I am running into a number of muffler issues. I had a Speedy muffler installed back in 1996 and have always thought I had some kind of lifetime warranty on it. That is the illusion that Speedy left me with.

Today I phoned them and was informed that the warranty was for twelve months.
It was serviced last in 2008 so that is of no help. I am querying Speedy on the 'lifetime' aspect of all this. It is a Walker muffler apparently.

Last year the resonator began to clank so the local OK Tire store told me replacement resonators are unavailable and they advised me to weld in a straight pipe. Which they did. I took it to them because the local Speedy muffler had gone belly up [beginning to see why now].

I took the car to a reliable shop here in town and they advised me that the muffler is the current noise culprit but that they could not deal with it because everything is welded together and they would have to replace everything at great expense to me. Not sure if I could get a resonator through them. This car does not have a catalytic converter so I am not facing that particular charge.

I am trying to decide whether I should take the local shop's option and to have the entire system replaced or should I take it back to OK Tire and have the cheaper option welded into place. I would have no guarantee on the muffler but I think I am no longer a believer in these warranties that chain shops like Speedy and Midas offer.

Very confusing.

Bob

Hi Mr. Bob muskox37 and everyone,

A method for a longer lasting exhaust is to run a ground strap between the exhaust and the body. Saw this exhaust to body grounding when under Mercedes and BMW autos as inspiration.

A Canada 1982 240 GLT? Do / Did you have Pulsair or EGR in there at any time? If not, probably no factory catalytic converter. The catalytic converter on Turbo 240 then was larger yet in the same location yet I've seen catalytic converters that were connected at or just downstream of the exhaust manifold. Been so long I cannot recall for sure and always US Market 240 Turbo with some Canada RWD Volvo examples.

Early Turbo 240 with K- and LH-Jetronic used a richer fuel to air ratio and made a higher CO (and HC? I forget) exhaust with or without Turbo boost.

When you see the 240 exhaust attachments, the final point the exhaust is electrically bonded to the unibody is the bell housing bracket to near the end of the header pipe just upstream of the header pipe output to catalytic converter input flange.

I used a braided copper alloy or soft stainless ground strap with durable ring terms at each end.

I attached an exhaust to unibody ground at the clamped unions at the:
- front of the front resonator
- at both ends of the rear muffler

I've not kept detailed notes yet the exhaust has yet to show appreciable corrosion. I did this mod on my 1991 240 sedan in 2008 or so when I replaced the catback exhaust with new. The catalytic converter is factory original with Volvo stamped on the shell. 170,xxx or so miles and last emissions check in mighty and lovely WA-state showed very clean emissions at idle and on the resistance roller doo-hickey that mimics highway motoring I guess. May have replaced the oxygen sensor before then.

I have also had to remediate failure of the header pipe to bell housing bracket a few times. That header pipe section is meant to break away from the undercarriage as all y'all know. So a better and more durable metal bracket with hole for fasteners is there and the exhaust is secured, weight supported, between the manifold and the end of the header pipe.

That section from the header pipe out to catalytic converter in to the front resonator hangers is sort of long. In every instance of stock 240 exhaust manifold gasket or broken stud failure I've seen, that end of the header pipe support was missing.

Hope that helps.

Peanut Butter and Milky Tea Boyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

The cat on 240 Turbos is very specific to the turbo model being part of the downpipe just aft of the turbo. The cat on 740/940 model turbos is under the car as it is on NA equipped cars and might be a solution for the very, very expensive and hard to find 240 turbo cat. I replaced a cat on a post '86 NA car that seemed to be of decent quality and had a friendly price of $112 a few years ago for a customer. - Dave

You wrote: ' I had a Speedy muffler installed back in 1996 and have always thought I had some kind of lifetime warranty on it. That is the illusion that Speedy left me with.

Today I phoned them and was informed that the warranty was for twelve months.
It was serviced last in 2008 so that is of no help. I am querying Speedy on the 'lifetime' aspect of all this. It is a Walker muffler apparently............................................................
....the local Speedy muffler had gone belly up [beginning to see why now].

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Are you 'punking' this board?????

Or do you really need something to complain about????

1996 to 2020 adds up to 24 years. On a Walker Muffler.


By the way, the muffler on my 1987 245, which I bought used in 1997, still has the muffler intact. (did I just junx tthe run of Over 23 years, as it was not a new muffler new when I bought it back in '97).
Probably a "Volvo" muffler.....

Cheers

My issue with Speedy was the "lifetime" guarantee. Most people don't keep their cars for more than five years or so and thus they don't have to honour their warranty. I have owned this car for twenty-five years now and I put them to the test about their warranty. Don't brag about a 'lifetime' warranty and then fail to honour it. Perhaps the company ran into too many owners who were keeping their cars longer and they could not continue to honour the warranty.

I note they are no longer called "Speedy Muffler." It is now "Speedy Auto Service." Perhaps the original outfit went out of business and morphed into what exists today--without the guarantee!

Regardless I am going to get the muffler fixed at a local garage and there will be little or no guarantee attached I expect.

Perhaps offering warranties like that are what hastened the original "Speedy's" demise.

In any event, it's easily and relatively inexpensively fixed - which you can choose to do.

What model and year is your Volvo and where are you that you don't need a cat?

Exhaust components are available online where there is more competition on prices. Replaced my system including cat all the way back with Walker brand. No problem with availability. I took the parts to an independent budget muffler shop and had them install everything. Only tricky part was I'm in California and had to insure the cat was on the state's approved list.

