I have an 88 Trans Am that I am having a bit of a problem with the cat on. It is a brand-new Catco that isn't even two weeks old. Here are the specs on my engine:

305 bored .010 over
Edelbrock Performer EPS intake
Edelbrock Performer 1405 carb (that is stock as far as I know, I rebuilt it)
Summit K1103 cam
headers
T5 trans

My problem is that after driving it around, the output of the cat is glowing slightly red. The intake side is not, it is normal. What exactly would cause this? Do I need to re-calibrate my carb with new jets and rods to make it leaner, or is it already too lean and that's why the cat is glowing?

The car currently does not have EGR or AIR injection. Could either of those things be causing my issue?

Forgive my ignorance, I don't know much about exhaust. Thanks for any input that anyone has!

 

i would think you may have a defective cat. tap on it with a hammer make sure nothing shaking in side. make sure it was not droped in shipping or something.

 

since i been searching threads for my own cat problems I think glowing red is a rich mixture. The cat is receiving unburnt fuel and is trying to do its job by burning it up before it goes out the tail pipe. this means the cat is working but your car is making it work to hard which when lead to a burned up cat in a short period of time.

at least this is what I seen someone else say to this same question