My cats are broken! I think...

[MarineSNiper217]

1999 Ford Explorer 4.0L V6 SOHC AWD 4dr

Ok, so heres my problem... I seem to have had my catalitic converters gone bad... Theres an annoying metallic rattling sound coming from underneath. sounds like its from the cats. Does this mean they have to be replaced? a friend told me to take them off, and hollow them out to get rid of the loose stuff. Can I do this? With the cats having this problem, could it cause:

1. poor acceleration
2. seeming misifre
3. stalling/sputtering
4. a large clunking (kinda like a wrench hitting something) when in that passing gear thing
4. loud exhaust (like a modified V8 without doing anything)

 

[schmidlkofer]

cut them off....hit them with a hammer see what comes out....and if nothing get new ones or take them off.

 

[Halfnuts]

you may be able to get under there with a mallet (rubber or wood) and tap the cats, see if there's a residual rattle.
Go to a mechanic and get a quick diagnostic. If the cats are truly bad, it should be throwing a code from the downstream O2 Sensor- do you have a check engine light on?
If not, I hate to say it, but you just might have a bad set of timing tensioners.
Best of luck to you- hope it's only the cats.
~Ken

 

[MarineSNiper217]

Check engine light is off... And there was originally some codes for a V8 exhaust in there, but please note I drive a V6 so how those codes got there are beyond me and my mechanic. Tapping them whyle they are off... should'a done that lol. But I'll take it to a muffler guy later today I guess...see what he says. The actual code readers didnt pull up anything after he fixed a misifre on #5 cyl. So muffler shops only one who would probably know

 

[Curtis]

This reminds me of when I was in highschool and a friend of mine was driving a Chrysler Dynasty he picked up for a grand. after a couple weeks it had this rattle like there was a nickle in the cat...

we used a grinder and cut a 3 sided hole in the cat and bent it back... right where we cut was a baffle that had let go some how.. it dropped out, and I welded up the cat...

rattle gone..

 

[mynameisaric]

I have the same problem and i know its not my timing chain tensioners. the motor was replaced about 8k miles ago with the updated tensioners. it is quiet an annoying little rattle. i'm about to take the cat off and shake it pretty good and hope something falls out. but those exhaust bolts are a painnnnn!

 

[Gadget X]

It could also be the heat shields that are loose, and rattling around. I had that happen on my '94.

 

[Mic_]

It could also be the heat shields that are loose, and rattling around. I had that happen on my '94.

ditto that...check the heat sheilds...
could put a big band clamp aroung them to check..

It you hollow them out you may get an unexpected increase in fuel mileage...so be careful

 

[MarineSNiper217]

Not the heat shields lol, I removed them alrady weeks ago.... I took it to a muffler shop, and he lifted it up. The closest cat had a dent in it, and he said its probably cracked all inside. Im tying to remove my muffler, and the pipes are stuck together...any ideas? its where the muffler pipes clamp together with the Cat pipes... I got the clamps off...but its stil stuck...

 

[Halfnuts]

Still Stuck? You need a way bigger hammer, my friend.

 

[MarineSNiper217]

lol, originally, yeasterday... I emptyed(sp?) a can of WD-40 on it, and took a rubber mallet to it. Nothing so I upgraded to a iron like hammer. Beat it untill the pipe started flattening out. Still nothing. All of the rust AROUND them have come off. and the insides are not going to budge... Im taking the muff off to relieve pressure on the engine, its backfireing and stalling out a little. what all holds the muffler on to the car? the brackets on the back of it have alrady snapped off on their own. right now, all I can tell, is the bracket on the back pipe is the only thing holding the muffler up. The way it set up, im just waiting till the muffler falls out of the pipes on its own... lol or loosens hopefully. is there a trick to unsticking them? without using a blow torch?

 

[Halfnuts]

angle grinder or a dremel sounds like your best bet- getting a cutting torch under a truck in the driveway was never something I could do comfortably.
though if you're brave, you could heat the bolts/joints with a soldering torch and then spray on a *less* flammable lube on it- sometimes the capillary effect is all it takes.
Good luck

 

[UKExploder]

Don't want to use a torch? Get yourself a cheap hacksaw & cut them off that way, it's really very little manual labor.

 

[MarineSNiper217]

lol, im not taking oit off perminatly, just till I get new cats. Theres way too much backpressure, and releaving the system of the mufler should let most out.

Can the ceramic in the cats eventually come out? Because today it seemed considerably quieter actually...after some....hard driving....last night

 

[UKExploder]

*sniffle* .....cats are broken.......

Did you realize catalytic convertors can plug up enough to make it real hard on the engine?? This is why people used to dispose of them......








:exp:

Al P.

 

[MarineSNiper217]

lol yes...i know this....but if there is no backpressure from either the cats...or the muffler, then the engine cannot run... For this I dont know why.

I lets say....drove it....pretty hard....multiple times Sat night... it runs a little smoother now and dosent rattle as much lol.

 

[aeaglenfitch]

i had the same problem, i was so sure it was the cats, so was everyone else but 1 day i got under there and started hitting the cat with my hand and traced the rattiling back to 1 of the heat shields on the pipe right before it goes into the muffler, the welds broke loose and it sat there and rattled, i found some wire and tied it up, havent had a problem since. seriously, check it.

 

[mynameisaric]

Will today or tomorow. thank you.

 

[aeaglenfitch]

let me know