Rattling valve on Designtek/topgear switchable exhaust

[markh1]

Gents,

My desgintek (which is identical to topgear) switchable exhaust valve(s) rattle when the system has warmed up and they are in their open position.

The exhausts probably have no more than 5k miles on. Has anyone else had similar problem? Any suggested fixes?

Loathed just to by another switchable exhaust for the same thing to happen again in short order.

Thanks

 

[sim996]

Do topgear make them? Was thinking of buying one too, will be off the list!

 

[deMort]

Porsche exhaust valves have a rod on the valve each side that's adjustable ..
Cant say with this system as i don't know it but if so then you need to adjust to put a bit more tension on the rods .

 

[jakerade]

I suspect topgear make Designtek, Spyder etc. The also own Powerflow / Eurosport / Longlife exhaust centres

This is the linkage on my Spyder. (right click open in new window to see a decent size..)

 

[markh1]

Thanks for that picture Jake.

DeMort I can't see if the rods are adjustable but if they are do I want to adjust them to make them shorter or longer?

Thanks!

 

[deMort]

On the Porsche system the rod has a nut on it , you undo and either lengthen or shorten the rod as required .

Porsche and the sports exhaust on is valve in the open position .. it's the default position if the vacuum system fails .. rod can be loose and rattle .

I've not adjusted one of these since i was at OPC so a long time ago but logically you would lengthen it a bit to put tension on it .. that would stop it rattling .

Shortening would merely pull the diaphragm down a bit and i don't think there is enough tension on it to stop the rod being loose .

Don't go mad .. its small adjustments

 

[markh1]

thanks very much! Fingers crossed there is some adjustment there to play with!

 

[markh1]

so just having a fiddle with the adjustment bit. Have wound the threaded bit in a bit but then it pulls the stop away from the stopper (picture with screwdriver pointing at it) Does the threaded bar need to be adjusted so that it pushes the stopper hard up against the stop point or tightened so that it stops just short of the stop?

 

[jakerade]

i would say push hard against the stopper - looks slightly different to mine

 

[deMort]

Try both .. you have the pu off to do this so adjust and run the car upto operating temp .. hold the revs at 1500 , 2K .. 2.5k and 3k .. if no buzz or rattle then its fixed .

My thoughts are it can actually be either .. hard up has metal against metal which could in theory cause a rattle ..

loose from the stop and there might not be enough tension and cause a rattle ..

When cold though .. tap the valve in different places with your hand .. that's how i normally find noises anyways .

 

[markh1]

Thanks, I will try hard up against the stopper first and see how i get on with that!

 

[markh1]

So on closer inspection I could see that one of the exhaust tip pipes was touching another part of the exhaust and the other tip pipe was very close to touching. I can only assume that when warm and the system had expanded the pipes that were very close would rub/rattle together? There was also a slight leak at the join of one of the tip pipes so I have taken both off, resealed and adjusted away from the other part of the exhaust so hopefully no more rubbing.

No idea when I will get to test it however, new baby arriving next Tuesday and lots of jobs the wife has got me doing plus I need to replace the a/c compressor on the R53 :sad: