Anyone have problems with M&K mufflers?

[steve930t]

Just as I'm getting ready to order one for myself, my friend has a problem with his M&K. One of the pipes that's attached to one of the headers broke off and other is just about ready to go. It's also cracked pretty badly. This thing only has about 5 hours on it and was installed correctly. I've never seen anything like it. I'm not trying to bash this guys product and I'm sure he will do the right thing and replace it. My question is has anyone else had a problem or is this a freak thing? I don't want to buy something that I'm going to have issues with. Here's a couple photos so you can see what I'm talking about.

[pjv911]

Thats the first one Ive heard of to come apart. I can think of 5 reasons this may have happened.

#1 the heat exchangers were not properly spaced and had to be forced to fit.

#2 the engine ignition timing was set way retarded and severly overheated the inlet tubes.

#3 No support straps were used and the metal fatigued.

#4 Engine missfires and sends unburned fuel through the muffler burning as it passes through (overheating it)

#5 The muffler was one of Bens first ones and was sold as a blem.

I personally do not have one but do have a friend that does. His shows no sign of issues.
Im sure if you friend is the original owner of the muffler Ben will work it out with him. Im sure he will chime in as soon as he see`s this.

Kurt Williams

[PorscheGuy79]

Originally posted by Noah
I've had a similar model on my street/track 911 for about two years, and it's perfect.

I have had mine on my car for 6 months, my dad has one on his car for a bit longer than that. We run are cars hard and hot in 95 degree track days and we had my fathers muffler and mine for that matter off recently and they look pretty much brand new with a neat color effect to them.

That muffler looks like its not even made out of the same material or was blown to bits by a fire breathing engine.

Honestly, Ben is a stand up guy and probably the best guy to answer this question.

[ja78911sc]

It appears the right tail pipe is at a different angle vs. the left--possibly hit something?

[steve930t]

Originally posted by ja78911sc
It appears the right tail pipe is at a different angle vs. the left--possibly hit something?

Thanks for the replies. I'm sure the engine is working fine and I know he didn't hit anything. My first thought when I saw it was there must be an issue with the metal. It allmost feels like I could break a chunk of it off if I tried.
This isnt an issue with Ben at all. He's doing the right thing. I just wanted to be sure this isnt a common problem.

[thinkfloyd14]

This same exact thing happened to me. Ben replaced it without any questions.

This is a direct quote from a PM he sent me. (I bet this happened to your friends muff as well)

"I trust the new replacement is working fine?? We found that the steel mill provided sub par stainless. Thank you for returning your old muffler for analysis.."
-mb911

[movin]

Obviously, an off-shore knockoff.

[mb911]

The mill has provided a bad run of material from time to time (we watch it pretty closely)but the biggest thing Is ignition timing and AFR. With them being to lean this will happen..Kurt Pretty much hit it on the head. I assure you it is a rarity.

[Ron.G]

I bought a prototype from Ben. One of the first,if not the first.
I have had no issues with my One in/one out.

Nice muffler and very lite .

[mb911]

Like I said major issues are exactly what kurt stated. But the Deal with all metals in the US right now are with demand so high the quality of metal goes down. This is very common in the industry and those that deal in the piping industry know it best. We carefully watch it .

[Rot 911]

I don't have one of the mufflers, but I do know Ben and he is a stand up guy. He stands behind his products.

[rs6er]

Mine's perfect too/

[nameisbauer]

Mine is pretty new but I love it.

[jwernquist]

I've had my MK Sport for a year now and the first three months of it's life and use I forgot to ummm... use the straps. Luckily for me I put the straps on and everything is good. No cracks no issues. Great muffler!!!

[}{arlequin]

the only problem w/ my m&k is that it made my car too light. now it's too uncontrollable for my reflexes.

[Warviking]

No problems with mine. Still love it.

[Steve 82SC]

Ben called me a few months ago and told me that there was bad run of stainless that caused some mufflers to develop these cracks. He also told me that this run occurred fairly close to the time that my muffler was fabbed up, but he had no way of knowing if mine was one of the problem children. He told me to keep an eye on it and to look for any carbon deposits coming off of the muffler body, hairline cracks, etc. when I'm down there changing oil, etc. Ben's a great guy to do business with and thoroughly addresses all of these situations.

Steve

[Facey]

i talked with ben a bunch on the forums, hes a great guy.

he made me a muffler to fit my odd set-up, it was great.
i changed the setup and didn't even consider getting anything but another M&K.

+1 to ben + M&K.

[cstreit]

THere should be little or no stress on those points that are cracked. I'm guessing the fit was off whether you realized it or not. That said I'm 100% sure that Ben will take care of your friend. I've seen a number of M&K's and very very few with issues, none with unresolved issues.

[Henry Schmidt]

I always find it interesting when a third party involves themselves in an issue of product quality.

Everyone has a right to complain. It seems as if it's Americas new pastime.

I see no sign in the above pictures that this muffler had support straps installed. All mufflers need support straps.
That said I would bet Ben stands behind it. Not because of perceived liability but because Ben is a stand up guy.


Ben makes a great product. This is coming from an end user. We have had absolutely zero problems with the M&K products.
We recommend them with all our engine rebuilds.

They look great, they use top quality materials and they work both to produce a great sound and horse power.


Bashing a product that was obviously improperly installed even though you have no connection to the transaction at all seems inappropriate. IMO