Famous statement by Ronald Reagan "trust but verify".

The car is a 1982 GLT and I don't think it originally came with a catalytic converter. Could be wrong on that. When I bought it it was already ten years old and maybe owner number one did not bother replacing the cat if it failed.

I'd appreciate some information on original configurations. Maybe I could start to collect together what will be needed when the front pipe fails.

In the interim I have decided to let Ok Tire install another muffler. At my expense, of course. They cut out the resonator last year and ran a straight pipe. And they are right in town.

Bob in Parksville, British Columbia.

The Canadian market 1981 & 1982 242 GLTs were only able to have that great B23E engine of yours by virtue of the fact it wasn't designed to run with a cat converter. Probably wouldn't enjoy a cat even if you gave it one, some kind of cat allergy I think. They weren't required in Canada until 1983. Meanwhile, the USA market GLTs had to settle for the newer, more fuel efficient, but slightly less powerful B21FT that did have a cat. Ref. my earlier reply from a few months back when we were talking about your B23E Pulsair plumbing https://www.brickboard.com/RWD/volvo/1671917/220/240/260/280/installing_water_pumppulsair_b23e.html

I imagine your lifetime warranty issue may have more to do with Walker than Speedy. I ran into a similar situation with a Walker I got through Lordco not that many years ago. Walker gives a lifetime guarantee with their "premium" mufflers. The Starla branded muffler that Walker sells for our old Volvo is described in their literature as "premium", so many shops might take that to mean lifetime warranty and may tell the customer that. When you read the fine print in the Walker warranties it's not covered. It would probably have to be from their full SS line, not just SS baffled. Now if Speedy had given you something in writing that clearly indicated lifetime then you'd have a leg to stand on. As others are saying, you more than got your money's worth.

Even with a lifetime warranty, muffler shops often nickel and dime you to death on installation fees and shop supply charges, not to mention doing their best to uopsell you on other muffler parts and brakes by crushing rusty connector pipes, poke holes in the other muffler, use their torches on full blast to cut through clamps and free sticky joints or that 1/4" of remaining brake pad lining is a hazard to your stopping ability. Do I sound a bit jaded against heavily franchised muffler shops? Well, they more than earned that reputation with me on many occasions. Lately I've been getting my "premium" Starla mufflers direct from Worldpac through an online discounter and if I have trouble installing them then I just give them to a friendly garage with a lift and proper torch. Just make sure you've got any needed hangers on hand, and if you prefer the strap clamps as I do over the U-bolt clamps, then those as well. I'd go with whatever is cheap and has a minimum 2 year guarantee in writing to suggest it's got thick enough metal to perhaps last longer.

In my experience, 140/240's seem extra good at eating through pipes and mufflers compared to the later 740/940 designs. The longevity of your muffler can be greatly improved by making sure the engine gets up to full operating temperature and the rearmost muffler gets hot enough to evaporate any condensation, plus parking under cover to reduce condensation in the first place. The 140/240 under axle connector pipe design in the early models only seemed to make things worse. About the only trick I ever bother with these days is making sure the tail pipe extends on a slightly downward slant to promote drainage of condensation.
--
Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now

Is it not the case that, for US market cars, only those GLT's badged, "GLT Turbo," had the FT engine and those designated simply as, "GLT," were normally aspirated?

Another "trick" to add to Dave's bag of tricks is to take a very small drill bit, and drill very small holes (hence the need for a very small drill bit) in the low spots of the exhaust system -- particularly where it passes under the rear axle and near the entrance/exit of the mufflers/resonators. On the occasions where you don't get the car fully warm during a drive, and that exhaust system has become little more than a gigantic linear condenser, it will allow the water that has accumulated in low spots to exit the low spots. And, in my experience, as long as the hole is small enough, you'll never hear a thing. Which will also happen if you shot guns and/or played in rock bands when you were younger.

A relevant (in my opinion) aside - back in 1978 as poor college students, my wife and I managed to scrape together enough money to allow us to buy a (then) new VW Rabbit - a new car to replace two money-pit used cars. Brand spankin' new from Jim Ellis VW in the suburbs of Hotlanta. I was a co-op student at GaTech (one quarter in school, one quarter working - rinse/repeat until graduation in 5 or 6 years). My wife worked full time at the procurement office on campus. We lived in married housing on 14th St. Which meant her commute to work was about .7 of a mile. Not nearly long enough to warm up the exhaust system. The rabbit had it's muffler all the way at the back of the car. 9 months after we bought the car, the brand new/OEM muffler at the rear had rusted through from the inside out. That and a degree in Mech. Engineering was how I learned my lesson about drilling holes in brand new exhaust systems.

Cats were required in the US starting in 75. My 82 DL had one. I’m V8 powered now and had to add a heat shield to the driver’s side.

FWIW - here in NC, no inspection at all in NC after 35 years old. I could remove my cats without being in violation of state law. Might be in violation of federal law...but they’re not enforcing.

Keep it simple Bob - just have a new muffler welded in. Depending on how the car is used - if you got 14 years out of the last one you’re doing pretty good.

Michael, Do the math over. 24 years? That muffler owes the OP nothing. - Dave

I tried to edit but forgot the problem there. Wanted to add -- if by "service" he meant replace -- he's still way ahead. -- Dave

Oops - forgot to carry my 2....