriatic acid.

Muriatic acid is a dilute form of Sulfuric acid. Hot-rod guys have used it to remove rust off of everything ... fast.
Fast ... being the Keyword.
Rubber gloves and eye gear ... shoot some Muriatic acid in the joint.
The acid will dissolve ~~> RUST <~~ pretty quickly.

So, I'd have a bucket filled with water and a half-box of baking soda mixed-in ... and a big sponge ready ... to sponge on the baking soda water to neutralize the acid on the collector after the silencer comes off.

 

SUCCESS!!!! I got some Royal Purple Penetrating Oil and went to work with the wooden block..........and 2 hours of wrestling later.........no trumpets!

Thanks for all the help guys..........yet again this site came through!

Now if I can just figure out how to get the new mufflers to keep an airtight seal against the collectors! :roll:

But that's for another post!!

 

Lather the ID of pipe(muffler) & OD of collector in theis stuff.... "Permatex" Muffler & Tailpipe Putty, and retighten all hardware.... worked on mine?!?!

 

For some reason mine were welded on.Had to cut off with a saw's all.They looked ok on top,but sitting in grass had rusted the bottoms out.