Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Clogged Cat - What to do?

We recently realized that my main cat is giving me probs..

car has been running physically hot to the touch, running higher idle at start up and even clunked out once at idle, smelly as hell, smokey sooty exhaust from the tips and some smoke from the EVO vents in the hood after I get off the highway. A

Had my builder drive it around the block a few times this last weekend and his determination was that the cat was clogged..

here is little background on the car -

previous owner spun a rod bearing and let the car sit for almost 2 years in a barn.

Bought the car and we rebuilt the entire engine (currently put about 5k on the engine thus far)

Gut both exhaust manifolds because I saw bird seed inside due to the previous owner removing exhaust bolts and pulling oil pan off to inspect damage and not putting back together

Car has had a constant CEL even though we installed MIL Eliminators, replaced both upstream O2 sensors and reset the battery a hundred times (it always comes back after 2-3 restarts)

Previous owner installed a Brullen Exhaust System w/Sho Shop Y-Pipe.

My questions are these.. I'd rather fix this problem and not cause more problems down the road for myself - Gutting the main cat is free and basically pretty easy but is it a bad idea in the long run? Am I going to pollute like a mother? Will the car sound unbearable?

I've been looking at the BAT High-Flow Cat w/Y-pipe for about $320.00 - I'm not sure if I should waste the money on it especially when the car already has the Sho-Shop Y-Pipe installed.

I'd love some opinions - and better yet I'd love the car to run properly and not have a blasted CEL all the time.

thanks in advance and please be nice.. I'm a girl who owns 2 CSVTs

(BTW - SVT #2 is much faster than SVT #1 which also makes me think its clogged)

Scan for CEL codes and post the exact codes. It may be sometime else besides the mileliminators. May want to consider new mileliminators if it shows P0420 and P0430. www.mileliminators.com

If it were me, I would remove Bank 1 (or Bank 2) Lower O2 sensor and see if it drives better. If it drives better, you know it is a plugged main cat. Don't drive more than a few minutes, due to hot exhaust going to who knows where (rubber tubing, wiring, etc.).

I think you can buy a "universal" main cat for about $80. Just need to weld it in (or direct fit is $175). I would not gut the main cat. Too much for the po-po not to notice. Good luck.

would a generic $80 converter really be able to solve a code 420/430. I have had this code now for quite some time and would do this fix in a heart beat.