If my muffler has a hole in it will it cause it to idle like crap and will it cause it to get bad gas mileage? It was made in Canada and it has aplug (glow plug type) and it also has 2 pipes going into muffler and 1 coming out? Is this type rare?

 

A hole in the muffler shouldn't cause it to idle bad. As far as glow plugs in the muffler I've never heard of that. I think that you may be mistaking your converter for your muffler. The converter may have numerous tubes running in and out. Also it may be subject to failure and rough idling if it has a hole in it. Also, it is possible to have a converter with no muffler since really the sound is muffled coming out of the converter anyway. If there is a plug in it - it may be some type of oxygen sensor for the converter, although if yours is diesel it could be placed for extra oil burn-off before the converter although I'm not as familiar with diesel operations.

 

The muffler or converter does not have a plug coming out of it. You can see a extension cord type plug through the front of the grill area.The explorer is loud I can hear my wife pull inthe driveway so it the muffler and not the converter. Would the converter being plugged possibly cause bad gas mileage?

 

Sounds like you have a bad muffler and a bad converter. The noise is the muffler, the bad idle and poor gas milage sounds like the converter. Change the O2 sensor while you rae at it. I'm sure it's bad also.

 

The extension cord type plug is an engine block heater for diesel engines. You plug it in to keep it warmed up over night because diesel engines fire from engine heat AS WELL AS the heat from high compression. Converter would make horrible gas mileage and turn your oil black very soon after an oil change plus you'll have low exhaust pressure at the tailpipe even with a good muffler. Converters have NO bypass in case of clogging.

 

(Therefore they're good to change any how every 50,000 to 100,000 miles).

 

They use block heaters on gas engines too in cold areas like Canada.

 

Yes - but that's mostly to warm the oil and make it less thick for easy starts. If you use a thin oil and gas line antifreeze it could be avoided.

 

If my t bird gets wrecked I'm sawing off the mufflers, and saving them for the explorer. They seem about as tough as flowmasters and as thick, no dings, rust or whatever. I almost replaced them till i saw how thick they were.