Exhaust fell off on my drive home...

[subversion]

I was stopped at a red light about a 1/2 mile from home, and as it turned green I hear the loudest noise, ever. It sounded as if I was driving next to a drag racer. I thought that some guy in a muscle car was driving next to me and my thinking at the time was, "Wow. Seriously, dude... could you be less of a douche?"

About a second or so later I noticed that the loud as heck noise was synchronized with how much gas I was giving my car... I immediately realize how hilarious the situation is given that not 15 minutes before I was thinking that my car hadn't had any real issues for a while. (I was on my way back from buying some brake light bulbs that went out). I figured the noise was a coil pack being blown, so I kept driving.

As soon as I pull into my driveway I hear screeching metal that continued until I pulled into my garage. At this point I figured my metal belly pan fell off, as unlikely as that would seem. So, as soon as I pull in I turn off the car and look under, and there's the front end of the exhaust laying on the floor while the rear is still mounted.

Bah.

It looks like I'll be spending this weekend seeing if I can fix this myself. I really hope that whatever was mounting the exhaust just happened to fall off and I can replace it easily.

I made this thread since searching for similar ones lead to discussions regarding non-OEM exhausts having issues.

I'll update with more pics soon as I can get the car up on ramps.

Has anyone had this hilarity happen to them, in the same location? If so, what was your solution?

Thanks



This pic was taken right under the passenger seat. So, going from the back of the car to the front it goes: dual exhausts that has its own pipe > pipe that's double clamped to the exhaust > CAT

the pipe in between the CAT and the exhaust seems to have fallen off.

[OneBadAudi]

haha, When i read this, i immediately thought of Corrado when this happened. I was driving down the road, shifted from 2nd to 3rd and it sounded like two different cars(vw vs Nascar). Snapped right in half. You can go to Advanced Auto or any store like that and buy an exhaust sleeve. Slide it over both sides and tighten.

[JEENYUS]

that sucks... but i am curious as to why you thought that your car sounding like a muscle car was coilpack related?! [o_O]

[subversion]

that sucks... but i am curious as to why you thought that your car sounding like a muscle car was coilpack related?! [o_O]

I never ran into this problem, so I figured the most common problem with our cars would be what was wrong with my car... I'm so lucky that it wasn't. /s

haha, When i read this, i immediately thought of Corrado when this happened. I was driving down the road, shifted from 2nd to 3rd and it sounded like two different cars(vw vs Nascar). Snapped right in half. You can go to Advanced Auto or any store like that and buy an exhaust sleeve. Slide it over both sides and tighten.

Sweet! Hopefully this will work on mines. But I'm a little worried since the part that fell off on mines seems to be angled up where it goes to the cat instead of a straight pipe like the exhaust pipe further down.

[audinaut]

Sounds like your flex pipe portion of the downpipe deteriorated/broke.....clicky for options

[subversion]

Sounds like your flex pipe portion of the downpipe deteriorated/broke.....clicky for options

How difficult would this be to do on my own? I haven't done any serious mechanical work on my car on the level of a timing belt or clutch replacement, and reading through some of those links mention the difficulty in getting the bolts off the cat. Is this overstated?

The work that I've done on my car on my own thus far:

Oil/filter changes
CP/Spark plug changes
Ignition switch
Rear brake pads
Valve cover gasket
Painted lowers (took off all the lowers and painted them individually)

[audinaut]

If it is your flex pipe, both both sides on each side of the flex pipe need to be taken off the car to have a replacement flex pipe welded on. If you take the pipes off yourself, I would purchase the flex pipe replacement first and slide it onto the pipes and sharpie onto the pipes where each end of the flex pipe is. After marking where the flex pipe would sit on both pipes, take them off to weld yourself or take to a muffler shop.

Removing the cat is not necessary to take the downpipe off the car. The bolts/nuts that hold the cat to the downpipe need to be removed. I would use Krioil penetrating oil on them if they are corroded. How hard they are to remove depends on how corroded they are. Krioil would probably work faster then PB-Blaster. Bolts/nuts on the cat to downpipe flange are one-time-use only. You will need to replace them with OEM fasteners.

