The largest Civic Type R club forum

[Oliyaz]

Hi,

I wondered if anybody could help with a diagnosis for me please....

I have had my ep3 for about 3 months now and up until now it has been perfect.

But....

Every time i drive in the wet (as in sitting water not a light drizzle) i get an intermittant vibration in the cabin. It varies in intensity with the revs and does it after ive come out the rain and sit it in the garage also.

Im thinking something to do with the exhaust but im not really that technicaly minded. If anybody can help that would be great.

Thanks in advance

I've just read something about "the kettling effect"

I suppose thats "fine" but is there anything i can do to stop it?

[Newton]

Thats correct it the water on the underside of the exaust that cool the system

while the top side is hotter and causes the ketteling effect you are getting

maybe some one will give you a better explanation

"I suppose thats "fine" but is there anything i can do to stop it?"

Just dont go out in the rain

[Lewisgame]

Assuming you've got an aftermarket exhaust?
Water cools the underside of the exhaust, top side is much hotter and this causes the exhaust to distort and hit the underside of the car.
Not much you can do about it. Some systems do it (my old piper system did) and some don't (my current solid fabrications 3inch system doesn't). You could try adjusting the exhaust so it sits further away from the car, but then you'd increase the risk of hitting the exhaust on the road.

[jonezy]

Had it with every exhaust that sits close to the underbody of the car. Not been a problem for years until I got caught in pre Xmas downpours.

[gobbledygook]

You can loosen the bolts to the back box and the downpipe, then rotate the b pipe until you have the maximum clearance from the bottom of the car. You only need a few extra mm.

[Newton]

You can loosen the bolts to the back box and the downpipe, then rotate the b pipe until you have the maximum clearance from the bottom of the car. You only need a few extra mm.

How are you going to do that when there is a 3 bolt flange that bolts to the manifold

Have a look at this post http://civictype-r.co.uk/forum/viewtopi ... 4&t=288792

[gobbledygook]

The 3 bolt flange is between cat and b pipe. The two 'spring loaded' two bolt flanges between manifold and cat, and between b pipe and back box have enough slack in them to rotate the b pipe and give you a few mm extra clearance where the b pipe crosses to the right hand side of the car.

[Newton]

Rubbish

[Lewisgame]

On a standard exhaust, the join between the manifold and catalytic converter, and the join between the rear box and b pipe are designed to flex and move. Adjusting the exhaust at these joins is pointless as they're constantly moving. The movement at the 3 bolt flange is very minimal. You'd need to either oversize the holes or use a smaller diameter bolts to get any movement. But then the triangular gasket won't line up and there's risk of an exhaust blow.

[gobbledygook]

You can think what you like, but it works for me. I change to the standard manifold and cat every year for the MOT, and my Mugen exhaust rattles off the bottom of the car if the b pipe is not rotated right. I put a bit of wood between the b pipe and the underside of the car where the exhaust crosses the chasis beam, as this is where the clearance is smallest. I then tighten the four spring bolts and remove the wood. The joints are designed to flex, but once the b pipe is positioned it doesn't seem to rotate no matter how hard I drive the car. Hitting a speed bump might rotate it though.

[Newton]

You cannot rotate the Bpipe because it has a flange at the end off

As Lewisgame says over size holes in the flange and poss smaller diameter bolts .

but that will not solve the problem you need a good welder to cut and fabricate the flange end

of the pipe. This is where I did mine

[gobbledygook]

It's not just the b pipe you rotate, its the combined b pipe and cat. Your pic is where the b pipe meets the cat, theres no give in that join. The give is in the two flange connections with spring bolts, one is between the cat and the manifold and the other is between the b pipe and back box. The bolts are about 10mm in diameter but they go through holes about 12mm wide in the flanges. That gives you room to rotate the b pipe and cat just enough so the b pipe no longer touches the bottom of the car when wet.

[Newton]

Ok lets clear this up

What manifold are you using pic if poss
What Bpipe are you using pic if poss
as the spring sections will move to where they want to with the movement of the engine

[gobbledygook]

Lol, do you want to take my car for a spin in the wet too, to check im not lying about there being no vibrations?

For the OP's sake, this works with standard manifold, standard cat and either Mugen b pipe and back box or standard b pipe and back box. I've used half a dozen other configurations that the OP is probably not interested in that it also works on.

If this discussion is still going on in April when my MOT is due I'll take some pics.

Thinking about the springs, once they are seated against the cat flange and back box flange, I doubt they will move. The springs will flex allowing the b pipe to move around, but it will return to the same place afterwards as the base of the spring is held tight on the flange by the pressure of the spring.

[Newton]

Sorry but thats Rubbish




Ps I'll keep it going then for you OP

[gobbledygook]

Well if its rubbish, maybe you can enlighten me as to where I'm managing to get the extra clearance to come from?