Well as you may have read in a prior thread, I have the feeling my cat or muffler is clogged because the exhaust gets so hot, even when driving normal, the rear tire by the muffler feels hot to the touch. Well I took some pics to share...

Here is the muffler.. looks like its in decent shape for an 11 year old, no?




Ok, now this is what the exhaust looks like going into the muffler.. I have no idea if this is just some kind of heat shield putty or if its butt spackle.. if you know, do tell..




Now we come to the part that scares me. After taking the pics, I came back into the house and started looking at them on the PC.. something out of the corner of one of the pics caught my eye so I went back out to take a better pic and this is what I saw...


Ok, I'm not even sure what this is, I'm assuming its the heat shield around the main cat, but maybe not.. Either way, I'm sure there isn't supposed to be this greenish residue oozing from it.

Now I'm not sure if this stuff splashed onto the bottom of the car or what, but its not really anywhere else on the bottom of the car that I can tell so that alarmed me.

ANY IDEAS!?

 

I'm not sure if it's in your budget but, i would suggest just putting on a new exhaust system.
If not ,then I really don't know what to tell you except I can't see anywhere that green stuff would be coming from.

 

Your rear muffler is badly rusted on the outside. I would bet that the inside is rusted as well. It should be replaced.

I can't tell what you have on the bottom of your cat. You should clean it off, and try to figure out what it is. If it splashed on the car, don't worry about it. If it came from the car, you need to fix the problem.

 

Well its not really a question of being in the budget.. The problem is finding a reputable exhaust mechanic on this frickin' island. I'll probably have to get the muffler shipped from the states as it is. If there was such a thing as a bolt-on cat-back I'd order it and put it on myself. Is there?

 

Umm yes. Most cat-backs are bolt ons.

 

Most cat backs are bolt on, just do a high flow cat or midpipe(your preferance) and order a good cat back. You can install it yourself within an hour. No muffler shop is needed, its like 4 bolts.

 

Your system was a bolt on before someone put that "stuff" on it. The cat back bolts to the cat, which bolts to the pre-cat.

 

Ok just some info...

I don't have a precat.. my car came from Japan, its right-hand-drive.. It came with a stock downpipe (this is what i've been told on this board).

What "stuff" are you referring to? The heat shielding? as far as I know this car is totally stock.

I know a cat-back bolts to the cat, but will it bolt to MY cat is the question. I ask this because its a RHD car like I said and I don't know if the exhaust is oriented the same. Also, how many pieces does it come in because I have limits on the size of packages I can get. Would the boxes normally be less than 3' long?

Either way, any places online to look for a cat-back?

 

From the looks of the shielding and the bottom of your muffler, the previous owner hit bottom pretty hard...a couple of times. The "putty" definitely doesn't look factory, probably a temp fix to get the car sold. It might be leaking out toward your tire, causing that to heat up. You need an exhaust system. I can only talk from my experience ...I've had good luck with my Greddy single tip SP sport cat-back. As they go, it's not the cheapest, but stainless all the way and performs better than stock. It's also not too loud but IMO, sounds nice.

 

If I can find someone local who can do mandrel bending & welds, couldn't I just buy any aftermarket muffler that fits the car & have them custom make a cat-back for me?

 

Sorry, I don't remember how long the packaging was for my system, but it was probably alittle over the 3' limit.
Maybe if you talk to the vendor and explain your situation, there's a possibility they could repackage it for you somehow.

 

Get a straight-through (non-resonated) midpipe, and Racing Beat dual tip catback. You'll be all set then It'll be fun scaring all the monkeys out of the tree tops

 

you laugh but wouldn't a midpipe replace that huge block of a cat? what happens to the pipe for the air pump.. and is it recommended to do that for reliability?

 

Yes

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what happens to the pipe for the air pump..

Remove the air pump, get a 29 to 30 inch pulley belt, plug the secondary air inlet pipe that goes to your main cat

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and is it recommended to do that for reliability?

Yes. The new cat will clog again eventually--no worries with a straight-through midpipe. Of course you'll need a stand alone ECU to tune the AFRs back to 11, since you'll run lean without the requisite fuel mods You'll also need good boost control, since you will probably see some spiking with your current boost control setup (if it's stock). Did I mention that you'll gain 8 to 10% rwhp with a midpipe and additional fuel enrichment?

 

I believe that the PFS exhaust is a 2-piece design, with a flange right behind the muffler/canister. Most of the other ones like the Greddy's all are prob going to be over the 3' rule.

 

any pics of the PFS exhaust online? Price? What about the Greddy EVO or the Racing Beat single? Unfortunately I have to go by size & $$$..

 

I don't know if the right hand drive cars have different exhaust components. I suspect that they are the same. I suggest that you call racing beat. They should be able to provide what you need.