Headers/Custom Exhaust Installed... still have questions

[NM369]

Ok, we put on the JP header on Weasel's car today and went on ahead with 2.5" piping to a Magnaflow muffler (originally). It sounded like a weed eater.... so we cut the Magnaflow off and quickly found a generic perforated core cannister exhaust measuring in at 3.5" tip. The muffler is straight through with no silencer. The check engine light came on 5 miles from the shop.

Here are the questions:

1. The CEL came on although we installed an O2 Simulator. There are 4 wires on the sensor behind the catalytic converter: TWO white, ONE black and ONE gray. We called the number on the install sheet and the person told me to "cut the black signal wire" and put the green wire on the sensor side and the purple on the plug side. We did that. Then he said to put the black wire (on the box) to the ground wire which he indicated as gray. We spliced it and wrapped the [now] two grays and one black up. We suspect that the signal wire is different than what the guy said. Which is the signal wire and which is the ground?

2. The exhaust sounds REALLY raspy. I mean weed eater bad. We replaced the Magnaflow with that generic in an attempt to cut it down. And it did... to a degree. There is still ALOT of rasp to it. We are considering putting on a Magnaflow Magnapack tube muffler or some other resonator in the piping. a) Would that be a good solution and to quiet it up a bit? b) Is that the cause of the rasp?

[rufus129]

hey nm360 do you have aim? if you im me at i20solara02i

[terrastrife]

2 resonators.

[rufus129]

the reason why it sounds raspy is because there no longer a cat. the way how toyota build the stock header was they put the cat right under the cat.

put another resonator on or put the stock exhaust back on. with the stock exhaust on it's very quiet.

[terrastrife]

Originally Posted by rufus129

the reason why it sounds raspy is because there no longer a cat. the way how toyota build the stock header was they put the cat right under the cat.

put another resonator on or put the stock exhaust back on. with the stock exhaust on it's very quiet.

they put the cat right under the cat?

[RedPhoenix]

yeah theres 2 cats.

have your header > cat > resonator > muffler

[greylock]

On my V6 the are cats on both banks just after the collectors and then another cat after the Y and flex pipe, then the resonator. Each one of those components helped cut back the exhast noise. All that is removed on his car now so the sound goes straight through. You need to add a big resonator. Here are links to a couple:

http://www.sfxperformance.com/parts/VIB1140.htm

http://www.sfxperformance.com/parts/VIB1793.htm

I think they are reasonably priced for stainless steel.

[terrastrife]

i have a single resonator and no real raspiness, exept for my exhasut leaks

[NM369]

I assume the part I am assuming is a cat is... a cat. I thought Camry had a 2 stage cat system like the MR-S had. A pre-cat that is part of the header and a cat that is apart of the exhaust system.

[rufus129]

on the i4 there is only 1 cat.

[NM369]

Originally Posted by rufus129

on the i4 there is only 1 cat.

Then what is the "woven" looking ball part at the start of the exhaust piping? It has a sensor right after it.

[greylock]

That's the flex pipe to allow the engine to shift in its rubber mountings without stressing/breaking the exhaust pipes.

[Mighty~Mart]

i'm wondering why the check engine lite came on?

[rufus129]

that's werid because I dont' have a check engine light on. but you might want to check if your car is running lean. that might be the reason why it has the cel on

[Super Kaioken]

the manual says it has a three stage cat

it's cool you got headers though.