Should I risk it?

So I'm driving on a trip from the DC area and the car was running fine for 400+ miles, then in around Charlotte NC I hit some traffic. I was stuck in stop an go traffic on I-85 and the car broke something in the exhaust and sounded like a truck! I took the next exit in about a mile of that traffic to assess the situation. The car was running fine, but just sounded like something broke in the exhaust. I couldn't determine the cause from my stop, but there was no oil leaking or anything else. And as i said, other than the exhaust noise the car was running fine - maybe down on power just slightly. I did a Google search for a European repair shop and routed to the nearest one, which was ~17 miles away. This was around 3:30pm and they were open until 7pm, so there were not many options so I decided to risk it an drive there. It was not the type of shop I expected (I'll post more on that in another post if anyone is interested, but will keep it shorter here), but they were nice enough to point me to another shop about a mile away, so I headed there. They were very nice, but fully booked and couldn't work on the car, but we determined that it was just the that the bolts between the the cat and the exhaust pipe that had broken, and it was safe to drive the remaining 190 miles to Atlanta. So long story short I made it to Atlanta, took it to a nearby shop the next day who reluctantly worked on it and bolted the flange back together, an halleluiah, it sounded perfect! But when I left the shop a check engine light lit up, which I've never had before. I didn't bring my Foxwell scanner against my better judgement, so I have no way to read the codes. But the car is running perfect, and I need to drive 600 miles back tomorrow. Do you think I should worry?!

If it's running well, not overheating, losing oil or antifreeze, I'd drive it back with extra vigilance at each stop checking fluid levels. I'm not sure what's under the "check engine" umbrella of codes but it could be related to the repairs like an O2 sensor if that is a code within that segment. Given the exhaust was loose and freshly repaired it's the first place to look either way. Have a good trip, don't worry, that never helps.

It's not losing any fluids, oil level and temps look fine. An O2 sensor error makes sense.

Air getting in the exhaust system during the problem will throw o2 values off and trigger a CEL. Might self clear, might need to be reset. Another possibility is while the exhaust system was a little loose, an O2 sensor wire got damaged or unplugged.

Well good news: I made it home fine! No problems and the car ran pretty much normal.

The CEL didn't come on while the flange was loose. It only came on after it was repaired, so I'm thinking the latter is more likely. I'll scan the codes with my Foxwell as soon as I can to see what comes up.

Glad you made it home safely and without issue. Curious per the codes.

The first place I took it to in Charlotte is called European Motorwerks, which is basically a part of McLaren Charlotte dealership! They were nice enough to point me to Eurowise Service about a mile away.

Heard good things about Eurowise. Of course heard bad things about Charlotte McLaren.

How long will you be in the Charlotte area?

Lots of the bigger auto parts stores will pull codes for you for free. Quick google search will hopefully set your mind at ease whlle you are away from home and personal tools.

Yes, I thought about that and would definitely have tried to do that if I thought it was something major. Luckily everything turned out OK, but I still haven't had a chance to read the codes (I've misplaced my Foxwell scanner TBH!)

So where do you stand? Get it fixed yet and what was it?

I haven't done anything yet. I was going to take a better look at is when I jack the car up for an oil change, but haven't had a chance to do it yet and I haven't driven the car since then. I wanted to do it this weekend but my back has been killing me.

Let us know when you get it done, good luck.

Sorry, forgot to reply to you. I was just passing by Charlotte on the way to Atlanta. The issue happened in some stop an go traffic on I-85 in Charlotte. I drove the rest of the way to Atlanta after the stop at Eurowise.

Will definitely update here. Hopefully it's nothing major, but it may be time to look into a Soul Performance exhaust system!

Soul makes some really nice things A lot better looking than PSE but the Porsche exhaust sounds and works better

Update: I took it for a ~5 minute warm up drive before an oil change this weekend and the CEL was gone! I did the oil change and general check up from under the car and nothing seems to be afoul. Drove to some friends' house ~30 miles away for dinner Saturday night and all is well - still no CEL. The exhaust flange is holding fine so far and the car is running well.

That's great to hear. Did you only change the oil change or did you some other things?

Just the oil change and a general inspection for any damage. I'm not aware of anything else needed other than a permanent fix for the exhaust flange - one of the three studs was broken so there are only 2 bolts holding it. But it is holding fine so far. I'm wondering if there could have been a root cause of the break to begin with, such as a broken engine mount. I couldn't tell if either was damaged from my visual inspection though.