Broke My Exhaust!? Quick help/advice please

While driving my car tonight I jumped on the gas and suddenly it go MUCH louder. Seemed to still run OK and no check engine lights came on so I limped it home and put it up on ramps. Sounded like a busted exhaust and sure enough, the exhaust separated just behind one of the flanges. Looks like it was welded (not sure why you would have a weld so close to the flange) and the weld got rusty and broke. I'm not a very good mechanic (just a basic maintenance DIY guy) and I don't know anything about exhaust work, so I need some help figuring out what to do. Car is a 2008 Mazdaspeed 3 (stock) with 77K miles. Diagram and pics of my exhaust break below.

Can it simply be welded back together? Is that something your basic auto-shop can do, or do I need to go to an exhaust shop?

Do I need to replace the entire pipe beginning at the flange? Unfortunately, there are not many flanges and it would be a really big piece that would need to be replaced.

Should I expect any assistance from a Mazda dealer? I'm out of warranty at 77K, but I think that the exhaust was warrantied to 70K since I have a "California emissions" car, so I'm not out by too much. Are there any other emissions related laws I don't know about whereby they have to cover this? Even without warranty help would the dealer be good at this (could they weld it back up, or would they just want to sell me new parts I don't need).

Is it possible that replacing the exhaust with an aftermarket catback system is actually the best thing to do in this situation? Don't really want to spend that much money right now, but I'm open to the idea of something like this: http://www.streetunit.com/Borla_CatBack_Exhaust_MS3_p/140254.htm If catback is the way to go, I'd love advice on which one to get....I haven't researched it, but I know there are quite a few Speed3 drivers on the forums.

Sorry for all the questions, I just don't know much about this and it stresses me out to have my car broken (I love it, plus it's inconvenient)....right now I don't even know what shop(s) I should be calling tomorrow morning. Thanks for any assistance.

Looks more like it was a press fit or crimp than a weld. Limp it to an exhaust shop and have them weld it back up. Shouldn't cost you too much.

Expect to replace those bolts, weld it up.

Is there any guarantee on smog parts? I thought I heard manufacturers had to honor smog equipment for a period of time, but really hell if I know.

benzbaronDaryn wrote: Is there any guarantee on smog parts? I thought I heard manufacturers had to honor smog equipment for a period of time, but really hell if I know.

Considering that is the post-cat section of pipe I don't think it qualifies.

Thanks for the advice so far. Sounds like if i can find a local exhaust shop that they can weld it back together? Additional advice is still appreciated.

BTW, are all three of my pictures (a diagram and two of my actual exhaust) showing up for you guys? I've had a couple problems with them...

Any exhaust shop should be able to weld it up.

a soup can and a couple of hose clamps will fix it right up...

yes, i'm serious...

CrashDummy wrote: BTW, are all three of my pictures (a diagram and two of my actual exhaust) showing up for you guys? I've had a couple problems with them...

Only the last two pictures work for me.

They all work for me. X3 on taking it to an exhaust shop to be welded

A turbo is a muffler...just pull it off an deal with the toxic fumes possibly entering your car. On a serious note, I'd probably just head to an exhaust shop and see what they can do. Getting it welded up and repaired shouldn't be expensive.

Don't MS3 go through motor mounts quickly? I bet your motor mounts gave up the ghost and that led to your exhaust pipe breaking by letting the engine rock more than the exhaust could take. If you fix the exhaust without the mounts, it'll probably just pop again.

Looks like a pretty simple repair for a muffler shop.

Or you could bring it over to me. I'll drive it around a bit, see how the performance has been affected, see if the handling has been compromised, see if top speed has been lowered, stuff like that. It won't get the exhaust fixed, but it will make my day!