fouled cat by the 'blue smoke' boogieman?

[musicbum82]

Hi There,

I've been a frequent reader of the posts here at TN. All of you have been very helpful.

I have a 93 5SFE with 215,000mi. I bottomed out entering a driveway in hot pursuit of Chinese food about a month ago. I dinged my tranny pan, oil pan, and gave the exhaust system a healthy show of affection. I just wanted to state that upfront, before I go into my problem.

My car USED to puff out blue smoke from the tailpipe upon cold start. From my reading here, that indicates that my valve seals are worn. About a year ago, it stopped smoking on startup. Now it rattles on cold start and whistles when winding it up through the gears. This leads me to believe that my cat is toast. It drives like it has a stuffy nose.

Has anyone lost a cat to this 'blue smoke on startup' issue? I live in California, but my car is registered in a county that only requires smog upon transfer of title. Can I remove the small cat (the one closer to the muffler) and still be cool with the computer? The exhaust system is pretty old, and I might be in the market for something else, but I don't want to go into the time and expense of replacing the exhaust system if it is simply going to get fouled up again by my bad valve guides.

Oh yeah, what are the consequences of letting this go on for any period of time. Broke ass college student here...

Thanks

Marc

[Venom_5]

im pretty sure blue smoke out of your exhaust means that youre not burning an excess of oil ... or something of the sort - the pros will correct me ... but you know what i mean

as soon as you saw that, you probably shouldve had it checked out ... unless you have a diesel engine (which you dont), then your exhaust shouldnt be dark

[BlueFusion6851]

Wait, wait wait, it stopped?
You could find an exhaust at a junkyard or something, or even buy a new warm-up catalytic (the closest one to the manifold) that you were referring to for pretty cheap.

[Unco]

blue smoke on start up does indeed usually mean worn out valve parts (top end). my celica used to do the same but since i started putting thicker oil in it, it has stopped doing it and it no longer consumes any oil... and it has over 250,000 miles on it. so there's a thought for you.

as for the cat. as BlueFusion6851 suggested, the cheapest way to go about it would be to get a 2nd hand one from a junkyard.

[ASG14]

As other said, either get one at a junkyard, or get an aftermarket one. OEM fromt he dealer is around $800. Also, for the rattling, check the Flex Pipe. Make sure there is no tears in it. Anf the Whistleing can also be a vacumme leak. Thats all just a possibility, and stuff just to "check" out.

Good luck.

[Axel Kain]

also the whistling could be the flex pipe, mine used to always whistle, thought it was my intake, or an intake leak, but once i blew out my flex pipe, and got it replaced it didnt anymore... cat's arent that expensive, go to a muffler shop, have them weld a universal one on possibly.

[v-cam]

I know that unburnt fuel destroys cats over a period of time, never heard of blue smoke killing one though.

By the sounds of it, i'd start with the flex and go from there.

[musicbum82]

thanks for all of your suggestions!

cleaned out the tb and iac with tb cleaner, car idles much more smoothly now.

i used the stethoscope portion of a trumpet practice mute (and a well placed converse all-star to maintain 1100 rpm) to check for leaks along the exhaust system. the rattle is certainly coming from the small cat that is closer to the muffler. Also, it sounds like it is leaking right behind the chinese fingertrap (flex pipe?)

My engine actually sounds pretty good for 215k, aside from the tick from the top end. It sounds like it's ticking at about a tenth of idle speed, 80 beats per minute v. 800 rpm. Is that valve tick?

anyone have links (besides ebay) for the flex pipe? If not, that's cool, I'll do my own homework.

later

[ASG14]

You know what, that ticking you hear, is exactly what I had on my old '92 5SFE. Sold it at 190k still running. The ticking was for a couple years before I sold it (30k+ miles) and never did anything. You should be fine with that.

[ghettosled]

the second catalytic converter isnt monitored, so it can be removed (or easily replaced with a $125 one from catco like i did). small correction, on the 1993 model, i dont think the main cat converter is monitored either (are there 2 on the '93?). if there isnt an oxygen sensor after the cat, then its not monitored.

at least in ohio (i think in most states), its illegal to buy used emission parts like catalytic converters. i tried at several junkyards and they held true to this much to my chagrin.

[ASG14]

^ Just looked and he's from Cali, so chances are, he has a Cali Spec Camry. That have more emmisions crap.

[Axel Kain]

OBD I, should only have 1 o2 sensor any way...although it being cali, may have another, but all OBD II cars have pre, and post cat o2 sensors.

[musicbum82]

so, it's just the sensor on top of the exhaust manifold, right?