Exhaust Sabotaged on a trip
 

Some person, adult or kid (with bad parenting) is a jerk.
Some people just are negative destroyers, not positive creators.
You know the kind, that takes joy from messing up other peoples lives because their lives are messed up. Or they are just ignorant A$$voids

Went on a quick trip (16 hour driving each way) and had to stay overnight in a motel on the way back. Checked in after 11:00 pm and backed into the parking spot in front of my room. I maintain fairly good situational awareness pretty much constantly and I noticed there was a hose coiled up at the corner of the building, connected to a faucet but did not really think about it as a problem.

Got up at 5:30 to get back on the road and when I went outside to leave I found the water hose end stuck in one side of my exhaust and water pouring out of the tips! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

I shut off the water and went to the front desk and reported it but they were useless, and seemed to think I had done it myself to get a refund or something. Jeesh! What a world we live in.
Called the local town cops and the dispatcher actually asked me "What do you want us to do about it?' I know they could not really do anything (no cameras at motel) but if it is happening more times they might keep it in the backs of their tiny minds so eventually it might connect the dots in knowing there was an ongoing problem with some person.

Anyway - I have a Perrin header back system and I was sure the water level could not get past the overpipe's raised section. So no water in the engine to cause 'lock'. And I could not drop n drain the exhaust out in the middle of Nowhere Arkansas. I have tools but the main problem was time. I had to be back in Houston and could not delay. { FYI - My dad's ashes were to be mixed with cement and formed into a 'Reef Ball' and they had to get there. Today we loaded the cured 'ball' onto a boat and went and dropped it off Galveston where an artificial reef is being formed by the company Eternal Reefs out of Sarasota FL. }

So I just started the damn car and got back on the road

The exhaust sounded a little strange for the first mile or so and 'bubbled' a bit then it started sounding more normal. And I am sure the exhaust heat dried it out quickly. But It seems somewhat louder now and I wonder if the fiberglass in the resonator and muffler has clumped and settled instead of being 'fluffed' up and filling the proper space.

Any opinions?

That fiberglass gets soaked with condensate every time you start the car cold. I bet it just sounds new and will quiet down again

100% ok. No worries except for the asshole kids. So stupid.

you might have woke up a grumpy bastard

Oh shit! Haha... I bet you're right!

Sorry to hear that what town I live in Arkansas and want to stay away from there if all possible!! Preventive measure

Well, that's a shame someone messed with your car at that motel.

Sorry to hear of your Dad's passing.

I agree with the theory that you pissed someone off with your exhaust late at night.

It seems most locals won't do anything about mischief like that ...... unless something above a certain value is destroyed or stolen.

Like said above, I reckon your car will be OK.

I reckon the lesson learned is not to combat park (back in) at a motel. Exhaust can be loud and exhaust fumes can be obnoxious to some people.


humfrz

Not that I want there to be a "next time", but the fastest fix in this case is to get a 12 and 14mm wrench and loosen the donut gasket. Then, after most of the water has drained out, start the car so there's minimal backpressure from standing water in the exhaust system.

Things like this won't usually damage the engine, but it does add unnecessary pressure on the exhaust gaskets and you could blow those out prematurely.

Just reading that and imaging doing it in a hotel parking lot at 5am made my back hurt

Not to mention that water is a byproduct of combustion and comes out your exhaust whenever your motor is running. Nothing to worry about if it did not get back to the engine.

Thanks for the comments, all. As per where: Walnut Grove at the Days Inn.

Yah, it could have been another guest but there were only a couple cars parked on that side of the building and none close to me.

The Perrin exhaust has V-band clamps after the mid-pipe so not that hard to drop technically... but I was really pressed for time and actually should have only done 4 hours sleep instead of 5 and gotten back on the road, I was just so D-tired. Had gotten about 12 hours sleep in 48 hours (cat nap here n there) and just had to get some rest and that burned up my time cushion to get to the casting site on Galveston. Last time I remember being so tired n stressed was overseas in SE Asia '74 and back then I thought it just made you stronger. Sure feels different nowdays.

Only issue is the one I mentioned, where the water fills the entire piping and exhaust gases have nowhere to go.

The excessive pressure can prematurely blow out gaskets, especially where the header and exhaust port mate.

Guessing you never shoved a potato up an exhaust pipe as a childhood prank. If an engine can shoot a potato, it can blow out some water... and chances are the water was not blocking the entire pipe.

Not saying any of this or the potato gag is good for an engine, just trying to reassure the OP that the likelihood of any damage is minimal.

Visual aid:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqBp59R8xMQ"]potato in exhaust pipe - YouTube[/ame]

I'm just speaking out of experience, had a friend play a trick on me by filling an exhaust with water and when I cranked it the water shot out along with two gaskets on the downpipe.

This was 20 years ago but the outcome is still the same in 2017

-alex

A point there! But we always called it 'Mediterranean mooring' or 'Medmoor' parking which is I guess came from being raised in a Navy + boating family. Same concept, get moving fast in a combat situation. And that was what I intended, wake up, hop in car and hit the road.