Exhaust pipe fell off my car!

[bubbadu]

So I go to and fill up my tank of my 91 Jetta , then leave the car for my mom. I kept telling her that I had a bad feeling that something was going to go wrong and of course it did. Shes pulls into the driveway tonight and the car sounds like the equalivent of 15 NASCAR cars. The car litterally shakes the ground, while not even giving it gas. :Q

The entire muffler pipe fell off and the whole pipe was draging the whole way home! I am worried to drive it anywhere because of the potiental of sparking and the gas tank blowing up. Is it even possible for this to happen? and what do you guys think it would cost me to get it fixed.... thanks

-Bubbadu

 

[MacBaine]

Why fix it? The increased airflow will add at least 20 HP. You better start looking for a wing, pronto!

 

[Nocturnal]

Damn I've had this happen to me before. It sucks! Hope you can get a cheap replacement or have it welded back on!

 

[MichaelD]

You MUST go to Bubb Rubb's Muffler, Marijuana and Mojo Maintenance shop! They can hook you up with a new, IMPROVED muffler. It goes, "woo-WOOOOO!" But remember:

It's jus'frer deckerashun!

 

[d33pt]

just duct tape it

 

[bubbadu]

the entire pipe is disconnected underneigh where the steering wheel is basically... the whole pipe is hiting the ground, I am just surpised that the whole thing didnt fall off on the way home...

haha at the duct tape

-Bubbadu

 

[NokiaDude]

Yeah, that sucks. My 96 Lumina 's pipe that leads to the muffler broke perfectly in half. My mom kept driving it for a month before SHE noticed the car sounded bad. We've fixed since then but right now I want to rip that stupid stock muffler and put in a nice and quiet APEX muffler. Stock mufflers hurt my ears!!!

 

[Scarpozzi]

....sorta reminds me of a certain Adam Sandler song.

 

[spanky]

happened to me a few months ago... i am muffler-less right now

 

[Walleye]

Originally posted by: bubbadu
So I go to and fill up my tank of my 91 Jetta , then leave the car for my mom. I kept telling her that I had a bad feeling that something was going to go wrong and of course it did. Shes pulls into the driveway tonight and the car sounds like the equalivent of 15 NASCAR cars. The car litterally shakes the ground, while not even giving it gas. :Q

The entire muffler pipe fell off and the whole pipe was draging the whole way home! I am worried to drive it anywhere because of the potiental of sparking and the gas tank blowing up. Is it even possible for this to happen? and what do you guys think it would cost me to get it fixed.... thanks

-Bubbadu

i can weld it back on for ya. ya want to spend 500+ per hour for my extreme leet welding skilz?

 

[boyRacer]

So it sounds like a Viper? :Q

 

[Bignate603]

get a coat hanger and wire it up off the ground so you can get it to the shop. Then have them fix it. I've done it before.

 

[MustangSVT]

my friend's 96' jetta had the whole muffler problem as well..
he DOES drive it in chicago and with all the salt they pour.. but it seems to be worse then other cars in that class and the cost of fixing it was another surprise ..

 

[Evadman]

Choices:

Rip the part of the exaust off that is dragging, and drive to a replair place.
Go under the car and use a coat hanger or equivelent to tie it out of the way, then go get it fixed.
drive there like it is. It is unsafe, and if your tank leaks can start a fire. I would recomend one of the other 2 choices.

FYI: gas tanks do not "blow up". they leak and cause a sustainable fire. if a tank is nearly empty it is possable to rupture the tank, but your car is not going to go with it and leave a 50' crater.

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: Evadman
Choices:

Rip the part of the exaust off that is dragging, and drive to a replair place.
Go under the car and use a coat hanger or equivelent to tie it out of the way, then go get it fixed.
drive there like it is. It is unsafe, and if your tank leaks can start a fire. I would recomend one of the other 2 choices.

FYI: gas tanks do not "blow up". they leak and cause a sustainable fire. if a tank is nearly empty it is possable to rupture the tank, but your car is not going to go with it and leave a 50' crater.

The only thing I had with the coat hanger thing is where to hook it. There wasn't much around on my caddilac and that was NOT a small exhaust system. I needed to make sure i hooked it to something solid. Your jetta is probably alot lighter though, so you may get away with hooking it to something smaller.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: bubbadu
I am worried to drive it anywhere because of the potiental of sparking and the gas tank blowing up. Is it even possible for this to happen? and what do you guys think it would cost me to get it fixed.... thanks

-Bubbadu

I can state with certainty that there is no risk of the gas tank blowing up from sparks. Unless your fuel tank is leaking, and leaking a lot, there is nothing the sparks can do.

Since you'll be needing a complete cat-back system, I'd say that you're looking at around $500.

