Catalytic Converter - good or no good ?

[Josh B]

I saw a youtube where some guy was running lacquer thinner or some such in his gas for about a hundred miles on the turnpike to clean a cat, but in another part of it he also said to just soak it in soapy water an hour or so. I wasn't quite hip on running thinner in the gas but have considered soaking it a day or two in the soapy water and then back flushing with a garden hose.
If I could only get mine out, the first bolt I grabbed twisted off :/

 

[Dirtman]

I saw a youtube where some guy was running lacquer thinner or some such in his gas for about a hundred miles on the turnpike to clean a cat, but in another part of it he also said to just soak it in soapy water an hour or so. I wasn't quite hip on running thinner in the gas but have considered soaking it a day or two in the soapy water and then back flushing with a garden hose.
If I could only get mine out, the first bolt I grabbed twisted off :/

Good ole scotty Kilmer, a wealth of idiocy...

 

[scotts90ranger]

If a cat is fouled it's just not going to have clean exhaust, there are some things that you can clean off of them but not from physical damage... I've seen it all at work... Main cause of cat failure is misfire, just having too much fuel isn't a bad thing, it actually cools things, the problem is when you have both air and fuel that was not burned in the engine, it burns in the cat... anything over 900C for more than a couple minutes will turn it into a melted wad of goo, or start to break down, sometimes they crack in the middle and get offset causing a restriction...

 

[Josh B]

I've got a problem taking mine off, the bolts are twisting off, leaving a stud insert on the old flange, can that stud be driven out?

 

[Dirtman]

I've got a problem taking mine off, the bolts are twisting off, leaving a stud insert on the old flange, can that stud be driven out?

Exorcism - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[adsm08]

I've got a problem taking mine off, the bolts are twisting off, leaving a stud insert on the old flange, can that stud be driven out?

T
Yes.

 

[trailmeisterjoe]

Just replaced all 3 of my blocked cats...…..Holy moly $$$
Joe

 

[4.0blue98]

Down here the scrappers won't take converters unless you're a "licensed mechanic". Not sure how they know. Guess I need to print out an "official" card from the interweb to carry.

I know it's a common steal item. They do the same thing with large loads of copper. You need to be a licensed contractor for that stuff. I tried to get rid of an old one (small one too) from a 93 Grand Am last year with around 800lbs of other scrap and they wouldn't take it. What's this world coming too? Anyone else experience that?

BTW back to the thread topic, it looked alot like PJ's on the edges but also had a visible crack.

 

[sgtsandman]

I've got a problem taking mine off, the bolts are twisting off, leaving a stud insert on the old flange, can that stud be driven out?

I had to use a tool like this to remove one of the broken studs. The other one was broken flush to the flange and I had to use a long drill bit to drill it out and use an easy out.

 

[Dirtman]

Down here the scrappers won't take converters unless you're a "licensed mechanic". Not sure how they know. Guess I need to print out an "official" card from the interweb to carry.

I know it's a common steal item. They do the same thing with large loads of copper. You need to be a licensed contractor for that stuff. I tried to get rid of an old one (small one too) from a 93 Grand Am last year with around 800lbs of other scrap and they wouldn't take it. What's this world coming too? Anyone else experience that?

BTW back to the thread topic, it looked alot like PJ's on the edges but also had a visible crack.

When I worked in Trenton in a single night thieves made off with the cats of about 30 cars in the complex where our shop was. And on more than one occasion I've built stuff like air conditioner "cages" or man hole cover locks for the city to keep people from stealing crap. They will steal anything that's not nailed down, and if it is nailed down they will steal the nails too.

That's why its usually illegal for scrap yards to accept that kinda stuff. It's suppose to cut down on crime, but it doesn't seem to make any difference except to make it annoying for honest people to make some beer money...

 

[4.0blue98]

Yeah I could see that if i had a dozen or so but one scraggly moron such as myself with a single cruddy old cat seems a bit over the top. I'd have signed a form if needed. Heck this yard actually scans you drivers license when you drop stuff off.

Years ago we had a "cat burglar" situation like that at a Nissan dealership. Apparently Nissan's back then had bolt right on both ends of the cats. They got about 50 in one night.

 

[Josh B]

Yeah I could see that if i had a dozen or so but one scraggly moron such as myself with a single cruddy old cat seems a bit over the top. I'd have signed a form if needed. Heck this yard actually scans you drivers license when you drop stuff off.

Years ago we had a "cat burglar" situation like that at a Nissan dealership. Apparently Nissan's back then had bolt right on both ends of the cats. They got about 50 in one night.

scrap metal forums used to have cat buyers, gold buyers too(mostly scrap computer boards ) it's been awhile since I've even looked

 

[Josh B]

I had to use a tool like this to remove one of the broken studs. The other one was broken flush to the flange and I had to use a long drill bit to drill it out and use an easy out.

I haven't put it together yet but should have a torch available when I get ready to, I've thought of just washing it off, It'll need to be replaced either way but I'm simply hoping to buy a little time

 

[adsm08]

I had to use a tool like this to remove one of the broken studs. The other one was broken flush to the flange and I had to use a long drill bit to drill it out and use an easy out.

For a stud left is a head, with a threaded shank under the surface, this tool is wonderful. For Josh's situation I have found a hammer to be more useful.

 

[adsm08]

Yeah I could see that if i had a dozen or so but one scraggly moron such as myself with a single cruddy old cat seems a bit over the top. I'd have signed a form if needed. Heck this yard actually scans you drivers license when you drop stuff off.

Years ago we had a "cat burglar" situation like that at a Nissan dealership. Apparently Nissan's back then had bolt right on both ends of the cats. They got about 50 in one night.

During the big recalls on the Windstars where many of them were grounded for months waiting for rear axle beams and subframes a large dealership near where I worked had about 20 or 30 sitting on the lot grounded waiting for parts. One night some guys came in with torches and snagged all the cats they could, got at least one from each van.