No Exhaust. Potential Problems?

[VooDooXII]

My buddy has a 1999 Nissan Sentra GXE with the 1.6 liter engine. The previous owner lived in Ohio, so the road salt has taken its toll on the underbody.

Anyway, on Saturday he calls me and tells me his car is much louder than normal. I listen to it and figure it's just an exhaust leak, but it turns out that immediately after the pre-cat, (or whatever it is...it's like a mini muffler in woven metal thread) the pipe has completely separated. I guess he's essentially running an open header then, right?

I'm wondering if there are any potential hazards he should be aware of if he keeps his car running this way for too long. Noise thing is obvious, but my other friend warned of the car potentially "burning out an exhaust valve." Maybe a drop in fuel economy/torque. I'd imagine a gain in fuel economy if anything, but I don't know.

I don't know much about this stuff...I just diagnosed the problem, which seemed pretty simple. I figure we could find a Sentra in Pull-a-Part to get that piece from so it should be a simple fix, but I'm just wondering if there's anything major he needs to be aware of.

Appreciated!

[Master Shake]

might lose a little bit of hp/tq with no back pressure, and probably the most obvious, emissions. but i don't know about burning out an exhaust valve. probably get annoying too.

and i think you are thinking of "flex pipe" for the pre-cat.

[VooDooXII]

might lose a little bit of hp/tq with no back pressure, and probably the most obvious, emissions. but i don't know about burning out an exhaust valve. probably get annoying too.

and i think you are thinking of "flex pipe" for the pre-cat.

His car isn't clear on emissions anyway because his O2 sensor went bad recently.

I guess it's just a matter of fixing that pipe back then yea? Appreciate the info!

[X-Runner]

That is just a piece of flex pipe... and he should be just fine with that much exhaust off the engine.

[Barefoot]

it will be fine take it to an an exhaust shop 50 bux later problem solved.

[FasTech]

Just fix it. Like No Mo Hondas said, easy and cheap to let a muffler shop take car of the problem.