so today after attempting to rid my car of the cats and make my own exhaust i realized that the car was really really loud!!! but when adding in the exhaust we realized it was 1 in the morning and decided to quit and take her for a spin. but we never had time to add the pick up tupe that was hooked to the cat. so while test driving i noticed that there was no sort of power loss
now my question is wouldnt i be encountering a power loss since my aux ports were not working with the new exhaust. and is it possible that they never worked.
in the morning ill add my cats back on there and test the ports. but just kinda curious

 

Well if you have an s4, that holds true. However on the s5's they are controlled via the airpump,acv,and ecu, not the exhaust.

If it is an s4 you have, the 5/6th's could of been stuck in the first place to begin with, its not uncommon. Best way to check is to remove the actuators and try to move the linkage by hand and see how freely it moves. They are usually all carboned and gunked up....

 

The backpressure method sucks for activating the ports on S4s. Mine did not work for years before I realized it. Go with the RPM switch, solenoid & air pump method of activation (like an S5), or get a very small diameter tube welded onto the header. With a small diameter and some bends in the new pick up tube, hopefully enough pressure will build to push the actuators open.

 

well i dont have a header yet. but on the exhaust pip i hav e now thats what i was planning on doing. hopefully it'll work. it was just hard to get the right sized pipe at one in the morning