ZV

 

[Scootin159]

Originally posted by: bubbadu
the entire pipe is disconnected underneigh where the steering wheel is basically... the whole pipe is hiting the ground, I am just surpised that the whole thing didnt fall off on the way home...

haha at the duct tape

-Bubbadu

Doesn't sound like it's your muffler then

Here's a basic overlay of your exhast system:
Engine -> Manifold -> Pipe -> Cat -> More Pipe -> Muffler -> Exhaust Tip

Generally the problem lies in the muffler because water will collect in there & rust it out....but in your case it seems to be in the pipe between the manifold & the cat. The manifold is attached to the actual engine and runs untill all of the individual exhaust runners are combined into one. At this point there is normally a flange to a section of pipe which then runs to a flange on the cat (which is located just about the middle of your car...looks like a mini muffler & is REALLY HOT (you'll probably see some heat shields around it)).

Anyways, if it's just that pipe between the manifold & the cat I would just get one from a junkyard...they don't rust out very often as moisture doesn't get in there, so it should be in good shape....this is assuming that yours can't be fixed.

Just edumacating you a bit more so you know what your mechanic is talking about...

Oh, also, just get some coathanger & wire it up so that it doesn't drag (use something metal & non-flamable...exhaust parts get HOT, VERY HOT) & drive it to the nearest muffler shop you trust.

 

[Scootin159]

Originally posted by: boyRacer
So it sounds like a Viper? :Q

When we had my friends 944 running straight off the manifold it sounded AWESOME! Sure it actually had like no power (no backpressure), but it still sounded like a freaking dragster! It started to give us headaches after about 15 minutes & we put the new exhaust on, but it was fun while it lasted.

 

[NokiaDude]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
....sorta reminds me of a certain Adam Sandler song.

PIECE OF SH!T CAR . . . . . and the brakes are fuking shot , its a piece of sh!t . . .

 

[beatle]

There's no way a cat-back for your car will run you $500 unless you're getting full polished stainless, etc. etc. Depending on the shop, you could get out for only $50 if they're just making a quick weld to put the pipe back on. Sounds like an exhaust hanger broke. They're cheap. If you have a hole in your pipe from it dragging, that may cost you a bit more.

 

[bubbadu]

Originally posted by: Scootin159

Originally posted by: bubbadu
the entire pipe is disconnected underneigh where the steering wheel is basically... the whole pipe is hiting the ground, I am just surpised that the whole thing didnt fall off on the way home...

haha at the duct tape

-Bubbadu

Doesn't sound like it's your muffler then

Here's a basic overlay of your exhast system:
Engine -> Manifold -> Pipe -> Cat -> More Pipe -> Muffler -> Exhaust Tip

Generally the problem lies in the muffler because water will collect in there & rust it out....but in your case it seems to be in the pipe between the manifold & the cat. The manifold is attached to the actual engine and runs untill all of the individual exhaust runners are combined into one. At this point there is normally a flange to a section of pipe which then runs to a flange on the cat (which is located just about the middle of your car...looks like a mini muffler & is REALLY HOT (you'll probably see some heat shields around it)).

Anyways, if it's just that pipe between the manifold & the cat I would just get one from a junkyard...they don't rust out very often as moisture doesn't get in there, so it should be in good shape....this is assuming that yours can't be fixed.

Just edumacating you a bit more so you know what your mechanic is talking about...

Oh, also, just get some coathanger & wire it up so that it doesn't drag (use something metal & non-flamable...exhaust parts get HOT, VERY HOT) & drive it to the nearest muffler shop you trust.

yeah its the first pipe, but because of this the cat is dragging on the ground... i am gonna have my dad coat hanger it and take it to the shop later today. Hopefully it wont be very much to weld it back on and hopefully because of the dragging the catalitic converter is ok. I dont believe the hanger broke, I just couldnt tell last night in the dark. Thanks for the tips guys

And yes it does sound like a VIPER!
-Bubbadu

 

[CraigRT]

you should just turbo your car and then you won't need a muffler... leave it broke

that's a way better solution to a busted muffler...

 

[ElFenix]

might want to put it back on there

 

[m2kewl]

happened to me on my ex-87 sentra - i just ducted taped it, drove to Midas and got an el cheapo muffler.

 

[bubbadu]

My friends 87 Subura, didnt had an exhaust tip.... the thing was LOUD... but this is much LOUDER because of where the pipe broke. He totaled his car then sold it to his mom for 100 bucks. Suprisingly she still drives in around.. haha....

I am probaly going to sell the car to my dad anyway, then either lease or buy something newer.... as you can see from my 87 other threads.. this car has been a decent one, but I just want to get something newer.

-Bubbadu