[audinaut]

I would also sharpie a line along the length of the two disconnected downpipe sections with a long straight edge so you/shop know how each section goes together relative to each other. You would not want them to weld the pieces together then find that the downpipe to cat flange is sitting facing the ground and no where close to your cat.

[doublezero30]

How difficult would this be to do on my own? I haven't done any serious mechanical work on my car on the level of a timing belt or clutch replacement, and reading through some of those links mention the difficulty in getting the bolts off the cat. Is this overstated?

The work that I've done on my car on my own thus far:

Oil/filter changes
CP/Spark plug changes
Ignition switch
Rear brake pads
Valve cover gasket
Painted lowers (took off all the lowers and painted them individually)

if youre flex pipe broke, youre going to either a) need an exhaust shop to weld a new one on or b) buy a completely new downpipe.

better option is get the new downpipe. this happened to me and i was forced to have it fixed and pay $160 for a new flew pipe to be welded on, even though i was buying a downpipe in a couple weeks. plus the weld job was amatuer at best. save yourself some money and gain a bit of flow and just buy a downpipe. i recommend techtonics tuning. install on your back on jacks is prob pretty sucky, but if you have long (LONG) extentions and wobble sockets you should beable to do it. i believe the bolts at 14mm? a helping hand would be good also.

[heywier427]

all the above methods for the flexpipe are good, but im hesitant on thinking its the flexpipe without further info.

has anyone ever heard of a flex pipe just totally letting loose, with no pre symptoms? they dont just let go. you would of had to have had an exhuast leak that lead up to the blow out. i drove around with mine for a month before i wrapped it with exhaust tape, and then drove for another few weeks!

what does the end look like thats dragging on the ground? or better yet, a photo!

just noticed the red x. i cant see the pic from my work computer.

im guessing maybe the flange broke off from the dp maybe?

[Staz]

very weird that it would just drop like that .. try and get us a better photo, also, where in the US are u located ?

[heywier427]

now that im home and can see the pic, it looks like the flex pipe was just poorly welded and just dropped out. if thats the case, pull it apart and have a shop clean it up and weld it right back in.

hope its that simple for ya!

but its a holiday weekend...good luck!

[heywier427]

no...now that i look closer, the flex pulled off the flange.



kinda like this but totally detached from the flex flange.

either replace the flex, or buy a dp.

[subversion]

I'm in Buffalo, NY.

I like the sound of the downpipe. Techtronics is listing around $280 after shipping. I'd definitely want someone who knew what they were doing with me if I did this. I'm calling a family friend that normally works on my parents car to see if he can help. I'm hoping he's available. I appreciate all the tips, thanks.

I'll get some more packs when I get a chance to jack up my car. I'm playing Halo: Reach atm :P (I just got it 2 days ago)

[DownhillA4]

I'm in Buffalo, NY.

I like the sound of the downpipe. Techtronics is listing around $280 after shipping. I'd definitely want someone who knew what they were doing with me if I did this. I'm calling a family friend that normally works on my parents car to see if he can help. I'm hoping he's available. I appreciate all the tips, thanks.

I'll get some more packs when I get a chance to jack up my car. I'm playing Halo: Reach atm :P (I just got it 2 days ago)

Your more pre-occupied with video games then fixing your exhaust that just randomly fell off? Good luck with it. My opinion, just buy a whole new one, don't get through the hassle of ghetto-rigging it back together if it was poorly installed the first time.

[vlad]

Same thing happened to me this year. Was driving down the interstate, started hearing a loud humming noise and couldn't figure out what it was. All of a sudden, *plunk* *screeeeech* as the pipe dropped off. The flex pipe had rusted through and broken off. Just like that. I replaced the downpipe with a Techtonics DP and it's been fine. I'd suggest going that route. You could try it yourself but it might suck a lot if you're in a salt state. I had my shop do it for me and it didn't set me back too much.

[subversion]

Same thing happened to me this year. Was driving down the interstate, started hearing a loud humming noise and couldn't figure out what it was. All of a sudden, *plunk* *screeeeech* as the pipe dropped off. The flex pipe had rusted through and broken off. Just like that. I replaced the downpipe with a Techtonics DP and it's been fine. I'd suggest going that route. You could try it yourself but it might suck a lot if you're in a salt state. I had my shop do it for me and it didn't set me back too much.

