I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: __
In a great design Mazda put the silencer fastenings in the direct flow of all the crud coming off the road rather than protecting them behind the generous flanges. So, it would have helped if they had used stainless nuts for about five pence more, but they used something else that is rotted out of all shape.
These will have to be ground off in some way.
Has anyone had to do this and could save me expensive experiments?
For the record I bought some long reach sockets to try to hammer them on to the corroded nuts and gain some traction…. Not a success.
I’ve a standard four inch angle grinder that will do the job I think but it will be cutting into the flange at the same time as the nut and they are different materials so a bit dodgy in a confined place.
Anyone been here that can offer advise based on experience?
I used a Dremmel type device; with care you can cut and remove the nut whilst causing minimal damage ( It’s still usable )to the thread of the stud. Angle grinder might prove a bit trickier.
I suspected as much. Yet more kit for a one off job…
Looking at grinding off the tack welded back of the thread on the original silencer. Did consider using an electric saw to cut the bolts from the outside of the flange on either side too.
Still, good to know it’s been done with a Dremel-type device👍
I took mine to a local exhaust place. They heated the nuts and got them off with a nut remover tool. Cost me £20, but at least the standard back box came off undamaged.
Must admit I hadn’t thought of that! I don’t try to change my own tyres, but anything else I have a strong tendency to DIY. Too strong in this case as it’s a pretty thankless task going by the wasted hour under the car at my last attempt….
They use the same size flanged nut as is found on the drop-links and how many of those have had to be cut off. On both mine the nut section has deteriorated badly, but the integral flange looks fine. So much better to have used a nut and separate washer here I’m thinking.
Mazda must have had some reason to go for the extra expense of welding two bolts onto the original silencer?
Happily, my IL Jobbie comes with two bolts and four washers. As, I assume all aftermarket exhausts for the car do.
Yer an animal!! I’ve done this back in the day but you need a very sharp(small) chisel and a solid base to work on. A rubber mounted exhaust with a, relatively, flimsy silencer isn’t the ideal candidate but it’s not impossible, just not first choice👍
I’m also DIY, but I knew as soon as I saw them that it wasn’t going to be cut and dried. I could have gone down the dremel route, wasted a few hours and dremel blades. Instead I jumped in the car, drove a mile down the road and had a little exhaust/tyre place get them of for me. It was ace driving the car back home with the back box nuts removed. I’ve since bought a set of nut removers.
Went to my local trusted exhaust place and they just wanted to cut it off!
Two Dremels locally on Facebook Marketplace for £20 and no reply. Peeps sell stuff and don’t remove the ads?
£60 for a Draper lookalike locally.
My new but old IL Motorsport exhaust remains in the back of my Volvo rather than where is should be!
It’s going to be the four inch angle grinder and just put up with collateral damage…
Another solution came up today. A repair section from exhaust to mid-pipe section for £30. I haven’t checked, but it’s looks much easier to get at the one bolt that holds it with a grinder if it’s solid with rust. If successful the silencer/midpipe will come off as one piece
If it doesn’t continue doing monsoon amounts of rain before Christmas I may get this on the car.
Chaps. You have a sensual exhaust that is in the back of my Volvo rather than on the Mx; how frustrating is that?!
This video, unlike many others, gives you a real life experience of dealing with those four rubber hangers. I was surprised but now I am forewarned.
I would add: get in with the silicone spray before taking them off and silicone grease prior to re installation.
Oh, and have the missus nearby with a defibrillator!
Haha. Thanks for that; until now I didn’t realise these tools existed!
I think these, a tool with no specific purpose, covers an amazing amount of ‘odd-jobs’…
Large flat blade screwdriver (good for a number of jobs) and lever them off. Before you proceed, yes squirt some silicone on them where they hang to aide removal. Red rubber grease, a dob on the end of the pivet points aides refitting the hangers.
You may notice a slight difference in the rubber hangers, both my NC’s 2 were slightly different to the other 2. Put them back in the same position or as happened to mine one time it looked askew when refitted.
I was fortunate that this one below had only been fitted less than a year when I removed it for some undersealing.
Yer, The different hanger rubbers is mentioned in the video I linked to. It also mentions reconditioning the old rubbers by thirty minutes in boiling water. May be worth a try. Some silencers actually come with four new hangers. Could be a game changer if measuring up different makes.
Took the silencer hangers off today and tried the thirty minutes in boiling water. Can’t say it made a jot of difference.
Best way I found was stuff a broad blade screwdriver into the rubber, spray into the gaps created with silicone spray. You can tease the screwdriver around the stud and get some lubricate all over.
I found the best way to get the rubber hangers off is to ease them over the lip that contains them rather than try to push them from behind. Once they aren’t stopped physically, the silicon spray allows them to slip off.
When popping them back I used silicone grease; it’s more likely to not be dislodged in quite a hostile enviroment
Finally got the IL Motorsport silencer fitted. It sounds brilliant but a bit too loud for my taste. Fortunately, now everything is lubed up the silencer can be swapped in ten minutes.
I rarely drive more than two hours so the new silencer will be on for a while and will be enjoyed. But in the long term I think I will probably return to the original item. It’s muted but doesn’t lack excitement. I think it is a well judged compromise.
when I did mine 
