Operator

Hey hey. So I had the car jacked up for an oil change and noticed that part of my exhaust system looks pretty bad. Could someone tell me what this part of the system is called and if its okay to drive around with it like this.. oh.. and approximately how much it costs to fix it

Pics:




Other side:


My guess: Catalytic Converter and 165 bux from Paragon... but its not totally shot yet right? Just missing the first layer I thought everything was rustproof on these cars.. doh

BTW I just became a member. I'm so proud of myself.. after almost 4 years of ownership.

porcho heat

Yep, it's the Cat.

It's probably clogged too, hindering your performance.

New one, or delete it.

streckfu's

get rid of it if you don't have inspections.... If you do, buy a used one in better shape and gut it.

Operator

I do have inspections.. infact.. I have to go pretty soon. Is gutting it really worth it?
Benefits are a slight performance advantage right?
Downsides? Gas Mileage? Killing little puppies?

porcho heat

If it's clogged, I think your gas mileage should improve?

I'm not sure, I'm not a doctor. -shrug-

yellowline

A clogged cat hurts performance and allows heat to build upstream in the exhaust. You hear about the hood paint chipping over where the manifolds are.

I got a used OEM one, not clogged, with headers, for $30.

inactiveuser92616

that may not pass inspections.. I doubt it would here. They stick a mirror under the car. Maybe it is possible to flip it over before inspection, I dont know if everything would line up or not.

Operator

hehe. They dont do mirror inspection on cars here unless they're over 20 years old.. and mine isnt quite 20 yet... 1988. So it should pass, if its working. I think my mileage has been worse lately, but maybe its just the cold/non-highway driving.

yellowline: how used? and whats your location?

yellowline

Well, my uncle got it at Hershey, he went to the swapmeet. No clue on the car it was taken from. It was not clogged, since you could blow through it without major difficulty.

I live in CT too, but up in Windham County, right on the RI line.

Techno Duck

Operator, if you cannot find a decent used one close by i would just take it to a muffler shop and have them weld in a new one. The catalytic converter is nothing special between a generic one and a Porsche one, with the exception of cost also. And also take note, the stock cat. is really friggin heavy, it would not pay to ship one.

Imo000

What you see soo rusty, with the holes, is only the Catalytic converter's heat shield. You can pull it off with a pair of tin snips. It's only there to protect dried out grass from catching on fire. It's serves no real purpose. The catalitic is behind the shield. The chances are that it's still in good shape. Don't worry about the looks, as long as it passes the emission test, you are good to go. Cats get really hot and the heat shields tend to corrode off. I had this happen to many of my cars in the past. The tell tale sign is that the rusted shield will detach from the cat housing and it will start to rattle. It will make the car sound really bad. Once you pull it off everything will sound normal.

I hope this helps!

Operator

I hear ya. It has started rattling a little bit at idle I noticed... I thought maybe the muffler hanger was getting loose or something but its probably this crapjunky heat shield. Question is, is it possible to get just a new shield? I don't want to light any grass on fire considering how much I drive on grass .. or.. heck.. oil blowby?.. not that I'm leaking any.

Imo000

The heat shield only comes with the catalytic. It's pressed on at teh seam. Don't worry about the sheild. Just pull it off. The grass fire theory was by the goverment. You'll have to park in a very tall dried grass with a red hot cat and even then it will probably not catch on fire.

gtroth

I think in CT, after failing, there is a limit on how much you have to spend on emissions components to fix the car. Might think about not spending any money until after the test so it will count toward the limit.

Imo000

I don't know where everyone is getting the idea that this cat is clogged, when all the pictures show is a rusty heat shield. As I said earlier, just pull off the rusty heat shield and call it a day.

Guys, if you don't have any experience with this please don't just trow a message in here for the sake of replying. This is how people end up replacing parts that are still functioning.