Exhaust Downpipe and Cat 1992 W124 Coupe

[hitt]

Hi,

I need some advice regarding the replacement of the exhaust downpipe and Catalytic Convertor on my 1992 230CE. My Cat seems to have given up, symtoms include a rattle on reving the engine over 2000 rpm, and I can't get it to rev over 3000rpm at all. So I am assuming some kind of breakdown in the cat which is also causing a serious restriction to the exhaust gas flow.

What I am considering is replacing the downpipe with one without a Catalytic convertor. Since the car does not require a Cat as far as I am aware due to its age. Hopefully I will see better fuel economy and an increase in performance.

What I need to know is what I require to do this. Is the downpipe pipe on the coupe quite standard? Also I assume that there are sensors in the Cat, what happens to these if the Cat is removed?

Any advice or comments on this would be much appreciated

Many Thanks!

 

[190]

You are right you don?t need a cat. Why don?t you take of your down pipe and clear out the ceramic of the cat and then refit it you wont have any restriction on the flow through the exhaust and it won?t cost you any money

 

[hitt]

My busted Cat

Thanks 190, that was one option I was already considering. How easy is this to do? Just a few knocks with a hammer to break it up inside, or is there a better method?

Any ideas on a good place to go in West London for a new down pipe if I go down the road of replacing it altogether?

 

[190]

The best way is remove the cat and fit something in the pipe and knock out the ceramic. Try www.eurocarparts.com to get a down pipe but removing the ceramic is easy.

 

[hitt]

Problem solved!

I managed to find out what caused the problem with my Cat. On my exhaust downpipe there are two filters (possibly pre-Cats of some kind) mate of aluminium. One of these filters managed to shoot down the exhaust and smother my Cat . . the poor Cat didn't stand a chance. It wasn't cracked etc, but completely blocked up. I broke out the cermamic and also removed the remaining 'pre-cat' filter to make sure that the exhaust runs evenly.
On refitting the engine revs a lot more freely due to the derestriction.

In an ideal situation should I have the car re-tuned or ECU remapped since I have removed the Cat. I assume everythign is currenly setup with the assumption that the Cat is in place?

I did actually buy a replacement downpipe and Cat from GSF, but they didn't seem to stock one which they could guarantee would fit my car. After unwrapping it, I found it had a single entry and dual exit from the CAT, since I wasn't in the mood of changing my current exhaust system (single pipe from the Cat back) to suit I gave it back the next day.
They do also supply a downpipe without a Cat, does anyone know if this would be suitable for my car. They could not guarantee it at the time.

Thanks

 

[landover]

If you have cleared the blockage and the old pipe is in good codition i would leave it as it is.