Heads up V-drive owners

[wakejunky]

FYI, thought some of you may want to know

couple of us have had some exhaust hose issues only to find that the muffler is wearing through on the underside due to what i believe is vibration from it not being properly mounted. it just uses the hoses to keep it in place. on the outer edges where it contacts the inner hull liner it is wearing both the muffler and the hull. id recommend at least putting a heavy rubber cushion under it. mine is not leaking but is close, but a friends has worn through and made a hell of a leak.

given most if not all of our boats are 10 years old i would recommend pulling the hoses off the manifold and inspecting inside. especially if you have ever had overheating problems. the outside of the hose can look perfectly normal while the inside is complete junk. both of us are replacing all of the hoses on the exhaust given there age and or damage. there is a 34" long 4" hose leading from the muffler to the rear of the boat that I'm going to split the old one long ways and wrap it around the bottom half of the muffler. hopefully the 3/8" thick hose will stop the wearing issue.

just wanted to give everyone a heads up. that muffler isn't cheap.

[Supraman]

If this wears through, will it cause the boat to take on water while it is in the lake, even with the engine off? Because it's below the water surface, I'm assuming it would.

Do you have any concerns about the increased heat level by placing such a large peice of rubber against the muffler?

[wakejunky]

yes , it will leak just sitting in the water. no, I'm not worried at all about the rubber, the muffler is filled with water and keeps it cool normally. if it was a heat issue i dont think the muffler would be made of fiberglass. there are some small rubberish pads in spots under it already, if there still there, but there in the wrong place. mine was missing one completely and the other one was barely holding on. I'm sure the adhesive wore off long ago

[Supraman]

Any tips on inspecting it? My boat is in the water right now and I don't really want to have to pull it out... If I reach under the muffler will I be able to feel any wear spots / leaks? Or do I need to pull it out of the water and actually take the muffler out?

[wakejunky]

remove center rear seat and the aft floor panel, look in the corners of the bilge floor at the wall on the ends of the muffler, you can lift up the muffler a little. mine wore through the black gel coat on the hull liner. and wear spots on the corresponding part of the muffler

[wakejunky]

it maybe deficult to see, dont know. i saw it after removing the muffler to change hoses. if you have low hours it may not be an issue, but i would definitly try to prevent it from happening in the future. i am roughly at the 500 hour mark.

[Supraman]

I'm around the 360 hour mark. I'll check it out this evening when I'm on the boat.. I'd be curious to hear from other owners if they've found the same wear marks as you.

I think I'll change out all of the exhaust hoses next time I pull the boat out of the water. Hopefully I can source some hose locally... Although it will probably cost me 3x as much as if I ordered them online.

[skibeau]

I put new hoses from Discount Inboard Marine on our '99 E22 two weeks ago which work great.  SKIDIM are inboard and skiing enthusiasts that deals primarily via internet (www.skidim.com) and fax order line (800-510-9174), but are happy to talk with you on their order line at (803) 345-0996 until you get that warm and fuzzy that you're all on the same page.  They're real busy during ski season (July is peak), so you'll probably have a hard time getting through by phone.  They sell hose by the even linear foot increments, and I ordered 2' too much of the 3" diameter exterior corrugated wire hose making sure we didn't come up short.  Check out page 9 of their 230 MB catalog for hundreds of items or go to http://www.skidim.com/products.asp?dept=1139 to start browsing their 'hose per foot'.

When you go to change the hoses, be prepared to cut the wire in the hoses with something besides wire cutters, unless they're excellent wire cutters.  I used a box opener (razor knife) to carefully cut the rubber hoses off the manifolds & mufflers and a Dremel with a metal abrasion blade to cut the wires.  A sheet of paper wrapped around and lined up on a hose makes a decent cutting guide (the corrugations and wire kind of threw me off some).  A water based binding lubricant (http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?i=10775&pdesc=Gladiator_Foot_Slick_Binding_Lube&aID=600B10&merchID=4006) helped the hoses slide and rotate on very easily.

[dynomite]

I haven't ordered my hoses yet. I found some epdm hose that was rated for 257 degrees but it wasn't marine and wasn't any cheaper so I plan to order some fro www.yacht.com. my muffler was blown out on the drivers side bottom corner and blowing large amounts of water in the boat. My corrugated hoses were badly blistered and melted on the inside and just like wake Junky said looked fine on the outside. I plan to repair the fiberglass muffler and replace all hoses. Should be easier to do it all at once then having to keep going back replacing them as they each start leaking. Wake junky thanks again for the help I will let u know when im able to work on the boat again been swamped at work so it will be next week at least. Thanks again!!!

[DENNIS]

Are any of you able to repair the muffler or does it have to be replaced?  Is it a Toyota specific muffler?

Dennis

[masonlk]

It's just made out of fiberglass. Small repair kit from auto parts or home depot will do the job. Remember the exhaust gases are cooled by water and you can or should be able to put your hand on the risers coming off the engine that the hoses attach to. So the temperatures running through the mufflers are not that hot.

[bullet1w]

I just replaced my muffler a few weeks ago after it started leaking for the second time.Last season, the Muffler had a 1 inch hole on the top and it was an obvious and easy repair. A few weeks ago a leak developed on the bottom part of the muffler but it looked like a worn soft spot in the fiberglass. I removed the muffler and could hear something rattling around inside so I decided it was time to replace it. I ordered the muffler from capt Rick but I don't think it was Toyota specific. When I get a chance, I will put a pad underneath the muffler to prevent wear on the fiberglass. Thanks for the heads up. FYI my S-22 has 520 hours on it now

[fyerfytr]

I know this is an ancient thread but thanks to the original poster it helped alot. Same issue here rub spots on bottom of muffler. I used long strand fiberglass repair and cloth. Its water tight now!!

Mark