Problems with Milltek exhaust fit and booming

[stuey 0]

Hi, i was wondering if anyone else out there has had a problem with their Milltek exhaust fit and any booming/droning issues? I had it fitted by a well respected outfit a couple of weeks ago, and had to revisit due to it rattling under the car and the tailpipe being out of line. I have also experienced a booming/droning problem between 2-3000rpm when under load that i didn't expect with this system. It has just been up on the lifter at my mates work to fix another worse rattle that develops when the exhaust is hot. I expected much better from this exhaust from what i have seen here, and i'm pretty disappointed. The rear silencer pipe is virtually touching the floor where it arches over the rear beam, it is spaced a little to get that much clearance. Starting to wish i hadn't bothered

[drewvr6 0]

sounds like poor fitting mate i had a miltek for 4 years with no probs ,but they do drone like you say between 2-3 ,if your on the motorway cruising in fifth can sound like your in 3rd at these revs .

[mk3anni 0]

Never had a problem with mine, I think alot of this depends on the fitter.

[stuey 0]

It is fine when cruising at 70-80, but i can't avoid going through the 2-3000 rpm range! I think the fit issues revolve around the rear box. It seems to have too much clearance over the rear beam pushing it very close to the floor.

[antera309 3]

The only problem I had with mine was a small exhaust leak where the system joins to the back of the cat. Rotating the retaining clamp through 90 degrees sorted it.

After doing this, it's been perfect. The Milltek is actually a very quiet system, so if yours is noisy it's either defective or has been badly fitted.

[francisjonno 2]

I fitted my milltek system at the weekend and although i'm happy with the sound, i have to say i'm not so sure the system deserves its reputation for fit.

After i took off the old system, i laid it on the garage floor next to my shiney new miltek and was surprised by the length of the centre pipe. I trial fitted the system to see how it would fit and low and behold the straight centre pipe needed 6inches(!!!!) taken off it. This was easy enough to do but not exactly what i expected. I accept that mine might have been a one off, the rest of it fits fine - but maybe millteks QC standards are dropping!

PS i really struggled to get the tailpipes level (not helped by golf backbox mountings being on one side at the back and on the other side at the front) - its still not perfect but as good as its possible to get

PPS if its knocking try replacing the centre exhaust rubbers, mine look tired and its not got much clearance over the lower brace, nothing at set of S3 ones wont cure!

[antera309 3]

There seem to be two different types of OEM catalytic converter out there for the Golf VR6, one being about 6 inches longer than the other. This might be the reason for your fitting problems.

I'm not sure whether it's OBD1/OBD2 thing. I'll post some pics of the different cats later to show what I mean.

[robvr6 0]

and you will be suprised how much these things expand when they are hot, (about 30/40 mm)

don't forget when they are fitted they are cold

so when they heat up all the tolerances go to pot.

[francisjonno 2]

[blockquote]There seem to be two different types of OEM catalytic converter out there for the Golf VR6, one being about 6 inches longer than the other. This might be the reason for your fitting problems.

I'm not sure whether it's OBD1/OBD2 thing. I'll post some pics of the different cats later to show what I mean.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Regards,

Nick. [/blockquote]

I didn't realise there where 2 types of cat - worth knowing for the future

Fortunately the middle pipe is straight and the back end of the pipe wasn't tapered so it was easy enough to cut it down - probably affected my warranty but never mind!

[stuey 0]

I bit the bullet today,after ringing Milltek themselves and chatting to the boss, i went to the factory to see if i could get it sorted. We went for a test drive to show the problem, then went back to the workshop. The guy there made up a resonator box for the section after the cat, and removed the wonky tailpipe to straighten it up. The tailpipe is good now, but imagine how i feel when on the test drive it was the same, perhaps a little worse (the booming) . I didn't want to seem ungrateful but i had to tell the guy, i think he realised too. We went back where they checked the cat which was ok, then he put a reducer in the tailpipe to try that. It made a slight improvement but not much. He said there was nothing else they could do, so it looks like i'm stuck with it. I am grateful for their time and efforts, but i don't think i will be able to live with it. Any ideas what i can do now??? I knew i should have got the Jetex, i hate booming ~

[TVR6 0]

Stuey, the Jetex wouldn;t have necessarily been any quieter. There's never a guarantee, sadly...

Before i had my system built at Longlife, they told me that the VR6 had a natural resonance at around 2300/2800 rpm but after that it was quiet. They said that they choice of tailpipe also made a difference to the sound. They were right. Although I would consider mine quiet, there is a definite boom/drone around that rev range which tails off the higher you go. On the motorway she's fine.

My sister had a similar system fitted to her VR6 a while later at another dealership and it's the same.

