It started as something I could only hear with the windows down on quiet roads and I honestly assumed it would sort itself out which looking back was obviously wishful thinking. About three weeks later the sound had progressed from a subtle drone to something my passengers were commenting on without me mentioning it first which is usually the point where ignoring something stops being a realistic option. The noise is loudest during acceleration and drops off slightly when cruising at steady speed which a quick search suggested points somewhere toward the exhaust system rather than the engine itself. Took it to a workshop near where I live and the mechanic had a look underneath spent about ten minutes and told me the exhaust was fine without really explaining what he had actually checked which did not fill me with confidence. Second opinion from a friend who used to work in vehicle maintenance suggested the manifold specifically because of how the noise behaves differently under load compared to steady throttle. He mentioned that manifold cracks are genuinely common on higher mileage vehicles in this climate because the extreme heat cycling causes metal to expand and contract repeatedly until stress fractures develop in ways that are easy to miss with a quick visual inspection. Getting Advanced Pipe and Manifold Fix in Shahama done through a workshop that actually pressure tests the exhaust system rather than just looking at it visually seems like the approach worth trying next based on everything I have read since this started. Has anyone dealt with an exhaust noise that turned out to be the manifold specifically and found the repair made an immediate obvious difference to how the car sounds?
