If it is, OH how easy it will be to DRILL it out!

Ok I have a CONFIRMED small exhaust leak, right by my oil pan. And that "Steam"/exhaust/whatever it is gets up my engine bay and i always thought it was coming from my engine! Whoo, boy My exhaust is probably blocked up still, and well if i could take that piece off, i could drill holes in and then vacuum out the CAT!

.. is that the Catalytic converter ?the first pipe comes FROM the engine, snakes around Oil Pan (this is piece with Pinhole leak, i cant patch it up im sure, wont even try) and then goes into what looks like a muffler, on angle, right under passenger seat.. is that the CAT?

Drill drill drill... blockage blockage blockage probably the most EXPENSIVE black carbon due to fuel ive seen in a cat, is what id imagine id find..

Visual inspection down here.
Drill, baby, drill the CAT if i can figure out the BLOTS and mounting? (can drill it right on the car ,its right there.. key is getting pipe off and putting it back even if its the same pipe w the exhaust visible steam coming out of it..)

I wonder how much that heats my oil up, given where it is. :shrug: (right to oil pan!)

 

I believe it is. But I'm not sure. There's inspections in Jax? I thought I read a state statue that did away with emissions checks in 2000.

 

Thats what im saying, there arent, i can do whatever i want. Im interested in unbolting it WHEN ITS COOL OF COURSE and "drilling it out" and reattaching it ?

I have a minor exhaust leak right by my oil pan too. How severe could that be?

 

getting the cat of and back on is a pita , I took mine off and pounded the inners out with a pipe and a hammer and got it back on after some messing with it , but took it off and did a straight pipe the hollowed cat made a weird almost leak like sound I'm assuming cause it was hollow .

 

My pipe has a leak exhaust "Steam" comes out of, 6 inches away from oil pan.

 

Replace the cat... Don't gut it. And you don't drill them out to gut them. Some have a plug in the bottom for filling the ceramic beads, while the rest have to be removed and pounded inside to break up the guts. And when you gut it, it's going to sound like crap. Even generic parts store replacements have a higher flow rate than the factory crap (see if you can look through yours when you get it off, bet you can't, unlike most replacements nowadays!).

And get a pipe from a later model fuel injected car, if yours is the one that doesn't have the O2S fitting in the pipe. They're a slightly larger diameter (had one for 2 days until I got sick of having to deal with the code 13). You CAN find good pipes in the junkyard, especially in Florida.

:edit: Use LOTS of penetrant (PB Blaster) and 15mm socket if the nuts are stock, may need up to a 17 or 18mm socket if the nuts have been replaced. You WILL need a u-joint for the passenger's side nuts, and some LONG extensions (generally put mine together to make lengths of at least 2 feet), and about a 1 foot extension for the driver's side. May also need a cheater pipe (DON'T use a ratchet on these... Get a breaker bar, as you probably WILL overtorque the ratchet splines and break it... Been there and done that).

 

.. Maverick, your honest opinion.. should i get help with this (Craigslist mobile mechanic, asking if he hs done this before?)

Id be sure i had the funds to pay him an agreed price, AND get the "Cat" from a store.. so we could have it back on before the day is out.

Also, my "Check Engine Light" no longer comes on when it sits at idle for 30 minutes or more! (I also dont let it idle like that anymore, LOL!) But it seems that vacuum leak.. Copper Permatex, dimes, and more of both in air pipe and check valve.. Worked.

Going to get those plugs and ratchet, back soon!

 

You'll pay less for a sawzall and blades than you will for the Craigslist guy. Heck, get a hacksaw and spend 2 hours cutting through the lead-in pipe and the bolts at the rear and you'll save even more. You will, however, need a chisel to cut the cat pipe ring off of the end of the y-pipe. You may want to find a cheap store where you can buy a tailpipe expander to round out both the cat inlet and the y-pipe outlet so they play nice together .