Bad Cat??? Please help....

[Guest]

Hey guys,
I have noticed my takeoff exhaust has been getting pretty odd sounding. It is louder and more stuffy sounding. The exhaust smells terrible. I took the i-pipe off and there was a bunch off water in it (like 1/2 cup) and while running it spits smoke and moisture. It never did this before. I asked on another forum and they said "If the cat is bad it WILL throw a code." Is this true? If I goto a dealership are they just gonna say its fine even if its bad just because it doesnt trow a code. I think If I fail emissions they will replace it in a heartbeat, but since there is no code = no sniffer. What should I do?

[Ted]

GO under your car and bang on the cat carefully with your the palm of your hand. If you hear a bunch of stuff in side your cat is mostlikely all broken up inside. This descibes why it sounds sort of louder and smells bad. You should get it fixed right away because you risk getting a chunk of that either clogging your exhaust or getting stuck in your muffler or something down the way. And please don't be like the rest of the people on this board that just gut their cats or put a straight pipe in because they're too cheap to buy a replacement cat.

[nosv6]

All of the things above you said sounds like symptoms of a clogged cat but you have to ask yourself why it is clogged. You said it smoked, if it is really white smoke then you coolant leaking into the cylinder and this will burn a cat up in a hurry.

[Guest]

Would it have alot of moisture if its clogged or be louder? Also it makes no sound when you hit it, I tried already since my old cars cat went bad and it did vibrate.

[NSolano]

same problem here, only my exhaust sounds like a popping thing and hesistation at diffrent times. LIke when I go fast and try to push the pedal past halfway it hesitates a lil, sometimes even in take off, then there are times that there is nothing. My car has the SES light on, I dunno if it has something to do with the Cat. I have an aftermarket Magnaflow High flow cat installed in November, so not even 5 months with it, I doubt its gone bad. Do you guys think burnt wires could be the issue?? I changed them twice last year because they kept burning up any suggestions?? what kind of wires or protectors ?

[Linxs]

Nsolano,
You might have to put in an o2 sim.

[NSolano]

oh they put the stock one back in, they welded it back into the pipes. I dunno if it went bad though, I may have to scan that.