cats and exhaust
 

Hi all
I went to my mechanic for a quick exhaust check, my exhaust line is full of little holes, even the muffler itself, and I have the feeling that the cats are clogged like crazy.
Would that cause my car to accelerate poorly in general, but mostly when cold?Because when it's warmed up, it's not so bad, I can live with that.

Also, I'm thinking of having a custom exhaust made for me, and only have a single, straight through muffler at the end, would that hinder the car in any way?

Re: cats and exhaust
 

All cars accelerate slower before they are warmed up, as engine management only gives the most efficiency after normal operating temp is reached. Also with older engines, the piston rings seal better and give better compression after the heat has expanded the engine parts. Id suspect more of a sensor such as the coolant temp sensor. If your exhaust has holes before the o2 sensors...that will make it run too rich and hurt your acceleration after it has warmed up.

For the exhaust...you want to run just a straight ricer muffler out of the rear instead of the straight to dual setup?

Re: cats and exhaust
 

pretty much, unless you could give me advise on how to make more power with this car!

Re: cats and exhaust
 

Theres an interesting FAQ about the SVX that covers that in my signature ("Required reading for SVX owners HERE"). Just scroll up to the top and read all the way down. If youre going to put money into the exhaust, why not do a true dual setup? Aside from forced induction, I think thats the best way to improve acceleration on the SVX's without tearing out the whole interior or swapping differentials.

Re: cats and exhaust
 

I don't want to put too much money on the exhaust, but I was thinking that a size of 2' 3/4 and a single muffler couldn't be any worse than the single muffler on my (freshly sold)Maxima. Although the exhaust manifolds are not designed the same way, they both still reunite somewhere ...
the only difference between my actual setup on the svx and what I want to do to it, is that the muffler itself is divided , and I want just one outlet.

thanks for the link, but it's not displaying anything for me..

Re: cats and exhaust
 

Crap, the site must be down.....

It should be pretty straightforward to have a single outlet..... you would just cut out the 1-2 split muffler and put in a regular straight muffler..... the only thing is the rear skirt is set up for dual pipes..... might look a little hokey with just one.

Re: cats and exhaust
 

I'm missing one chrome tip anyway so I don,t really care...I'll cut through the plastic to install the rice cooker..

Re: cats and exhaust
 

Hi Chris, Just about anything you do to the exhaust system will effect the power output. The SVX has a "tuned" exhaust. The little "muffler" after the cat is a resonator. Without that, your performance will take a hit. If its already leaking along with the rest of the exhaust ypu are losing power. If all you want to do is keep from getting carbon monoxide poisoning, you can do what ever you want. Take care, BOBB

Re: cats and exhaust
 

thanks for the advise, but My name is Jason lol,
yeah the resonator has been deleted by the previous owner,so that's a non-issue, but it's leaking EVERYWHERE along the line, the job was done very poorly, and I can smell the fumes everytime I push the car on the highway.
I'll go with the simplest, most straighforward system.I have a feeling the cats are clogged, but the car doesn't smell of sulfur at all...

Re: cats and exhaust
 

if you want more power, install a NOS kit...not the drink ~

Re: cats and exhaust
 

My opinion is that kind of power is a worthless waste.
I prefer steady and continuous power over a short burst of a stuff you run out of after a few shots and then you lose anyway.
My goal here is to make the car run fine.
But thanks for you input!

I'm quite the diplomat

Re: cats and exhaust
 

If the cats are clogged, your gas mileage will suffer greatly and eventually, the motor will not run at any higher rpms than idle-It will stall out from back pressure...

Re: cats and exhaust
 

Okay, well for now, the cars revs fine..but the line looks like swiss cheese, it's not any better...what could it be then? Why is the car surging under heavy acceleration, like it suddenly gives all it has? I don't have misfire, just a plain choked up acceleration. I have to find the problem, or I'll just change the motor

Re: cats and exhaust
 

clogged injector?

as for exhaust. put a stebro on, i had one of those..they sound great ~

Re: cats and exhaust
 

I'm also thinking it could be electrical as all the lights come up intermittently on the dash, messing with my fuel and temp guages...bad grounds, I don't know..
but given that I've sold my 98 Maxima, the svx is my daily driver now. I have a figgin van as well, but hey, every man needs a toy. I can't see my self driving only a van every day lol

I love the SVX and I want to make it run better is all.