Alright, bad joke, but I think it's goint to need a new cat.

Seriously now, I was driving from Irving back to Denton today after picking up a new EGR Temp Diagnostic Switch (that really annoying thing that sticks out of the EGR which has metal surrounded by ceramic, THAT LIKES TO BREAK!!!) Sorry, I hate that part, I already broke 3 of 'em! But on my way back, I noticed the car felt very warm (According to the butt dyno/temp sensor) So I figure I'd just go easy for a while and it would air cool itself down...well, I didn't little did I know the people of Dallas like to got about 75 in the slow lane. Eventually I hear my exhaust not get a little higher, a little louder, and there is a rattleing. (I didn't realize it was exhaust at the time..still not 100% sure) It sounded RPM based so since it was rattleing the first thing I thought of was input side of the transmission, DOH! That was just rebuilt! I let it cool, poked and prodded, found nothing. Started it back up, theres the rattleing. Oh sh*t it wasn't just that it was too hot...pop the hood again, rev it from the throttle body, I hear no rattleing, but I swore I heard a vac leak after it warmed up! Go to the pass side of the car, and lay down, I hear some rattleing. Go to the back, more rattleing. Then I rev it, and I don't hear rattleing. Go back to the exhaust and try to see if I can race the rev down, when out of the corner of my eye, I think I see something fly out the tailpipe! Now I'm wondering of something broke off the top side of my engine. Race the rev down, lotsa rattling on the rev down. To check engine operation (may have been dumb) I revved it up to 4000 for about 20 seconds, only to find it sounded suprisingly smooth! Run back to the pipes again, Now there is a loud rattleing, and out pops probably 3" of material, very hot. After it cooled, I brought a piece up w/ me. It looks like a ceramic screen, but not thin how a screen is, more like sqare pipes. Sound like the inside of the cat, and the symptoms of a spit out cat? (phew not another dead transmission, not another dead set of rear end gears!)

On a performance note, the butt dyno/ear dyno says I have more power! The rpms seem to come up *MUCH* faster, and I feel a little more pushed into my seat. I assume this is because my cat has been taking a long time dieing right? I'm 99.99999999% sure this is the cats guts, but I want to make sure its not something out of my SLP muffler.
Thanks
*Check the sig :eek


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Corry Lazarowitz
clazarow@voicenet.com
clazarowitz@hotmail.com
1987 Pontiac Trans AM (GTA?) 350 TPI
SLP 1 3/4" headers, 3" cat back (stock cat MSD ignition.
MSD Blaster SS coil.
3.73 Rear end gears
Accell 8.8 Wires
Bosh +4 Spark Plugs (Don't know if they really help but hell!)
Holley AFPR
Newly Self gutted cat!
More soon when funds are avail...

 

Sounds like it to me. Thats what it is, like a screen but a whole lot thicker. Better make sure to get all that stuff outa your muffler and pipes if you can, they dont need it blocking the way

 

Man... what a story! I tell ya, I have a hard time believing that cat parts like you described could come through all that piping (especially the muffler chambers).

Seems that cat parts would hang up in the exhaust system somewhere. But then again I could be wrong. Maybe your muffler took a **** on you. My opinion is since you've got increased power, you definately have better exhaust flow (in a BAD way).

The question is, how do you determine if it's your cat or your muffler. Might need new catback exhaust (cat included). Good luck!

 

Anyone had their SLP system take a dump on them? Remember though, the SLP system is "almost" a straight shot (minus the axle) Even the muffler, bot tips are driver side exit so that the air just goes straight through. I could easily see the pieces just flying out like that, and to tearing anything up on their way out.
Corry

 

That's definitely your cat parts man! My friends cat internals came out the exact same way! Only he intentionally gutted his cat!! Just get the cat really hot and then hose it down with ICE COLD water and that will break up the stuff inside! Then hit on the bottom of the cat a bit with a hammer or rod! Do all that about 3 or 4 times and then rev the car up high and the cat guts will come flyin' out the exhaust pipes!! My friend did however, remove his muffler later and flush it out to get any stuff out that didn't come out on its own!!