So my car has been ticking for quite some time now and over the past few days my car started to get the rotten egg smell (so bad cat) which was then confirmed by a friend driving behind me. However along with the smell I have been getting other noises as well. For instance I was sitting at idle and I could hear some exhaust rattle (could it be the bad cat?). Also recently whenever I get on it the car will start to have a clunk or to coming from the transmission area (could it be a trans mount issue? or could it be associated with the cat?) I have had a loss of power ever since I first got the ticking issue but it feels even slower now. Would be nice if I could just resolve all these issues with fixing of the cat.

All that sound about right to everyone else or am i losing it? Lol

I am no expert. But it sounds like there is a cylinder that is not firing. That can explain the loss of power and the egg smell. But again, I'm no expert.

I have done new plugs and wires 5k ago. I guess it could be the distributor if it is indeed missing on a cylinder, I'll make sure i check the connection of the wires

Replace the cat. When mine went it started to do a lot of rattling. Then see what that changes and go from there.

Okey dokey. I was looking at the manifold on the passenger side (where the loudest of the ticking is coming from) and you can smell the exhaust. Also when I was over there I was looking at the nuts that hold the manifolds on. My question is if the two in the middle are supposed to have the same amount of threads sticking out on the end of the nut, because right now one of them has probably eight threads showing and the other has three. I just wanna make sure whether or not it is supposed to be like that before I go wrenching on it and breaking it all off in the head or something.

Im not sure how many threads should stick out, ill take a look at mine tomorrow and let ya know

Sweet just let me know

Chunks from the cat will eventually blow into the muffler and make it rattle. Hopefully that hasn't already happened.

my car ran hotter than normal when the cat was bad

If you're going to replace the cat anyway, then I would unbolt the the exhaust from the rear of the cat and knock out all of the cat con material and blow it out by starting and reving the motor. And just see how it runs with a hollowed cat and rear exhaust disconnected. You can then see if the muffler is clogged by reconnecting the exhaust and running it some more.

Well I have not been on the site in a long time so here we go.

Took the car to an exhaust shop and the ticking is for sure from the passenger header (gasket is bad), so I told them to go ahead and replace it. I get a call later from them saying most of the bolts are seized and they dont want to replace it because it could end up costing me a lot of money if the bolt were to break in the head and that the head would need removed to get the bolt out because there is not alot of clearance.

So what do I do now? Should I go to the dealer? find a different exhaust shop? Or should I just try soaking the bolts in wd-40 for a while? Correct me if I'm wrong but most of the "bolts" holding the manifold on are just studs with nuts on them right? If so then technically spraying Wd-40 SHOULD help loosen them up, or am I crazy?

I have not yet messed with the cat and wil not really mess with anything until the snow goes away and it has rained a few times which could be in a month or two but I would like to try and sort everything out now.

Well, what is there to lose? Give it a try, if you screw up, take it to a mechanic.

WD 40 then wait. You also want to do this when the engine is warm (will help old rusty threads to loosen). Be careful not to get yourself burned.

Do this .. I'd use like pb. Blaster or kroil ... or sumn thats made to creep into the threads .. get the motor as hot as it will get n spray the crap out of em .. also pecking them with a hammer and long screwdriver should help loosen em and help the lube get in there

Use lots of PBblaster or some new stuff that freezes and lubes. Stick a ratchet or wrench on the bolt/nut and hit the end of the it with a hammer and it should break free from the vibrations without breaking the bolt. If the bolt does break, just get a small drillbit, drill into the bolt and go to a hardware store and get an extractor.

I would be very careful with using an extractor. My experience of this is that the extractor breaks. Then you will have one more problem.

It is the catalytic converter. No doubt. Change it, don't change anything else until you change the cat.

I've broken teeth on a big pipe wrench trying to extract a plug out of a block, haven't had an extractor break though, and aside from the one plug, they've worked on everything I've used them for.

When I went to removed my old oil pressure sending unit the elbow piece for it snapped at the block pretty much flush. I used an extractor set to try and get it out and guess what, that snapped flush with the elbow piece! Not trying the thread jack, but is there anywhere else to tap into to get oil pressure?

Above the oil filter and on top of the block at the back of the intake manifold.

K

Bad plan to use an alternate port for the gauge and leave the broken extractor in the block !

Reason being , a properly threaded in sending unit has all kinds of threads making contact with the threaded hole and ain't backing out enough turns to fall out . Your broken off extractor , however , hasn't nearly the thread area in contact and at some random point very well could pop outta there , with obviously REALLY bad consequences ( entire oil pan full of oil sprayed under the hood in about 30 seconds ) .

Not to mention , it's highly unlikely that the broken extractor is perfectly sealing the opening , and will most likely leak oil once the oil pressure is behind it .

I used some steel putty on it and it hasn't leaked at all. It's just got to last till spring time when I plan on getting a new motor.

Sounds like a plan. I'll have to go pick the stuff up and start spraying the heck out of it