Lately my car has been getting horrible gas mileage and very sluggish. It was due for a tune up so I replaced spark plugs, did a coolant flush, checked motor compression and got 180 all across, and replaced fuel filter. I would hear a sound that sounded like a tea kettle or a pressure cooker when i would go above 3k rpms (it would sound like tsss tsss tsss tsss tsss tsss) right under the dash/shifter area. I had a friend press the throttle while i looked under the car and i could see the cat/downpipe bending and letting exhaust fumes out and make that noise. Basically the cat was clogged so i disconnected it from the downpipe to prevent any back pressure damage to the engine.

My issue is im unemployed and strapped for cash, and i dont have the money for an oem replacement cat. Also while driving on the highway my muffler fell off a while ago and i would like to find the cheapest way to replace the entire system from the catalytic converter back to the muffler.

Would it be best to buy a cheap ebay test pipe with exhaust pipe system and muffler (about $110), or go to the junkyard and find the parts, or spend that cash on a magnaflow cat and keep running exhaust-less?

I could also hollow out the cat but if im going to be working down there id rather replace all that i can.

Im in florida so emissions arent important, but personally I would like to have a CAT but if the price diff. is big, oh well.

 

What vehicle is it?

 

99 civic ex coupe

 

Would it be OK to run with the cat disconnected for a few days till i get this fixed? (apart from the smell/sound)

 

yeah it should be fine, hopefully cops don't give you crap about it.

Have you looked into getting a Magnaflow universal cat converter? you can get it for around $100 (much cheaper then direct fit) and just get an exhaust shop to weld it.

 

for about the same price I can get ebay converter and catback exhaust. Its ebay, i know, but for the time being im not too sure if im going to keep the car and if i had to sell it for w/e reasons i could not sell it the way it is now...I hopefully wouldnt need a shop they charge up the a$$ for the stupidest things. Last time they wanted to charge me $40 just to put the car on the lift and remove 2 bolts to install a type R exhaust, took me 15 minutes tops to do myself. Any thoughts on these 2?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-1991-HO...sories&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/92-95-HONDA-...sories&vxp=mtr

 

Exhaust is exhaust pretty much. BUT, I wouldn't buy a test pipe, especially eBay.. You can run into other problems such as a raspy sound, p0420, etc.. Get a universal cat, they're fairly cheap like what was said above.

If you run open header it will be very loud and you'll get bad MPGs.

 

p0420 is what i have now. Im trying to avoid universal cats because i know what I save on the cat ill have to spend at the shop trying to fit it.

 

I once had a p0420, swapped out the sensor in the cat, and have been good ever since.

 

That's NOT a catalytic converter no matter what they say it is. If you don't have emissions/inspections, you can run one of those.

 

I thought about the sensor but when i heard that noise i knew it had to be something else, either a leak or something. What I would like to find is a cheap test pipe/cat that is as close to a direct fit so that I can bolt it on myself, and finish adding the rest of the piping/exhaust later on when I am a little more financially endowed. Ive been searching for threads on aftermarket/ ebay test pipes/cats where someone has said "perfect fit", at least none that have been cheap...Would be great to find out from someone whos bought one and how good the fitment was on the stock piping or atleast some part numbers

 

You can buy a cheap, generic magnaflow cat with the proper pipe sizing, and have a local muffler shop weld it in. It shouldn't cost more than $50 for the welding work. As for the falling off muffler, where is the break point? You can pick up a generic muffler from Autozone and have it welded in, once again, $50.

 

If you're cat is effed, why not attempt to clean it?

the most your out is about 10gal of water and some dawn/other detergent soap...

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5icTmYItwiE It's worth a shot.

Disclaimer: I'm no pro, nor do I claim to be, but versus throwing it out the back door and you plan to clean it anyway, why not.

 

^the honeycomb was completely jammed in the back of the cat tubing blocking it up....Ended up getting a Yonaka high flow cat for now. Going to save up and get the rest of the kit later on. Hopefully I wont have to use a shop to weld anything with the rest of the yonaka exhaust kit. Later on if i sell the car if someone wants a lower price ill take the exhaust system off and put the hollowed out cat/stock piping.