Ok so my cat is bad. I called a muffler shop today and found out that my car has two cats. The gentleman I talked to said he would test them and let me know which one needs to be replaced. But he also said alot of the time they will just upgrade to a single cat that is bigger and that would be my best route.

Is he just trying to get more money from me?
Or is this what needs to be done?
Is it better to replace both?

 

Do you have to pass emissions there?

 

if you dont have emissions testing then just go to a straight pipe. otherwise, yea, upgrade to a high-flow single cat. but dont get it from the muffler shop. some peeps on here have high-flow cat setups. its' cheaper to go aftermarket.

 

I'd say get rid of them both, but you live in oregon where they probably make you pass an emissions test?
still, one cat sounds better than two to me. and is probably cheaper.
or you could upgrade to one of those high flow units (random tehcnology makes them I think)

Good Luck, Alex

 

So you say not to use a muffle shop to get this replaced.
Were should we get it done? Is this something we can so at home? We don't have a welder.

 

search the net..... try places like rx7.com / uhh i dunno, lol i order everything off of here or racing beat. hahahah. just take the cat to the muffler shop and only have him put it on. will save you money. you could probably get one that just bolts on. then you could really do that yourself.

 

I don't have a welder either

If I where you I would buy an after market cat, and then take it to a muffler shop to have it installed.

 

just get a whole new exhaust off racing beat if you plan to do it in the future why not do it now while it's calling out?

 

Single-replacement cats *are* a viable and smog-legal replacement for multi-component cats.

Just make sure it has a good warranty. Aftermarket cats have a poor track record behind rotaries.

Flipping through the converter book at work, I noted that there are some stainless steel core converters that are marketed for heavy duty applications like police cars and taxicabs. This might be a question to ask the exhaust shop. They probably cost a lot more but they shouldn't melt down/break up like the cheaper units.

WRC cars use stainless steel core converters, and they have to live behind antilag systems! (basically post-engine combustion to spin the turbo up, VERY hard on everything exhaust related) Then again their converters are basically like packingless glasspacks, with the inner tube coated with catalyst, no "brick". (You *could* buy one, but they're about as expensive as a stock converter and they are converters in name only, they don't do much to actually clean the exhaust)