Catalytic Converter Question

[Red Camry]

My car stinks when I 'get on it' and its due to my cat needing to be replaced.

My buddy tells me theres 2 Cats or another part that goes before the cat? Can anyone clear this up so I know what to buy?

Thanks

[ONE_to_HATE]

so your car has a precat and cat. The first one is a precat connected to your exhaust manifold- this is fine... what you're looking to replace is the one under the car-

before replacing it tho... try to run some seafoam thru the brake booster. That's actually what i did to mines and it really toned down the funk comming out ov it.. good luck.

[Red Camry]

I looked on ebay and came across this for $160 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33629&viewitem=&it em=370044219840&_trksid=p3907.m29#ebayphotohosting



Is what I have pointed out here the Pre Cat?
May as well just replace the whole thing for this price...
what do you think?

[Hajoca]

No

That is a flex pipe. Because the engine will move and vibrate.


There is another piece connected to flange with 3 holes, On a claifornia spec car, that area has another catalytic converter there.

The bulged container section at top of picture is the under car cat.

[Red Camry]

ok, sorry for the dumb question haha

[Red Camry]

Originally Posted by ONE_to_HATE

so your car has a precat and cat. The first one is a precat connected to your exhaust manifold- this is fine... what you're looking to replace is the one under the car-

before replacing it tho... try to run some seafoam thru the brake booster. That's actually what i did to mines and it really toned down the funk comming out ov it.. good luck.

How do I know that the precat isn't the problem? and how come I can't find any online?

[ONE_to_HATE]

they don't sell precats by itself-


the cylinder shaped portion of the exhaust manifold - right below the o2 sensor... is the pre-cat.

How do you know that its not the pre-cat and not the cat? because that picture is my old pre-cat and it has NOT change a damn thing since i switched out for a new one.

The dealershit says its pre-cat (this part costs $1100+) .. majority of the people's experience say main cat..- and someone mentioned to me that its also a common thing w/ some subaru cars.

Good Luck.

[Red Camry]

ok so basically 9 times out of 10 its the regular cat

[Mickyblue]

mine has the 2 cat setup, the manifold itself is a cat, and the bigger pipe after the flex pipe, the thing in the picture you pointed to is the flex pipe, the bigger pipe behind it is the second cat, i recommend getting rid of the big cat on the manifold, because its $1000 to replace, and the small cat is $20-50 depending on where you go. or live where i live where we have no emmisions tests, and rip them all off, go oregon!

[Albuynp Ryeno]

Originally Posted by ONE_to_HATE

they don't sell precats by itself-


the cylinder shaped portion of the exhaust manifold - right below the o2 sensor... is the pre-cat.

How do you know that its not the pre-cat and not the cat? because that picture is my old pre-cat and it has NOT change a damn thing since i switched out for a new one.

The dealershit says its pre-cat (this part costs $1100+) .. majority of the people's experience say main cat..- and someone mentioned to me that its also a common thing w/ some subaru cars.

Good Luck.

do u have a cali or non cali car?

[groovemasterodi]

man i have this same goddamned problem... stupid Cali car. Is it really neccessary to purchase some 1000 part? In my research I haven't been able to get a clear answer so if anyone can weigh in this would rock.

[Albuynp Ryeno]

Originally Posted by groovemasterodi

man i have this same goddamned problem... stupid Cali car. Is it really neccessary to purchase some 1000 part? In my research I haven't been able to get a clear answer so if anyone can weigh in this would rock.

I think I dont have a pre-cat so I think you dont need one. But I am going to the dealership tomorrow to figure out what exactly is installed on my car.

[Red Camry]

Not from Cali,
NY car

Theres a cat/flex pipe on ebay for like $120
but i dont know if that would just be pointless to get because the pre-cat could just be the only problem

[ONE_to_HATE]

fellas... PRE-CAT is NOT the problem! its the main cat behind the flexpipe that's giving off the smell.

make sure that the catalytic converter that you pick out is the proper one.. either OBDI or 0BDII or you'll be triggering CEL.

my car is cali spec FTL!!

[cmjohnson]

I've found lately that when I get deep into the throttle, I smell what smells almost exactly like a lit match.

Is this the smell you're talking about?

A back-pressure test revealed no flow restriction on my catalytic converter.

BUT, a few months ago I had a bad ECU which was causing some injectors to go to wide open
and dumped unburned fuel through the exhaust system. It COULD have contaminated the cat.


Is the "lit match" smell what you're smelling? And what's the diagnosis?


CJ