Hi, i recently did the plenium plate/gasket on my 98 dodge ram 1500 with a 360. My problem is i think my cat is starting to plug up since all the oil i went through. My question is can i cut the cat out without screwing with the computer or the 02 sensors?

Thanks for the advice.

 

Not if you have any kind of emissions testing/inspection..... You can get direct-fit replacement cats, that flow better than stock, for around 250 or so.....

If you simply gut the cat, or replace it with a 'test pipe', you may, or may not... get codes regarding cat efficiency. Also, fueling is somewhat influenced by the rear O2, whether it is a noticeable difference or not, is beyond me.

 

There is the non-fouler mod.

 

Thanks for the reply. I dont have emission tests where i am, and i think im just going to buy one from my local parts store. As it will be cheaper.

 

Maybe. Check it out at least. See what they have to say.

 

What year is your truck. Obd1 trucks you can easily gut the cat with no issues. Cause there's no o2 sensor after the cat. I gained a good bit of horsepower. With a cold air intake and just gutting that cat. My truck is a 94 thou 360. And I just cut 3 side of a square out on the side of the cat and bent the metal up. And smashed the honeycomb out. Bent it back down and welded it closed. Put the cover back on and you can't see it. It runs alot better without it. My opinion. And sounds decent if u have a decent muffler. Recently I redid my exhaust and dumped it out the side right before the rear tire. Kept the muffler. Just avoided going over the axel. And it actually sounds decent. Sounds like a nice old muscle car

 

He's got a 98.


You can gut the cat or cut it out with no CELs sure. Or you can do the same thing and it run rich and smell gas and get CELs for catalytic efficiency. My $0.02 is to simply replace with either a universal high flow to keep cost down (can get those for under $100) or get a stock Magnaflow or Flowmaster replacement. You can also get a Jegs Offroad Ypipe that runs pipe with no cat and includes the o2 bungs but then you're still in the same situation I mentioned above, hit or miss. You can do the 02 non-fouler trick yeah but in my opinion (opinions are like @$$holes remember) it's a half a*sed way of doing it. My vote, replace and keep in play

 

I run a gutted cat, thrush turbo dumped right before rear wheel. New up and downstream sensors with the non fouler on the downstream. Sounds good, no CEL, and doesn't smell offensive. No noticeable MPG either way but my truck runs and sounds good so I like to run it through the RPMs when its warmed up