03 Bonne retired after muffler exploded

[robauto]

I recently retired (brought to the yard) my 03, SE 3.8L Bonne with 229k on it after 11 yrs. The body and interior were pretty beat up after a few accidents and sunroof leaks. It was totaled 2x and I kept it going. I recently had a clogged cat and some ignition issues over the last year or 2. I took the cat off and ran a straight pipe about 1 mos prior to this as I knew the car was almost done. So it was running great till the end, then one morning I tried to start it and the explosion was very loud and no start condition. I looked at the muffler and it exploded. the wheel well black plastic shredded. I did not troubleshoot, just called the tow truck and ended it. So not sure what it was, CPS, timing chain, other? Curious if anyone has ideas. I hope to get another Bonne one day, but till that day, will not be on the site much. I had many good topics going that I got help or helped others over the last 10 yrs or so. It is a real nice site and the Bonne is a great car. Rob

[95naSTA]

I would think the only way that's possible is if unburnt fuel got all the way back there and blew up. Without a cat, it would make it easier.

The fuel pressure regulators can fail, so you're sucking in fuel from the vac line, but that usually blows up the upper intake manifold.