Vehicle exhaust noise level regulations in Sri Lanka

[Marlon Manchanayake]

Recently I was stopped by traffic police at the Kaduwela highway interchange for having a loud exhaust. My car is a 1982 Ford Laser 1.5L, which is an old car as some of you may know. I brought it 4 years back in rough condition and did a full restoration. Originally when I took ownership of the car it did not have any muffler at the end of the exhaust pipe or any muffler or catalyst converter, it was a full straight pipe. After the restorations, I installed a muffler which I got from a Japanese spare parts yard in Negombo. It has a fairly small exit no more than 1.5 inches in diameter. I made the car sounds significantly less but left a little deep grumble in idle and when moving. It is pretty clear it makes much less sound than the straight pipe it had earlier. Now my problem is this police officer does not understand when I said I couldn't find the original exhaust to this old car. For this what can I do as he said I'm going to be courtside if I didn't make it sound less.

Can I have someone from the Department of Motor Traffic sound test the car and deem it suitable for road use? or what can I do here? Any advice would be much appreciated. 

[Gummybr]

10 hours ago, Marlon Manchanayake said:

Recently I was stopped by traffic police at the Kaduwela highway interchange for having a loud exhaust. My car is a 1982 Ford Laser 1.5L, which is an old car as some of you may know. I brought it 4 years back in rough condition and did a full restoration. Originally when I took ownership of the car it did not have any muffler at the end of the exhaust pipe or any muffler or catalyst converter, it was a full straight pipe. After the restorations, I installed a muffler which I got from a Japanese spare parts yard in Negombo. It has a fairly small exit no more than 1.5 inches in diameter. I made the car sounds significantly less but left a little deep grumble in idle and when moving. It is pretty clear it makes much less sound than the straight pipe it had earlier. Now my problem is this police officer does not understand when I said I couldn't find the original exhaust to this old car. For this what can I do as he said I'm going to be courtside if I didn't make it sound less.

Can I have someone from the Department of Motor Traffic sound test the car and deem it suitable for road use? or what can I do here? Any advice would be much appreciated. 

From what I have seen there is only a regulation for the horns (The national environmental act no. 47 of 1980 section 32 last published in 2011 December).

If you car is still loud please do check if there is any silencer leak or if the front silencer / catalytic converter is missing.

I used to have an old Baleno which had a deleted cat and a custom straight exhaust which gave it a loud noise when you accelerate, although I changed the silencer it didnt become that much silent due to the deleted cat.

[Twin Turbo]

Hi,

get a reg system installed.

Apart from eficiency, you'll not get into the law books.

Q, Do you have A/c running?

TT.

Edited August 7, 2023 by Twin Turbo

[Marlon Manchanayake]

 

3 hours ago, Gummybr said:

From what I have seen there is only a regulation for the horns (The national environmental act no. 47 of 1980 section 32 last published in 2011 December).

If you car is still loud please do check if there is any silencer leak or if the front silencer / catalytic converter is missing.

I used to have an old Baleno which had a deleted cat and a custom straight exhaust which gave it a loud noise when you accelerate, although I changed the silencer it didnt become that much silent due to the deleted cat.

Thank you for the reply.

No, my car does not have a catalyst converter, In fact, from the factory they were not fitted as to my knowledge only a muffler in the back section of the downpipe.

Did you had any problems with the police with your old car, especially with the Highway police? 

[Marlon Manchanayake]

1 hour ago, Twin Turbo said:

Hi,

get a reg system installed.

Apart from eficiency, you'll not get into the law books.

Q, Do you have A/c running?

TT.

Thank you for the reply.

What do you mean by reg system? Do you mean a valvetronic exhaust to on/off the exhaust sound?

A, I know while the A/C is on car runs at a higher idle than normal for that reason I turn off the A/C when arriving at highway interchanges to make the idle bit lower. But that didn't help me  . 

Anyway, do you know any procedure to get the exhaust inspected by a government official hence I can legally run it? Because I have seen in some car sales listing they state that their aftermarket exhaust is approved by the government and has a legal document which can be presented to a cop if pulled over and prove it's legal.

[Gummybr]

1 hour ago, Marlon Manchanayake said:

 

Thank you for the reply.

No, my car does not have a catalyst converter, In fact, from the factory they were not fitted as to my knowledge only a muffler in the back section of the downpipe.

Did you had any problems with the police with your old car, especially with the Highway police? 

Mine idled at with a small grumble only when pushed you could hear it, so had no issues with the Police if I was cruising. 

https://youtu.be/hVT6NN-agDc

Try installing a smaller silencer in the front since you dont have a catalytic converter. It should reduce the sound but at the expense of fuel economy and pulling power. As I mentioned earlier check if there are leaks in the exhaust system.

[Marlon Manchanayake]

1 hour ago, Gummybr said:

Mine idled at with a small grumble only when pushed you could hear it, so had no issues with the Police if I was cruising. 

https://youtu.be/hVT6NN-agDc

Try installing a smaller silencer in the front since you dont have a catalytic converter. It should reduce the sound but at the expense of fuel economy and pulling power. As I mentioned earlier check if there are leaks in the exhaust system.

Thank you for the reply.

It did not have any leaks last time I checked but anyway, I will check again.

Edited August 7, 2023 by Marlon Manchanayake