I still haven't heard back from the friend. Out of curiosity, how many hours of labor did you get charged to replace the test pipe? I have an indy shop that I go to here for all the work I'm not willing to do myself, and they've been pretty good, thus far. I wouldn't feel bad taking it to them as their hourly rate is pretty decent ($75/hr and specializing in imports).

Your more pre-occupied with video games then fixing your exhaust that just randomly fell off? Good luck with it. My opinion, just buy a whole new one, don't get through the hassle of ghetto-rigging it back together if it was poorly installed the first time.

It's new years and I'm not driving my car tonight, so I didn't feel bad putting it off until the weekend. And if I decided to take it to a shop, the earliest I'd be able to get it worked on would be Monday, anyway. But, I get your point about ghetto-rigging the flex pipe instead of just installing a new one. I wasn't too big on getting it re-welded.

If I did this myself I'd have to buy some tools that I don't currently have. Mainly, a ratchet extension that angled.

[walky_talky20]

Same thing happened to my car. Out of the blue I'm driving along I get a slight weird vibration for about two seconds then BAM, my car sounds like a dump truck. The noise was absolutely unbearable it was so loud in the car. Everything rattled. Good thing was the hangers were good enough that the pipe didn't touch the road, didn't even come close (4x4 status FTW). I drove it home 3 hours and welded in a new flex at the shop. Welded it right on the car, you don't even need to drop the downpipe. Drive home was pretty miserable, almost had to get ear plugs.

It sounded *SO GOOD* when revving it at idle, though. Sounded like a monster with a huge turbo. ;) I regret not taking some video.

[BoostedCBR]

In response to your title

Lollerskates

(sorry i am worthless after that lawl)

[A4DJ]

Something similar happened to me when I was helping someone move. I was on the Hutchinson Pkwy and the hanger closest to the flex pipe apparently fell off and the exhaust pipe snapped in half. I had a similar reaction until I saw the sparks coming from behind my car.

[subversion]

Something similar happened to me when I was helping someone move. I was on the Hutchinson Pkwy and the hanger closest to the flex pipe apparently fell off and the exhaust pipe snapped in half. I had a similar reaction until I saw the sparks coming from behind my car.

LOL. I guess should be happy that mines didn't completely fall off until I drove onto my driveway...

And I'm guessing the hanger on mines fell off, as well. I'll need to figure out the P/N or where to pick one up.

Also, the family friend called. I'll be driving the car over to his garage tomorrow to look at. I'll try to take some pics if we get it up on jacks.

[n7plus1]

this happened to me, but the exhaust colar came off and i just had to re-attach it and tighten it back down...ive upgraded my exhaust since then, though

[doublezero30]

all the above methods for the flexpipe are good, but im hesitant on thinking its the flexpipe without further info.

has anyone ever heard of a flex pipe just totally letting loose, with no pre symptoms? they dont just let go. you would of had to have had an exhuast leak that lead up to the blow out. i drove around with mine for a month before i wrapped it with exhaust tape, and then drove for another few weeks!

after 100k miles mine was rusted and blew apart at WOT just past midnight over the summer. needless to say i probably woke up eveyone within a mile of me driving home.

[A4DJ]

LOL. I guess should be happy that mines didn't completely fall off until I drove onto my driveway...

And I'm guessing the hanger on mines fell off, as well. I'll need to figure out the P/N or where to pick one up.

Also, the family friend called. I'll be driving the car over to his garage tomorrow to look at. I'll try to take some pics if we get it up on jacks.

I can't tell you how angry I am right now because as we speak, AGAIN, my exhaust is sagging to the ground. The SAME colar came off again, thankfully I caught it before the pipe broke again. I just need to go aftermarket or just get rid of my car.

[subversion]

Anyone know the part number of the collar? (In case that's what caused it to fall off)

[subversion]

I didn't manage to get the car to my friends garage yesterday, he had something come up at the last minute. I did manage to get my car on ramps to do a temporary fix, though.

