Exhaust bad

[netconn]

Well, the Maule exhaust gremlin finally got me. I've got a left muffler with a hole and crack, all right side risers are cracked. I'm sure the left risers are no good. Tall pipes are good and shrouds are good. Is there a preferred replacement or is Maule the goto? Anyone have some good 235 parts for sale?

[drak130]

Sorry to hear that. Went through the same thing a few years back. For me it was the flame cones being basically completely gone. Ordered new mufflers from Maule, but it was a 6 week lead time due to materials, so ordered new cones, found a local welder. Since I had the mufflers off I did a leak check with a shop vac. Found some pin holes and had him fix those too. He was a very experienced welder with lots of aluminum history but those pin holes and cracks gave him fits. He'd fix one hole and create another. Took several rounds before things were squared away.

At the end of the day, kept the new mufflers on order. As it happened they were ready while the airplane was being annualed at Maule Flight so I had Kit put the new mufflers on and kept yne old ones as a spare.


Bottom line is, repairs seem sketchy, new ones from Maule were reasonably priced and maybe they have replentished their stock so min down time (once they had the materials they welded me a new one in a couple of hours). Atlee and some of the other aftermarket places were a bit more money and wanted the original mufflers as a template. At the time they were operating on a 6 week lead time.

Hope that helps

Tim

[Dale Smith]

I went with the Atlee Dodge replacements. I have a couple of years on them now and have not had any issues. I still have the originals that need to be fixed and the parts to fix them if you were interested in those. you would have to find someone that would repair them for you.

[Rezrider]

I too went with the Atlee dodge ones when mine cracked. They are much tougher and I haven't had any issues since.

[Mog]

I have rewelded mine myself several times. Slightly larger fillets at the risers seem to have helped. They are thin for sure, but I had very little issue welding them.

[netconn]

I'm done patching these old pipes. I ordered 6 new risers and a left muffler from Maule. That should last me another 30 years..

[Zoller]

I had the same problem last fall. I went for Atlee dodge stainless exhausts. They were reasonable priced and they were on stock ready to ship.
Make sure you get the configuration right. The exhaust comes with standard straight connectors. I had the "Ball joint type" on my connecting pipes. Atlee has these in stock, but you have to order separately and they'll weld it on for you. This will save you another round of sending the exhausts back and forth.

[LT4247]

If anybody is interested:::
I am doing the annual now on our Maule IO-540 235. Found a crack on the right side muffler. We have decided not to reweld and are replacing the exhaust on both sides with new. So I have both sides with shrouds for parts if anyone needs them. 912 hrs since new.

[netconn]

I wound up buying all 6 risers and the left muffler assembly from Maule. Much less money and I didn't have to send my parts out for 6 weeks. These have lasted since 78', the new ones will out last me..