So I have been reading quite a few posts on here (very knowledgable site BTW) and I see I have all the tell tale signs of a bad catalytic converter. A little background, to get you guys opinion, but I recently had a tune up, now about 2 months later i got in my truck the other day and it wouldn;t rev past 3000rpm.. CEL came on and truck started running really rough. I have noticed a bit of a rattle/tinging coming from under the truck. I wasn;t real sure if it was the exhaust of a heat shield. So where it sits right now is the CEL is on, poor gas milage, has 2 month old plugs, wires, etc, and it is running pretty poor. It feels like there is a blockage that is preventing the motor from running smoothly. Does that make sense? So anyways a co worker and I just went outside, started it up and got down by the cat and you can hear it tinging pretty bad. I'm no mechanic, but I'm not rich either and i was looking at the magnaflow direct OE replacement for this. It's $210 at my local O'reilly's. How hard is it to replace this? Is this something that can be done, or should I go to a mechanic. I got quoted $675 and $692 to have it replaced and installed. I do not have the extra $500 laying around right now and would really like to try and save some cash. just looking for some advise, ad maybe i there is a DIY for changing a cat? thanks guys.

edit: truck is a 98 5.2 318 2wd, reg cab.

 

just a note, i was told the magnaflow was a direct fit, no welding is neccessary..

 

it is direct fit...but you DO need to weld the drivers side downpipe to the cat. its not that bad. just one pipe to weld. its better that way so you can make sure it fits nice and snug to your setup. other than that, yea, it fits perfectly.

 

Couple of questions, what state do you live in and do they do emission inspections, if they dont then why dont u just cut it off an goto your local welding shop and get them to weld a piece of exaust tubing in it's place. just because it came with a cat doesnt mean you need it. i dont have one and mine runs perfectly fine with out it, no misses hits pings or lack of throttle response, and you will actually get a little more power to the wheels also.

IF your state does inspcections, look over summitracing.com they usually have a cat back system for fairly cheap.

 

just a tip, a reason the cat might be getting clogged is because of the plenum gasket, might want to look into that

 

I live in Michigan, no emmisions. Yeah I used to have an offoad h pipe on my old mustang. I am really looking for the cheapest possible fix. The only thing that worries me about cutting it and welding a straight pipe is the truck throwing codes and maybe not running well after i cut the cat off. Thats kinda why i figured if I just do the eplacement cat I would be ok. I have not checked the plenum, but I will look int that as well

 

I'm running my 5.9L 360 with a gutted cat..lol thats what they make rebar for . No problem what so ever..no codes..nothing with the CEL (But i did have codes with the plenum). Northern PA doesn't have emissions..well depends on where you go hehe . Uh..if you are having cat problems I would look at/check the plenum gasket..mine wasn't too far down the road after the gutted cat when my plenum finally blew. (Oh boy you bet it did lol..passanger side of the gasket had a 2-3 inches of missing gasket = a fun time lol) Plenum will cause all sorts of funky problems.. just giving you a heads up.


DodgeRamPower

 

bulldog, I installed a magnaflo cat on my truck without welding anything.

 

hehe, a gutted cat still passes a visual inspection.............

 

We had this disscusion in 06,and.................... the link didn't work.