Mufflers are important components of vehicles you should know about. As their name suggests, they ‘muffle’ the sound generated by the car’s engine. Without mufflers, the noise generated by your car’s engine will be too much. You may have heard about people seeing muffler hairs coming out of their vehicles. And we’ll be discussing the significance of this in this article.
Mufflers deaden the sound produced by a car’s engine. When the muffler wears out, it comes out as hair in the exhaust and needs to be replaced.
Without mufflers, the sound generated by the car’s engine would be too loud and constitute a nuisance. In this article, you’ll learn about mufflers, how they work, and what happens when you see muffler hair hanging from your car.
What Is A Car’s Muffler?
As you may already know, vehicles need to generate a great deal of power to function. The engine produces this power, and in the process, several pulsating sounds are created. With the engine producing thousands of pulses per minute, the sum total of the pulses would be too loud. In fact, the sound would constitute a nuisance to the driver and other road users.
But this doesn’t happen as most cars give off a low hum. The reason for this is the muffler, also called the silencer, which does as its name suggests. The muffler is specifically designed to dampen the sound produced by the engine, and it is usually placed under the vehicle’s rear. Mufflers are also part of an engine’s exhaust system.
How Do Mufflers Work?
Mufflers are usually made of steel which is coated with aluminum to make it resistant to corrosion. The function of a muffler is precise. It exists only to dampen the engine sound.
Most mufflers or silencers fit inside tubes that have perforations. The function of the perforations is to direct sound waves through the silencers. As sounds enter the silencers, they are directed through an internal component called a resonator. The function of the resonator is to produce sound waves similar to the ones entering the muffler to cancel it out.
So, a muffler works by essentially creating sounds to cancel out the ones produced by the engine. And while the sound isn’t entirely canceled, it is significantly reduced to a level that’s acceptable.
Car owners should make the inspection of their silencers part of their routine maintenance. The owner’s manual can provide inspections on how often to inspect the muffler, which an experienced mechanic should only carry out as mufflers are prone to rust and damage. Sometimes, part of their components may become loose.
What Is Muffler Hair?
Car owners have seen long hair or fur coming out of their car’s exhaust. The experience is usually frightening as the last place anyone would expect to see long strands of human hair or animal fur is in their car’s exhaust. Some have reported such incidents to the police after.
But you see, the hair or fur coming off these vehicles aren’t of human or animal origin. It’s actually part of the muffler becoming loose after damage. The hair coming out of the car’s exhaust is usually fiberglass and part of another component of the muffler system. But they look alarmingly similar to human hair or sometimes animal fur.
From our research, we found out that Honda cars tend to bring out muffler hair due to the composition of the muffler system. So, if you suddenly see something like hair or fur hanging out of your vehicle, don’t scream. It’s muffler hair. Dispose of it and take your vehicle to your mechanic to have a new muffler installed.
Mufflers Are Required By Law
The law of many countries mandates every motor vehicle with an internal combustion engine to have a muffler system. It’s not enough for the vehicles to have muffler systems, and the muffler must also be in good condition and in constant operation. The reason for this is to reduce excessive noise, which will be the case without mufflers.
So, if you drive around with a bad muffler, you may be fined. Some people use a muffler bypass or muffler cutout device to produce more sound and power in their cars. But this is frowned upon by most countries.
Signs Of A Failing Or Damaged Muffler
Mufflers usually don’t go bad suddenly. They tend to degrade slowly over time, and you’ll notice some changes when they start to fail or are completely damaged. Many drivers don’t pay attention to these signs and may be driving around with a muffler and a car generating more noise than it should. Below are signs of a failing or damaged muffler:
Excessive Engine Or Exhaust Noise
This one is pretty easy, right? Since the muffler’s function is to deaden the sound of the engine’s operation, you’ll notice changes in the tone of the engine or exhaust when the muffler is working as it should. Loud and growing noise are telltale signs of a compromised muffler, and you should endeavor to fix it as soon as possible to avoid being fined by the authorities. Also, a damaged muffler will reduce the fuel economy of your ride.
Reduced Fuel Economy
Reduced fuel economy could be due to several factors, including damaged mufflers. While you can use a reduction in fuel economy to conclude your muffler is bad, you can use it with other signs to predict the state of your muffler.
Engine Misfiring
It’s easy to know when an engine is misfiring due to the stuttering and jerking sounds that the engine will produce. Engine misfiring can be caused by a number of factors. However, a malfunctioning muffler or exhaust system is among the top causes.
Your car engine is a finely tuned system where all components must work together effectively and efficiently. When there’s a problem with any component, it will affect the operation of the engine. So, when the muffler isn’t in excellent condition, the performance of the vehicle will also be affected, resulting in the engine misfiring, especially under deceleration.
How To Fix A Damaged Muffler?
If you notice your muffler isn’t working as it should, you should immediately visit your mechanic for inspection and repair. As stated earlier, you are required by law to have a functioning muffler in your car, so be sure to fix it if it goes bad.
