The Friday before last, on my way home from the hospital, there was a bang and a clunk half a mile from home, followed by a loud barking noise from the front end. The catalytic converter had finally given up the fight and the outlet pipe had fallen away leaving my entire exhaust system hanging in the breeze.
To be fair, I'd had the crack in the pipe and the broken bracket pointed out to me at the MOT back in April, and I'd made a mental note to 'have a look' at some point, but you know how a plumber's tap always drips?
Anyway, over to the Manor on Saturday to get Pudgy up on ramps and attempt a repair. An hour and a half later, lower bracket solid again and the outlet pipe welded sufficiently that a small bead of Gun Gum would finish the repair. Solid as a solid thing, and back in action again.
Until Friday last, that was, when on the way to work and less than a mile from home, everything to the rear of the cat fell off...quite literally. The centre section had broken less than an inch from the clamp joint at the back box and was scraping along the ground. I tried to tie up the exhaust with wire to get me to work, but that lasted all of another half mile. I had no choice but to get underneath, slacken off all the clamps and remove the whole lot.
Pudgy got me to work, and home again, but fuel economy was shot (no back pressure) and the noise was incredibly loud (no silencer or expansion box).
A phone call to Kwik Fit in Aber on Saturday, and new centre section ordered for yesterday. Took him down for fettling and half an hour later he's his old quiet self. £119 all in, which was actually cheaper than exactly the same repair I had in January 2013. Cheers Phil!
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