vade11

Hello all. I have a 98 Honda CRV that I tote my toddler around in. She's my every day vehicle. Drove her through the Smoky mountains on my honey moon. Trusty but rusty. I purchased the car almost 3 years ago from the original owner whom lived in Chicago. Being a midwest car and always parked on the street, the exhaust was tore up from ice and salt. I had the exhaust from the cat back replaced in July. All was well until an obscene rattle started from INSIDE the cat. We've tapped everywhere else, it's definitely inside. Then the other day the gasket before the cat blew off. I'm under the assumption that I need to just replace the cat and be done. DISCLAIMER- I am not a car gal, my husband is not a car guy. We can do the basics at home (brakes, oil, etc.) He is also an excellent welder. What I need to know is, is replacing the cat on my La Honda as simple as removing the old one and welding on a universal cat from the auto store? Is there an O2 sensor in there to worry about? If we can do this at home without any crazy issues, I would much prefer that. Especially a month before the Holidays. I realize some of you will say Honda parts only, but for me and my CRV I don't find it necessary. I love her but definitely not a beautiful specimen. I just got her back from repairing the rack and pinion and a new valve cover gasket, greased the ignition. This loud *** exhaust is a bummer

OneBadTurboCRV

I am sure you don't want to hear it, but if your husband is an "excellent welder" then it should be a straight forward swap with a universal catalytic converter. Depending on what your state emission laws are you don't even need the cat to be there, only O2 sensor defoulers so it won't throw a CEL.