I walked around the rear of my 03 S-Type the other day and noticed what looked like a coon or maybe more like a horses tail sticking out the business end of one of the mufflers. Really weird, I thought someone was playing a joke on me. Turns out that it was the guts puking out of the inside of the muffler. I took a broom handle and poked it all back inside but a couple of days later it was coming out again. Guess the mufflers are glass packs and the fiberglass packing is starting to go. I haven't noticed any increase in noise, but probably wouldn't care anyway since that little V8 has such a nice purr.

 

Umm, that doesn't sound like a very good idea to me. Wouldn't that sort of clog up the air flow?

 

Probably right, poking it back in would likely impede a bit of exhaust flow but I wasn't at home and didn't have a knife or cutting tool. I figured that if I tried to pull it out, would possibly pull out all the rest of the guts of the muffler. I think it would haved looked pretty neat driving down the highway with this white tail shooting out the back. Red spray paint might have made it look like flames....

 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news,but that definetly means you need catallytic converters. Never priced them out on your car, but I'm sure its not too cheap. I'm 99.9% sure thats your problem.

 

Oh boy, so if it's the cats, it now becomes a moral issue. The check engine light has been illuminated for about 2 years and the codes point to the O2 sensor. The fuel mileage and engine performance has always been fine so I didn't previously consider replacing them. Now it's strictly a case of emissions, - we don't have testing where I live however wife is an elected official and chair of the environmental committee. We have bylaws that prohibit the use of pesticides on lawns, idling vehicles for more than 3 minutes, even a new light polution bylaw that restricts the amount of glare that is produced by residential and commercial lighting. We're star gazers around here.
Guess it's a case of putting my wallet($$$) where my mouth is, and getting these things repaired.