*WARNING* If you're holding anything valuable, please put it down before viewing these images. I fear that when your eyes rest upon my automotive wizardry, you'll drop whatever you're holding. Don't say I didn't warn you...

Behold! The power of utility wires!

Before:

After:

This should be good enough to let me drive my car to my friends garage.

[A4DJ]

Nice job with the quick fix... I just drove mine to the muffler shop and had them cut my old exhaust off and put a new flex pipe on and ran 2.5" straight pipes to my APR mufflers. I'm happy with it. No drone and has a nice throaty tone when accelerating.

[subversion]

After waiting two weeks for a friend to get the free time to look at my car. I decided that I'm going to tackle the job myself instead of waiting for him or take it to a shop (my shop quoted me $460, before tax, parts & labor to get the job done).

This is the downpipe that I chose for my car ('03 A4 1.8T Q/5 Spd) http://www.techtonicstuning.com/main...roducts_id=972

Techtonics
Down pipe: $260
Sleeve clamp
$22 http://www.techtonicstuning.com/main...oducts_id=1249
Gasket (cat to down pipe): $10 http://www.techtonicstuning.com/main...oducts_id=1596
8mm copper nut: $0.35/nut http://www.techtonicstuning.com/main...roducts_id=743

Shipping: $26

Total (not including nuts/bolts): $318

Audi quote
Downpipe: $290.70 ($315 after tax)
Sleeve clamp: $33.00
Gasket (cat to down pipe): $20.08
8x35mm bolts $3/bolt, $1.50/nut

Total after tax (not including nuts/bolts): $373


EDIT: Went back and re-read the thread to find answers to some of the questions I've been asking. Thanks again, audinaut.

If it is your flex pipe, both both sides on each side of the flex pipe need to be taken off the car to have a replacement flex pipe welded on. If you take the pipes off yourself, I would purchase the flex pipe replacement first and slide it onto the pipes and sharpie onto the pipes where each end of the flex pipe is. After marking where the flex pipe would sit on both pipes, take them off to weld yourself or take to a muffler shop.

Removing the cat is not necessary to take the downpipe off the car. The bolts/nuts that hold the cat to the downpipe need to be removed. I would use Krioil penetrating oil on them if they are corroded. How hard they are to remove depends on how corroded they are. Krioil would probably work faster then PB-Blaster. Bolts/nuts on the cat to downpipe flange are one-time-use only. You will need to replace them with OEM fasteners.

[Staz]

the techtonics one is better and cheaper than the oem one. if u really wanted an oem one i have one sitting in my house from when i got my techtonics one

[subversion]

the techtonics one is better and cheaper than the oem one. if u really wanted an oem one i have one sitting in my house from when i got my techtonics one

Thanks, that's exactly the answer I was looking for.

EDIT: Placed my order at techtonics. I ordered the OEM clamping sleeve instead of the two separate ones. I just need to buy the nuts and bolts.

[subversion]

Ok, I spent about an hour trying to get the CV boot heatshield off before I gave up when I saw that the bolts on the cat to downpipe were incredibly rusted and one of the bolts looked deformed. I decided that this job was over my head. And after speaking with my shop, it sounds as if the bolts on the cat to downpipe will need a torch to come off. I'm going to take it to my shop on Monday since the parts won't get here until Friday afternoon.

Thanks again for all the help.

[CyberPMG]

I've had problems twice with my APR exhaust. 4 years ago, it snapped in two while at H2Oi in Ocean City, MD. It broke due to bad welds where the main exhaust meets at the center resonator. Was able to find a local shop that could tig weld the parts back together for $25. Once I got home, I was able to get the whole exhaust replaced under warranty. It was a good thing too. Upon removing the downpipe, the flexpipe at the end started to fall apart - metal strands started falling off. 3 years later, I had to have the center resonator replaced due to a big hole at the top of the resonator (exposing the baffles). That replacement was done 6 months ago. So far, it's holding up. I'm glad the warranty has been covering for the problems.

[n7plus1]

ah, those bolts ARE a bitch...i got mine off but they did give me a hard time.

[subversion]

Well, $224 in labor and I have my car again. It would have been nice to save that money, but it had to be done since I wasn't willing to do it myself.