Can I break the cats apart and stick'em back in?

[smithers_0990]

Can I break the cats apart and stick'em back in?
My dad was telling me that's what he did when he was younger. I was thinking that it might f- up the o2 sensors, will it?

(I CAN'T spend any money, have to save for college)

Is that a good idea?

 

[CharlieP5]

Just take the cat down and using a long screwdriver break the inside until you see straight through.

No Need to break anything.....

 

[chdesign]

Yeah you can gut the cat but then you will throw up a check engine light that reads code Catalyst Not Effective.

 

[smithers_0990]

Will the car still run if that code comes up? How do i get rid of the code?

 

[CharlieP5]

yes the car will run...If you want to get rid of the check engine light you will need to modify the second O2 Sensor...

 

[CharlieP5]

See the attachment to modify O2 sensor

O2 sensor modification...

 

[mazdamp3_18]

i think it was spoolin that tried this and he said the resistors didnt work...

 

[rodslinger]

Spoolin may not have done it right because I drew that diagram and have done the mod on about 20 different cars. The check engine light went away on every one of them. It is possible that the Protege' is looking for a different voltage on the sensor. I haven't scoped it yet but being that OBDII is pretty standard, it should have worked fine.

 

[CharlieP5]

How To:

Maybe they are doing it wrong..
Can you write up a How To: so enry can post it up in the How To: Forum....

 

[rodslinger]

I should but really need to see a wiring diagram. The colors were from my Mistubishi but were the same for the Protege sensor also. One wire is the sensor ground, the other is the signal. If they are switched the mod won't work. I usually look at the wiring diagram on each car before I do it to make sure I know which one is the signal wire. If anyone knows for sure, post it. Otherwise I'll look into it over the weekend.

 

[big_ben]

It was me

I hollowed out my 1st cat. The results were decent. Nothing great though. The check engine came on right away like I thought it would. I tried the resistor and capacjitor mod. It didn't work. I might have the wires wrong though. They also might have dome loose. I just haven't had time to look at it again. I'll post results again after I swap the wires around and try it again.

 

[chdesign]

Wanna know my CEL mod???? I took the freakin bulb out for now! LOL its teh reneck way I know but I will try the resistors if someone gets it to work.

 

[rodslinger]

Hey Ben, did you reset the computer afterwards? Just wondering if the light came back on after resetting for it just never went back off..

 

[big_ben]

Yeah, I reset the ECU. Like I said though, I might have pulled a wire loose when I was reconnecting it, or our wires might be backwards from the example I used. I'll have to experiment with it. I know I got the curcut wired right. I've been through Physics II so I've been through all the circuts labs. But it might just need to have the wires swapped. I'll try to do it next weekend. The only thing that sucks is that when the ECU is reset, it takes about 3 to 4 days for the CEL to come back on.

 

[smithers_0990]

So...

Will it work if I do the mod to the O2 sensor? BTW Where is the O2 sensor located?

Can I gut the first and second cat? Using the same process?


Thanks to all who replied.

 

[mp3_moran]

Just a quick note but gutting the cat isn't all that useful. A gutted cat will have worse airflow characteristics that a fairly new and clean cat (like all of ours should be) if you want to see any type of improvement then just go down to your local muffler shop and have them make you a test pipe to put in place of the cat. No reputable shop will put a test pipe onto a road going though as it is against federal law but most have no problem making one up for you. If you want to take it even one step further, do what I did on my old civic, not only put on a testpipe but also put on the factory cats heatshields on top, it looks just like a regular cat and even got me through a Maryland inspection.

 

[WhiteZoomZoom]

I am a big newbie on cars....What is a CAT ??

 

[mp3_moran]

cat = catalytic converter

 

[WhiteZoomZoom]

And what is a catalytic converter ??

 

[Jag61180]

A device that cleans the exhaust so it comes out cleaner. It is some honeycomb looking stuff that robs horsepower.