Pre-cat removal - no problem!

[tvrlee]

Morning all, thought that i would let you know how easy it was to remove my pre-cats.

I thought I would try it with the manifolds on the car, so I loosened the exhaust, remove the clamps on the 'Y' piece and removed it. When I took the 'y' piece off i turned it upside down because it rattled and the precats fell out of it, at least what was left of them anyway. I checked in the manifolds and found them to be completely clear. The remains of the precats are pretty badly damaged and one has about 80% missing, the other about 50%.

Whats worrying me now is where has it all gone and what damage has been done to the main cat? I think it may be a reason to fully decat the car, never mind!

Lee

[steve-V8s]

Just out of interest how many miles has the car done ?

[tvrlee]

The car is a 1994 400 and has done 59K miles, as far as I know this is genuine as I have a fair bit of history with it.

[That Daddy]

Dont panic,chances are it as done nothing to the maincat(easily checked with a torch & mirror)one of mine blew out on to the maincat and no harm done,differance is mine waited over 100k to change its scenery.

[Teetertank]

Have been contemplating removing pre cats so very pleased to hear it's not difficult, but I thought the precats are located in the header section of the exhaust, just after the four into one section, not in the Y piece it'self? Am I wrong here?

[dogbucket]

Teetertank said:

Have been contemplating removing pre cats so very pleased to hear it's not difficult, but I thought the precats are located in the header section of the exhaust, just after the four into one section, not in the Y piece it'self? Am I wrong here?

You are correct, and they dont usually just fall out unless damaged. Mine were manifolds off and 5 hours of bashing with a pry bar.

[Teetertank]

What about the "Y" piece removal? Is it difficult to remove, and do you need to remove any other bits to gain access, like cross members etc? Could you do the whole job in a day, and if the precats are still in their original place, do you think they could be extracted without removing the manifolds?

[spend]

Some seem to come straight out, others require the exhaust to be pulled back (if you just need to get the Y piece off, the exhaust can be slid back without removing the rear ARB IIRC) rear hangers, silencer plate and engine bracket need to be undone.

[tvrlee]

To get the 'Y' section out I had to release the exhaust brackets and drop the anti-roll bar down and slide the exhaust backwards, then undo the clamps that hold the 'Y'section onto the manifolds and lift it out, hardest bit was putting back again, it's allmost two handed but can be done on your own.

I was lucky in that i didnt have to remove the Lambda sensors at all, if you take these out you should be able to get the pre-cats out with the manifolds in place, as long as you are carefull of course.

Lee