Only noticed today so possibly taken last night. Rattling from underneath drivers seat and what sounds like turbo whistling when you take your foot off the gas. Is it safe to drive, got it booked into local garage but not immediately.

No!

 

Your front pipe has fractured where it goes into the sleeve joint to the rear section.

 

Or maybe I the photo is taken towards the rear end in which case its the rear section broken.

 

With a bit of jiggling you might be able to move the clamp rearwards to have half a grip on both pipes or a bit more if the rear pipe can be persuaded forwards.

 

Coincidentally I will be inspecting & hopefully doing temporary repairs to exactly that joint tomorrow, my rear clamp has rusted through completely.

22 minutes ago, hoodoo16 said:

Rattling from underneath drivers seat and what sounds like turbo whistling

I don't think the cat's been nicked, but those pipes you photographed should join together.

Thanks for the replies fellas, the wheel in the picture is the front passenger side. It’s dark now so I will wait until tomorrow and have a better look. Car drives ok just making more noise than previously. Don’t know if I should be worried about the sigh/whistle sound when taking my foot off the accelerator.

Tweaked your pic a little, maybe what has happened is a little clearer ?

 

That's not where your cat is, that's just two bits of exhaust that have come disconnected. No idea how, you normally couldn't separate them if you tried 

Nothing to worry about, it's just the joining sleeve that's come loose, probably due to the clamps fracturing from rust.

 

Since the pipework is stainless all you need to do is remove the old clamps and replace with a couple of 55mm U-clamps, pennies from a garage as it's apparently not a commonly used size.

 

The sound is normal just that you can hear it now you have an open unsilenced exhaust pipe.

Edited 18 March, 20224 yr by MicMac

I hadn't considered that the sleeve had moved as the clamps looked intact.

 

I'm hoping that when I inspect mine closely and with sufficient time tomorrow (I only had a few seconds during the CT I will discover that you are right, that the inside is stainless and it's not seized, all I could see under the CT ramp was a mass of rusted metal looking like it would never come apart, if I am lucky then a pair of Mikalor clamps will see it right.

 

Looking at the photo again, the length of the discoloured pipe I'm convinced you are correct, the clamp has displaced rearwards.

Edited 18 March, 20224 yr by J.R.

It’s as you said, I thought there was a piece missing but I only had a quick look at the time. The clamp had moved backwards causing the front section to drop. I can reconnect the two bits back together. Thanks for your help and advice.

 

Seems a little odd that an exhaust clamp comes loose by itself? In my experience they are anything but loose and often require the bolts cutting off. Any ideas why this might happen? Maybe someone was trying to nick it but got disturbed? 

@Golf-Fiend

In my experience the oe clamps rust and fracture at the bolt lugs, coming loose but giving the impression of still being ok with a casual glance as they stay in place.  The sleeve and main pipe are stainless so they won't rust together.

That is what had happened to mine, I had another inspection today as I have a 1000 mile round trip to make, the front clamp won't last much longer, I have used a Jubilee clip in place of the completely decomposed rear clamp while awaiting a pair of Mikalor clamps for temporary repair number 2 before finally replacing with a new VAG clamp but better design, that will be fitted when the exhaust gets dropped to replace the propshaft Guibo coupling.