Exhaust Problem

[03.5YellowMSP]

I dont know if anyone else has had this happen but my dealer said they had never seen it before. I was driving down the street on friday and heard a loud pop and bang. Then the motor got very loud. It scared the s*** outta me and I though the motor had blew up or something. Right as it happened i pushed in the clutch and stopped. Noticed the car was still runnign. So I knew ok I didnt blow the motor so wtf just happened. Well i went directly to the dealer and they put it on the lift. On the stock downpipe right after the o2 sensor before the cat there is a weld. It blew that weld clean off. Looks like a clean cut circle. So now they got me drving a 99 automatic dx protege. i dont know when ill be getting my car back. They said instead of rewelding the part they are gonna order a brand new dp and cat.
Has anyone else had this happen to them? What could have casued this?
Im thinkign it was a cold weld.

 

[vodapas77]

Yeah I can't remember who, but a guy on here with a black MSP had the exact same thing happen.

 

[Heathen23]

I had about the same thing happen. Cracked a weld and had the entire exhaust replaced. Strangely they replaced it with a 3.5 exhaust so I now have a 2003 msp w/ 3.5 oval tip. Kinda like it(shrug)