So I hit a pot hole the other day (damn Michigan...). And Immediately the car became 2-3 times as loud on acceleration. I got under the car and immediately found the problem. There is a single pipe that connects from the catalytic converted and goes forward towards the engine and diverges into two seperate pipes that run to the exhaust manifold. The exhaust manifold itself looks in decent shape, but right where these two separate pipes attach to the manifold, one of the pipes is cracked pretty good. I have a photo I will try and upload later but am unable to at the moment.

I need to know

1. What is this piece of exhaust that connects between the exhaust manifold and the catalytic converter called? (So I may order or price one out). (Its ~3-4 feet in length).
2. It looks like a simple fix that I could possibly tackle. I am a complete noob though. What do you think?
3. How safe is it to drive the car with this pipe cracked? I'm on the road for a business trip and have few options for getting it fixed atm untill i get home (~180mile trip back).

 

So I have identified the equipment as the "Exhaust Front-Pipe".

There seem to be various brands and version of this pipe available:
1. Bosal (Aluminized Steel) ~70-120$
2. Ansa (Aluminized Steel) ~60-1110$
3. Walker (Steel) ~120-180$

So whats the big difference between all of these manufactures? Is there a big difference between steel and aluminized Steel?

Does anyone see any major setbacks to me attempting to replace this equipment? It seems a rather innocent repair and relatively simple one to tackle.

Some say W/O O2 sensor hole. I can't seem to see the O2 sensor being contained in this piece. I would figure if there was a major problem with the o2 sensor that the engine light would come on. Is the O2 sensor further up the manifold?

 

Looks as though there's plenty of steel left to weld.
The labor is the same.
Ed

 

yeah, I'd think any decent muffler dude could slap a weld on that and you're good to go. take a wire brush to it first to get off as much corrosion as you can.

the volvo part goes all the way back to the cat, and it looks like the O2 sensor is stuck in just before the cat on the parts diagrams. they show 1991 as a split year, chassis 4dr -454200 and 5drs -907400 use one of a pile of P/Ns with variations for cars with and without EGR, and for chassis numbers larger than that, there's PN 3536202 w/o EGR or 3514145 with EGR.

Fun. I say see if a muffler guy can weld it. I'd suggest a local muffler shop and not a chain, the sort of small shop where the owner does the work.

 

It didn't crack because of the bump, you have broken exhaust hangers somewhere and there is too much load on that weld.