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Fiberglass muffler leak

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bobct

Advanced Contributor
"In the bilge cleaning up my b

"In the bilge cleaning up my bonding system and noticed my starboard muffler has a slight leak. There's a rust streak so it's probably been doing it for a while now.

I don't see the same on port side.

How do these normally fail? They're made out of fiberglass.

It might not even leak when exhaust is flowing through, I assume I have pink coolant/water just sitting in the bottom right now.

Should I monitor and just leave alone? I'm not worried about the little bit that's dripping but wanted to check with you guys and see if there's a chance of outright failure underway.


Bob"
 
"Is it a leak at a seam where

"Is it a leak at a seam where the muffler was assembled? If so, it will get far worse. You can pull the muffler, separate the two halves, and bond it back together with epoxy.


If it's a leak in the body, however, you might want to replace it. Sure, you could sand it good and put on more 'glass, but... Not a good idea to have one of them leaking CO in the bilge.

Jeff"
 
"I had a small hole in one of

"I had a small hole in one of mine looked like somone had a scew driver pushed in it,sanded it down dith 80 grit,put down epoxy,then a piece of matt fiberglass,then alittle more epoxy<FIXED.
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"I checked it out a little mor

"I checked it out a little more and it's dripping in two places, not at the seams. Theother one is dry.

It's round so I had the thought of loosening the clamps and rotating it 180 degrees. That's would put the leak at top the which I assume would always the dry.

Jeff, you're right, I don't want to mess around too much with a CO2 leak. Maybe I'll do this as a way to inspect it and then decide.

It looks like new otherwise but I suppose they all do being protected from the elements and made of fiberglass.

Bob"
 
"CO - not CO2 - leaks can be u

"CO - not CO2 - leaks can be ugly.

I'd be inclined to fix it or leave the 'leak' "down" - that way the cooling water may help 'seal' the leak, at least while the engine is running.

Best be would be to remove and inspect. I've seen four failures: 1) complete burn thru - no cooling water, 2) freeze fracture - couldn't miss it, and 3) the other two were what I called friction failures - unrestrained installation and what I suspect was vibration just wore thru the outer jacket."
 
"Interesting, I called the man

"Interesting, I called the manufacturer this morning (Vernatone/Centek).

I told him about my idea of rotating it 180 degrees and he said not to do it. The baffles inside could actually cause it to fill up with water.

Good idea for the repair but then I'll rotate it back into the old position. He said doing a fiberglass repair was perfectly acceptable and should last for years. Short of a big backfire, they normally do not catastrophically fail so a repair should work.

I guess I'll loosen it up and make the call then. Ironically I have some limber holes I want to glass over less than a couple of feet away...."
 
"Bob:

Be sure to sand the s

"Bob:

Be sure to sand the surface thoroughly, then clean the area with acetone. I'd recommend all epoxy repair materials.

Jeff"
 
"I repaired some leaks in my f

"I repaired some leaks in my fiberglass mufflers last year. Was fairly simple and worked great. Sanded, cleaned, then wrapped with fiberglass cloth and epoxy. Can't see them going bad for a long time. Stuff is like concrete.

Much simpler then paying $400+ ea. for new..."
 
when fixing the hole in your muffler, what type of Resin did you use? I have the same problem, looks like some small little pin holes through the muffler with some left over salt. Could be that a previous owner ran the engine without opening the seacock valve and the muffler overheated. Thought I'd try to repair it first.
 
This worked great for me, no leaks all season. I used WM epoxy and fiberglass mat, two layers thick.

Saved me having to buy a new muffler for now. I think it will last years.


Bob
 
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