sdpatt
Sr. SHO Engr.
Pulling into the garage today I heard the distinct clanking rattle of a catalytic converter gone bad. Even my wife heard it inside the house and asked me what it was. On the way home, I had noticed a different note to the exhaust and a big drop in available power. I have been through this before with the SHO Shop Y-pipe where both cats were dead. I was disappointed that it may have happened again to the Performance Plus Y-pipe.
I called one of the few muffler guys in the area that can do MIG welding on my all stainless exhaust system. He had repaired a broken weld for me before. He took my ailing SHO in at 5:00pm. We found two chunks of ceramic doing a very good job blocking the exhaust flow. One at the exit of the rear bank cat and the other at the entrance to the resonator in the Borla cat-back.
The chunk was removed from the cat-back by lowering and shaking the pipe. The cat was cut out and replaced with a Mustang GT targeted hi-flow cat. The engine was returned to its free-breathing best.
The photos below are of the old cat and the chunks and dust that came out of it and the exhaust piping. A closer look at the cat showed that it was most likely the victim of a road debris impact. There was a noticeable dent on the bottom of the casing along with a series of scratches that may have come from contact with part of the road.
Since the SHO is still running at 255,117 miles after three separate cats have turned to marbles and dust, it may be another piece of data that says the cat dust does not get sucked back into the engine. At least not on the 3.0L that does not have the exhaust gas recirculation system.
Happy to be back on the road,
Scott
I called one of the few muffler guys in the area that can do MIG welding on my all stainless exhaust system. He had repaired a broken weld for me before. He took my ailing SHO in at 5:00pm. We found two chunks of ceramic doing a very good job blocking the exhaust flow. One at the exit of the rear bank cat and the other at the entrance to the resonator in the Borla cat-back.
The chunk was removed from the cat-back by lowering and shaking the pipe. The cat was cut out and replaced with a Mustang GT targeted hi-flow cat. The engine was returned to its free-breathing best.
The photos below are of the old cat and the chunks and dust that came out of it and the exhaust piping. A closer look at the cat showed that it was most likely the victim of a road debris impact. There was a noticeable dent on the bottom of the casing along with a series of scratches that may have come from contact with part of the road.
Since the SHO is still running at 255,117 miles after three separate cats have turned to marbles and dust, it may be another piece of data that says the cat dust does not get sucked back into the engine. At least not on the 3.0L that does not have the exhaust gas recirculation system.
Happy to be back on the road,
Scott
