hey guys i need help badly, i just got my car all primed up, wet sand, and washed, and on my way home from the shop i didnt see this rock in the road, hit it, and thought hmmm SOB. didnt think i hurt ne thing then going over a hump in the road heard a grinding noise, stopped looked underneath and on my exhaust pipe there is this little pipe hanging down.... i have no clue what this is, it is strapped to the exhaust pipe, could this be the EGR tube. any idea's please tell me if this is safe to drive 45 minutes because its supposed to go in for paint at 6 am...its 12 now please help

 

Is it under the middle of the car (most likely passenger seat)? My first thought is the AIR/smog pipe going to the catalytic converter, in which case, just chop it off/re-attach it and call it done. I removed mine when I took off my emissions to clean up my engine bay.

Short answer, it's driveable. Only thing it does is help heat up the catalytic converter on startup.

 

Yes it is the AIR (Air Injection Reactor) pipe... has nothing whatsoever to do with EGR, except for the coincidence that both the EGR and that pipe make a connection to the exhaust system... its purpose is to introduce fresh air into the cat so that it can do its job, since after all, it takes oxygen to turn carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide, and the oxygen has to come from SOMEWHERE... and unlike newer cars, the control system (computer) in these cars is so crude and Stone Age, it's incapable of regulating the fuel finely enough to always leave a little unburned oxygen in the exhaust stream naturally.

The fresh air from the AIR pump is directed into the manifolds when the car is cold, and into the cat once it gets hot.

Yes you can drive it to the paint shop; but go ahead and hook it back up at your earliest convenience.

 

awesome thank you guys soo much for the info, and yes it was going into the cat, passenger side, so thanks again guys.