Hi All,

My friend's '02 V6 Sedan Accord recently made much more noise one start up and whenever throttle was applied. We took a look down below and discovered that two of the three nuts holding the back end of the catalytic converter to the exhaust pipe have corroded off which causes the system to bend down and open up at that point.

The corrosion looks pretty bad to the point where I'm not sure I have the proper tools to remove the last bolt. Even if I could, the two other studs are badly corroded as well. What do you think we should do at this point? Here are some pics:

 

I doubt anything but a saw will work but, you can try whacking them with a hammer, penetrating oil or heat (as in a torch). Or all three.

That being said, I think that iron piece is done.

 

Sawz

 

All

 

As NZXTInerTia said, Sawz-All.

Lucky for you those studs are not welded to the catalyst and can be separately replaced along with the nuts you will need three of each and the gasket...
18393-SH3-S00 GASKET, PRE CHAMBER (52.5MM-53.5MM) 10.33 7.23
18176-P08-003 BOLT, CONVERTER 12.55 8.79
90212-SA5-003 NUT, SELF-LOCK (10MM) 0.57 0.40

However you can procure similar fasteners for cheap at a decent hardware store. But it appears that front resonator pipe is pretty well worn and badly pitted, you can purchase just the front half of the resonator assembly from Rock Auto for ~$60. May be a better option as the flange looks pretty far gone.

 

Thanks for the replies!

Thanks Mad Mike for the detailed response

I haven't worked much with exhaust systems. Is it possible to drop out just this mid section of the exhaust system (the catalytic converter and front resonator pipe) and replace the necessary parts? Or does everything from the rear of the system up until the catalytic converter need to be taken off for me to access and replace the parts?

Also, if I need to drop most of the exhaust system anyway, would it be prudent to go ahead and replace all the bolts/nuts/gaskets while I'm down there anyway?

Thanks again!

 

I had the same issue. Two months ago i replaced the downpipe and had spent 3-4 hours total cutting and drilling out the bolts on my 99. The cat went bad so i decided to replace the cat back so i didn't get pissed cutting and drilling again. I had spent under $250 total for the cat back with coupon codes from advance auto. I assembled it all together today in the warm weather and it went together like a charm..

The cat was $100 so the other $150 for the rest of the exhaust was well worth it to not have the hassle of the other option.

The exhaust that i removed was original and would probably need to be replaced in the next year or two so it was a good move.