There are some parts of your car that you pay a lot of attention to, regularly. The body, tires, clutch, brakes, etc. are parts that are constantly checked both by owners and by service centres. However, there are some parts that we seldom take a look at. Today, let’s talk about one of these parts, the Car Silencer. It is an absolutely essential part of your car and its functioning! We will also talk about why a Car Silencer’s cost is so high.
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What is a car silencer?
Well, a Silencer is a very small part of an entire exhaust system that works in sync with the engine. The main job of the exhaust system is to clear out the residual smoke and gasses that the engine produces when it functions.
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How does it work?
The exhaust system is connected to the engine via an extensive piping system. The fumes and the gasses that the combustion engine produces when it is ignited escape the system through these exhaust pipes. After this, a host of sensors, catalytic converters, and mufflers work in sync to eliminate toxic gasses and reduce the noise to a minimum level. These are simple concepts from physics and chemistry at work here!
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Why do thieves love stealing silencers?
Car silencer theft cases have been surfacing a lot recently. With on and off lockdowns, many cars have been sitting in their parking spots for elongated periods of time. This makes them an easy target for thieves. What makes these silencers valuable are the metals that are used inside. So each silencer contains dust from very valuable metals like Platinum, Palladuim and Rhodium. These metals act as a catalyst in the Oxidation and Reduction of the toxic gasses that takes place in the catalytic converter. As cars get older, these metal particles keep wearing out, therefore increasing the number of toxic gasses a car releases.
There have been multiple silencer theft instances ever since the government the use of a catalytic converter with the new BS6 norms. In Metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Pune, these thefts have become very common. This dust that is recovered from stolen silencers is sold roughly at Rs.5000-6000 for 10 grams! Only recently, silencers worth Rs.21 Lakhs were stolen from multiple Maruti Suzuki Eeco vans from Anand district in Gujarat!
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Why is the car silencer’s cost this high?
So an entire exhaust system for your car can cost upwards of Rs.60000, which is a lot, yes. But we do need to note that this is a very extensive system, performing multiple jobs. The parts and materials for an exhaust system are also quite valuable. Since the job of repairing/replacing a complex part like this requires a lot of skill and time, labour costs also tend to be on the higher side.
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