[stuey 0]

That is exactly where mine has the problem, starts at about 2000, gets worse until about 2800 then tails off again. It must be something about the car i suppose. I was wondering if a change of induction system might affect the breathing through the whole system. I could always try taking the filter out for a very quick go.

[binliner 0]

most aftermarket exhausts boom/drone around 2500rpm on the VR

[stuey 0]

Oh well, at least it's not just me &|

[stuey 0]

Oh well, at least it's not just me.

[matth76 1]

It is fine when cruising at 70-80' date=' but i can't avoid going through the 2-3000 rpm range! I think the fit issues revolve around the rear box. It seems to have too much clearance over the rear beam pushing it very close to the floor.

[/quote']

Not sure who fitted your exhaust but my Miltek (the twin exit one) fits nice and tight under the rear bumper... with a huge amount of space between it and the ground... not much different to the standard backbox in fact. The tail sticks out about 3 inches but all aftermarket exhausts I have seen on the VR are the same and stick out even more than this but the Milltek suits it as it is a slash cut so it blends in with the curved bumper. I would take to a place like Stealth who will fit it properly. They did mine and I've had no issues. It will occasionally rattle/hit the underside of the rear plastic bumper if I floor it with a car load of (5) people coming out of a junction on an uneven road surface but that is to be expected as the car's springs are compressed under load. When driving normally with just two or three passengers absoulutely fine. As quiet as the standard exhaust if at 70-80. The only time it booms is when you floor it...mainly around the 2000revs mark... but it is like a 'jet' more than a drone. You won't find a quieter aftermarket exhaust though. It sounds as though it may be blowing where it was attached to the downpipe/cat section. When Stealth did mine they continually revved the engine while fitting it to test for any remaining gaps during and after they attached it all to ensure there were no areas where it could blow. It does sound as though you've had some bad luck with whoever fitted it. Who fitted it?

By the way the Jetex will be a fair bit louder as the bore diameter is 2.5" compared to the Milltek's 2.25" (which is the same as the standard bore but more freeflowing).

[stuey 0]

It was actually fitted by Stealth, but there wasn't a problem with them, the system just didn't fit properly. The tailpipe was pointing towards the middle of the car instead of straight out, and there was a big gap between the tailpipe and the bumper that was caused by trying to get clearance. Vince has been very helpful and spent a couple of hours foc trying to rectify it after the first fit. Milltek has rebuilt half of the system (also foc) including a new silencer after the cat (they called it a resonator), and cut off and refitted a new tailpipe which fits perfect. There seems to be no rattles or fit issues now, and i think the booming might be settling down a bit.

[matth76 1]

I think Milltek should have given you a completely new exhaust system instead of cutting up bits here and there. Their mistake/ their faulty product... therefore they should replace it completely!! Sounds like you got a "dud" as they say which does occasionally happen. Although Stealth should be the ones liaising with Milltek to get a completely new replacement on your behalf as you are the end customer and they are the 'vendor'. Hopefully it is all sorted though. Could always try and sell it on Ebay as a brand new exhaust !lol Hope it works out mate.

By the way does your Milltek tailpipe stick out/protrude a bit from under the bumper like mine? Do you have the twin tail pipe or the single "stealth" tailpipe?

[stuey 0]

Milltek has basically now adjusted the system to fit my car, so it is in part a new system. As they are made on a jig, like Vince said there is every chance if they got another one it would have been the same, so i would have been no better off. I have explained the situation to him incase he has any similar probs in the future, so he knows what has happened.

As far as the tailpipe goes, i have the oval one. It doesn't stick out much, but they adjusted the pipe coming out of the rear box to make sure it sticks straight out, rather than point towards the middle of the car which looked crap.

[RIX 0]

with all these prob. with aftermarket exhaust,i can only rattle/shake my head,you all should have bought hartmann exhaust it

[caretaker 0]

my Millteks great but again as said previously I had to cut a good 4 inches off the centre pipe to get it all fixed up, I imagine its due to different size cats..

[bungy 2]

My Miltek was easy to fit, perfect alignment and sounds awesome. Seems such a shame you are disappointed with yours.

[b19drg 0]

I have fiited mine and the tail pipe sticks out to far its going in soon to be re fitted and no doubt after rading this thread im gonna have to have some of i cut of , i may ring miltek and have a chat, I do think its a quality bit of kit though !!

[Gazbarber1982 3]

From what I know the early J & K reg. VR's have the short cat's fitted to them (by law they wasn't required then.) My L reg. had the longer cat but I only found out about it when I went to fit a de-cat!!

I'm having problems with my milltek blowing from between the decat and center pipe. Is the standard 55mm dual clip OK to use on the milltek because it looks like it's crushed my pipe!