marshallma0504
SHO Member
Hello all, I am back for yet another chapter in the rebuilt Detroit SHO saga. As some of you may know I have been documenting my journey through DIY’ing this car back to its former glory and so far have done brakes, fluids, wheels and tires, both turbos (front one twice) and the timing chains/water pump. And now we come to yesterday when I was enjoying my new alignment and the smooth engine with all new timing components and two new turbos when I noticed a surge in power in 2nd and then again in third. It almost felt like it wanted to bog down then recovered. A mile or so down the road, I get the CEL back on again. Took it to an auto parts shop, and I get P0430 permanent, and P0420 pending. After doing some research and feeling the temp difference between the turbo outlet and the post-cat exhaust, the turbo area is significantly warmer than the post cat exhaust after letting the car fully warm up I can touch the post cat exhaust on the rear bank. When I did the tear down on that bank I did see oily residue in the downpipe from the turbo failing. My question is, what’s the probability of a plugged CAT? Could the plugged rear and possibly front have contributed to my turbos failing due to back pressure on the seals? (My first front replacement only lasted 2 months before blowing the seals) and lastly (most important) does anyone have any downpipes they would be willing to sell? After all this $$$ on the timing and turbos I don’t have $1,200-$2,000 lying around to replace both cats. Any advice would be appreciated and I’m having the cats inspected by a mechanic next week to check if they are plugged and if not I’m probably just gonna go the route of MIL eliminators if those even work. I’ve heard they have from other forums.
