93 Dakota suddenly loud. Help!

My '93 Dakota (3.9, A500 w/OD, 2wd) suddenly, without warning, went from being its usual burbling self to sounding like Hell's Angels all revving their choppers at once in my tile bathroom. This happened between startups. The engine sounded fine when I started it for the first time today, then, after about a ten mile trip and an hour or so rest, the engine roared out as soon as I started it up. Loud, loud, loud! What the hell? Anyone?

P.S: When I let off the gas while rolling, I hear the characteristic popping sound of an exhaust leak, but I can't find it.

That's a pretty cool description, LOL!

Must be a break someplace. Open your hood and check your manifolds. Are they still bolted on tight? Climb underneath and pull on the pipes, do they move too much? Grab the tailpipe and see how much it moves.

Do you mean loud inside the cab like it's coming from the motor area, or loud out of the pipe at the back?

I have a buddy with a Festiva that does this when it wants to. You could be going down the highway and all of a sudden it sounds like an airplane, and then the next minute it's quiet. Very strange indeed.

I found it. The cat on this truck has about 2-3 feet of pipe sticking out of either end, going to the exhaust manifold at one end and the muffler on the other. The pipe in front sheared off right at the converter, so cleanly that I couldn't find it at first. The pipe didn't move the first time I tried it because it was so firmly wedged it wouldn't wiggle. I deduce that the converter's been clogged for a while, and the weld finally gave out. This would also account for the cruddy mileage I've been getting for the past several months. Anyhow, I have a new cat on order. Didn't need this $144 hit just now, but...

Just straightpipe it.

I thought of that, and so did my father, but the pipe is 3" at the manifold and 2 3/4" at the muffler, so I'd need a pipe made, and, besides, I don't know any muffler men here in the lovely People's Republic of Taxifornia who'll risk a fine to do it for me.

LOL! I don't blame you, better just leave it the way it is. It's probably the last converter you'll ever have to put on that truck anyways.

what usually causes your loud exauhst is that the catilic converter gets moisture in it and then it becomes pluged and it blows the seams somewhere. i had the same trouble in my 91 at 235,000 miles. my truck was trouble free and i never had to replace nothing on it..great truck. at 247,330 miles my timing chain finally went and when it went it went. put new engine in it and handed it down to my kid. still looks like brand new. the only thing is when i needed parts for my rebuild eveything was special order.