Exhaust pipe broken

Hi I have a Honda Civic 99. Yesterday night it suddenly started making
a lot of noise(from the rear). I looked under the car in the morning
and see that the exhaust pipe (the portion that comes out of the
catalytic converter and goes into the muffler) has broken.

Can you give me an idea as to what needs to be done to fix this and
how much it will it cost (approx).
Should the whole exhaust system have to be replaced or body shops can
just weld/attach the broken sections.

How safe is it to drive around like this. Can it harm the car engine?

Thanks.
SG

 

My 1991 Civic's exhaust ruptured in the same pipe about a month ago. The pipe is
typically called "Pipe B" or "the pipe that contains the secondary muffler" or
the "intermediate pipe."

I shopped around online, at a local import shop, and at the dealer. The pipe
itself runs $60 to $135. The best price was about $60 at
http://www.honda-auto-parts-wholesale.com/ , but it's not clear that this site
has your car's pipe. The dealer wanted the most money, of course. But some
people swear by OEM for their exhaust systems.

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/home.htm sells this pipe for a 4-door 1999
Civic DX auto trans. for $112 (this does not include shipping). The drawings at
this site are very helpful, even if you don't plan to buy from them.

Add another $10-$10 for the two gaskets. I bought new bolts, too for another
couple bucks.

A local import shop was able to get the pipe for me very quickly (over the
weekend, specifically) and at a very fair price. So I bought if from them. Pipe
and gaskets ran me about $92.

A Midas shop and one private muffler shop quoted me an estimate of around $150,
total, for the whole job (labor and parts).

I ended up doing it myself. It was not nearly the toughest repair I have done,
and I'm no wizard. I probably could not have done it without the rust penetrant
and "bolt-breaker-looser" "PB Blaster" (around $5 for a generous can). It is a
must-have penetrant for exhaust work.

My pipe is attached with only five bolts. Otherwise, the only tricky part was
positioning the gaskets while bolting it all back together. I used car ramps and
jack stands to ease my work under the car.

From the two web sites above, I get the feeling that, depending on the specific
model of 1999 Honda Civic, the job might be a bit trickier.

I checked around on the internet about harming the engine without a muffler.
Apparently the only problem is the driver and neighbors putting up with the
noise. I drove for 4.5 days without the muffler. From my reading, the lower back
pressure in the exhaust system does not harm the engine.

Updates are welcome.