Replace cat?

[biggdave92]

My sister in laws 06 2.4l solara has a sound coming from the exhaust/cat area. she had a mechanic replace the gasket and it still makes the sound. I think the cat needs to be replaced. the car has 95k on it. Any advice? What is the cheapest way to replace this thing? Thanks for any help!

[my.rims.are.stock]

What is the sound? Like a crackling or debris inside the exhaust/cat? Does the cat look damaged underneath?

[biggdave92]

na, its more like a "whooooooeeeeee" kinda noise. it speeds up and down with the engine rev. like its stopped up or somethin.

[my.rims.are.stock]

So you are saying it sounds more muffled than normal? Do you see any scratches or anything on the cat itself? If you truely believe it is the cat then take it back to the mechanic and get him to check it. He can do this fairly easily because I believe the Solara's cat is just bolted into place. He can remove the cat and put in a test pipe. Does the car experience a decrease in performance (Does it not reach high RPMs or seem very sluggish when you drive it)? Does the engine die after after a period of time from running it?

[Glenn8963]

Originally Posted by biggdave92

My sister in laws 06 2.4l solara has a sound coming from the exhaust/cat area. she had a mechanic replace the gasket and it still makes the sound. I think the cat needs to be replaced. the car has 95k on it. Any advice? What is the cheapest way to replace this thing? Thanks for any help!

just remove the muffler. if the noise is still there like a "stuffed up noise" then its the cat. if the noise went away when you removed the muffler...??? it was the muffler that is bad. (plugged up).