On my 1992 Chevy S10 Blazer, I noticed it getting louder and more hoarse sounding. I gave my buddy a ride, and he's pretty knowledgable about cars and asked him what it was. He said it was probably a leak in the exhaust. It makes a very loud noise when I first start it up and accelerate. I'm positive it's exhaust and it sounds like it's coming from underneath the area of the driver's seat.
I was just wondering if my buddy and I should tackle this ourselves, or should I seek help from a mechanic.
First find out where the leak is. That should be easy to do by running your hand near the exhaust pipe (be sure not to touch it) while the engine is idling.
A failed joint shouldn't be difficult to repair with the correct replacement parts.
If it's from a pipe or the muffler you may not need to replace the failed part. Years ago there was a product called "muffler tape." It was a roll of some heat resistant material that one soaked in water, wrapped it around a leaking pipe or muffler like a bandage and let dry. When wrapping it, make one complete wrap at the leak source, then go half a tape width left, then half a width right, then an additional width left and again right, etc. That way you build up the most material over the souce and taper the material to either side of the source. I used it successfully on my first car and it passed California emissions testing, back when they did both a visual inspection and put the vehicle's driving wheels on a dynameter to simulate real driving conditions. Of course if they missed the tape and there was still a leak there, the tail pipe emmissions would be lower.
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