any way of telling if my cat is clogged?

**johnwc723** · 05-31-2004, 10:22 AM

my car still gets reletively bad gas mileage ~22 or less city and i really have replaced like EVERYTHING that has to do with gas mileage minus the cat and the EGR valve, i was wondering if there is any way of telling if my CAT is clogged or i guess if my EGR is functioning properly

**86LXItooFAST4me** · 05-31-2004, 10:26 AM

just hollow it out, then it will never get clogged

**88accordhb** · 05-31-2004, 10:31 AM

no don't hollow it out...lol get a testpipe... seems like i've been promoting the test pipe idea for the last couple of days now. hehe.

**86LXItooFAST4me** · 05-31-2004, 11:04 AM

well that would be good but harder to get inspected.

**88accordhb** · 05-31-2004, 03:30 PM

that's why it's bolt on, so you can bolt the cat back for inspection. does wisconson have emission control?

**pixiesfan78** · 05-31-2004, 05:50 PM

when i got my accord trhee years ago the cat was clogged bad it ran like shit no power and it stunk like eggs or some wierd shit i had a new cat put on cause at the time i was in texas(emissions test hell).and the car ran like a dream. but i dont have emissions anymore(sweet).no more cat for me hehe.

**accorda20lxi** · 06-01-2004, 07:13 PM

drill a 3/8 hole in the exhuast in fron of the cat and see how it runs

**johnwc723** · 06-02-2004, 01:46 PM

heeh yeah wisconsin aint got no emmisons squat,
i was talking to a friend today which sparked my "cat intrest" even more, he said that on his old BLAZER he had a clogged cat and he was getting too high compression readings cause of back up, could that possibly be the reason for my knocking?

im pretty sure im gonna take that cat off for at least a little bit to see what happens, can garages check and see if its clogged?

**AccordEpicenter** · 06-02-2004, 02:01 PM

just hold your hand near the muffler and feel the exhaust coming out of it, and have someone increase the rpms and it should blow harder but if it doesnt or doesnt blow much at all then you might have a problem. I have seen honda cats completely plugged, and i have seen them with 250k miles and in perfect shape, it all depends

**k-roy** · 06-02-2004, 02:01 PM

ok to test a cat you need to do a backpressure test. Its a gauge that screws into the O2 sensor bung on the manifold. Start the car and take a reading. Any exaughst shop should be able to do this test and tell you if there is a clog in the system or not.

**86LXItooFAST4me** · 06-02-2004, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by 88accordhb

that's why it's bolt on, so you can bolt the cat back for inspection. does wisconson have emission control?

and its called a test pipe? what is it, just a hollow cat or what? ive never heard opf this.

**88accordhb** · 06-02-2004, 03:38 PM

yah it's a test pipe, meaning it's a pipe. lol like a just a pipe with the flanges of the stock catalytic converters on each end. this one is for an eclipse mine looks just like it...

justin86 made me one...i dont' know where he got the flanges from...maybe the junkyard. lots of guys just saw the hole cat off and weld on the pipe but we gots really strict laws in ca soo i have to be able to bolt it on and off. i forgot where i got this, but one easy way to test the cat is just to take it off and hold it up at the sun and look thru the honeycomb. if the sun is a dull figure and you can see it, then it's ok, if you cant even see the sun then the cat's got too much gunk in it. good luck, and id do the weld on testpipe if i lived in wisconson, despite of wat zero says about the environment.lol

**86LXItooFAST4me** · 06-02-2004, 06:27 PM

yeah, but that wont pass inspection, i thought that was what you were talking about. im goingt to see if i could just get a pipe to fit inside the cat and leave the surounding rock shit in it. sorta like that but with the cat around it. or mabe get on of those and weld the cat around it.

**customandsound** · 06-02-2004, 07:08 PM

cut it in half put a pipe in and weld it back up ...just like 86LXItooFAST4me ..... i have straight pipe ... and if the old chevy passed the emission so will my car !!!!!

**danronian** · 06-02-2004, 07:24 PM

I second the post that the only way to test if the CAT is clogged is to test the backpressure of the exhaust system.

**zero.counter** · 06-02-2004, 07:35 PM

With that test pipe, it will be extremely louder tha normal. Where is there emissions testing in texas? If you run rich most of the time, it will speed up clogging of the cat.

**88accordhb** · 06-02-2004, 08:13 PM

Originally Posted by 86LXItooFAST4me

yeah, but that wont pass inspection, i thought that was what you were talking about. im goingt to see if i could just get a pipe to fit inside the cat and leave the surounding rock shit in it. sorta like that but with the cat around it. or mabe get on of those and weld the cat around it.

well see, your missing the point. you leave the pipe on and when it's time for inspection, you bolt the cat back on...that way you will pass inspection...your idea of putting a pipe thru the cat is the same thing as a testpipe but it takes more work...sure when you get that thing inspected, you'll pass the visial but will fail the smog since you have a straight pipe where the honey comb is suppose to be(honeycomb is known as the catalyst. it converts toxic gas to nontoxic air)...from wat youre saying, it's like "let's do a testpipe but wrap it with a cat to make the pipe look like a cat" just have a bolt on pipe and run it until inspection and put your cat back on...i know it's more work then just having the stock cat, but it's worth it. plus, emission for me is once every 2 years...so i can have a test pipe for 2 years then just put my cat on for inspection...

**johnwc723** · 06-03-2004, 05:34 PM

is this an idea if i do find that my CAT is clogged and im a good environmental person http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW

or is that straight up shitty

**88accordhb** · 06-03-2004, 07:59 PM

don't know, no one has tried it yet, if you ganna get it then tell us how it goes.

**86LXItooFAST4me** · 06-04-2004, 09:38 AM

Originally Posted by 88accordhb

well see, your missing the point. you leave the pipe on and when it's time for inspection, you bolt the cat back on...that way you will pass inspection...your idea of putting a pipe thru the cat is the same thing as a testpipe but it takes more work...sure when you get that thing inspected, you'll pass the visial but will fail the smog since you have a straight pipe where the honey comb is suppose to be(honeycomb is known as the catalyst. it converts toxic gas to nontoxic air)...from wat youre saying, it's like "let's do a testpipe but wrap it with a cat to make the pipe look like a cat" just have a bolt on pipe and run it until inspection and put your cat back on...i know it's more work then just having the stock cat, but it's worth it. plus, emission for me is once every 2 years...so i can have a test pipe for 2 years then just put my cat on for inspection...

man that would suck haveing to switch out the cat once a year twice. im to lazy for that. thats one way of doing it.

Originally Posted by zero.counter

With that test pipe, it will be extremely louder tha normal. Where is there emissions testing in texas? If you run rich most of the time, it will speed up clogging of the cat.

they dont do a test but they do look to make sure there is one there.