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  #1  
Old 06-28-2011, 12:46 PM
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Exhaust questions or (My CAT is Loud)

So I took the SVX to a muffler shop about 3 weeks ago to have them see if they can patch up whatever ungodly hole there is that makes my car sound like every other 94 on the street lacking maintenance. He said the cat converter was bad and needed replaced because where it connects is shot.

Being I have 200k on this car, there is almost zero doubt in my mind it could use a new catalytic converter. However, he said they would use their own converters and weld it all together instead of using the gaskets.

Price was about $245 with labor and parts, he said. My concern is after market converter. I'm afraid that they'll just be throwing in whatever and end result will either be crap performance or other issues popping up because it's not OEM.

I almost did it... until he showed me the back end of my exhaust where it connects to the muffler and wiggled it around saying "that's all junk". Now, I'm not sure what he meant other then he followed with how he would cut and weld it all together but that sounds like just more problems to me and to say the engineers at Subaru created junk (not the metal but how it is connected) from some shop guy scares me, so I passed.

1. Would I be better off going with a more modern cat oppose to OEM?
2. Would issues arise going Non-OEM maybe?

Another shop said it was just the gasket (fine) but the gaskets cost upwards of $70, which doesn't surprise me plus $100 for the labor. For that much money I would think I could apply it at doing better overall instead of just patching stuff?

Any ideas/suggestions?
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  #2  
Old 06-28-2011, 01:28 PM
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Re: Exhaust questions or (My CAT is Loud)

I would say go for it. On my last 96 I had shot cats that I replaced with cats from a 3.8 Mustang. Worked great, freer flowing and more fun
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  #3  
Old 06-28-2011, 04:28 PM
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Re: Exhaust questions or (My CAT is Loud)

Hey Clint, whenever you come up here to pick up the laguna, I could take you to a shop by my buddy's place in Rockford. They took out the main cat, let me keep it for scrap (got about $45) and just put in a y-pipe and replaced some piping leading up to the pre-cat's for $70 total($70-45=$25 total cost to me in the end ). Might be something to look into. The main cat converter is not completely necessary on the SVX on OBD1 cars since they don't have the 3rd o2 sensor.
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Old 06-28-2011, 05:00 PM
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Re: Exhaust questions or (My CAT is Loud)

Nice, that sounds like a good plan actually... especially since it's under $100!
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Old 06-28-2011, 05:19 PM
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Re: Exhaust questions or (My CAT is Loud)

In my experience, if your cat is too loud, you should squirt water at it so that it shuts up or just toss it outside

Quote:
Originally Posted by 1986nate View Post
The main cat converter is not completely necessary on the SVX on OBD1 cars since they don't have the 3rd o2 sensor.
*As long as you don't have to worry about passing emissions in your state.

A y-pipe should be a lot cheaper than a new cat and couldn't hurt performance either.
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Old 06-28-2011, 06:30 PM
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Re: Exhaust questions or (My CAT is Loud)

Yeah, emissions could be an issue depending on where you are, but some cars are even able to pass without the main cat when there are pre-cats. I'm guessing the SVX wouldn't though.

It sure helped the low end torque on the laguna after I got it repaired. Pretty comparable to having the stock cat in there, and if there is a change in performance (torque curve, etc), you sure wouldn't notice it.
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Old 06-28-2011, 07:03 PM
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Re: Exhaust questions or (My CAT is Loud)

GET one of these . eliminate the flange and gasket . works great passes emissions
http://magnaflowperformanceexhaust.e...e.php?cat=1604
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Old 06-28-2011, 07:32 PM
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Re: Exhaust questions or (My CAT is Loud)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Conn SVX View Post
GET one of these . eliminate the flange and gasket . works great passes emissions
http://magnaflowperformanceexhaust.e...e.php?cat=1604
Wow.
All of those would need to be adapted/or welded.
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Old 06-29-2011, 11:55 AM
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Re: Exhaust questions or (My CAT is Loud)

Quote:
Originally Posted by 1986nate View Post
Yeah, emissions could be an issue depending on where you are, but some cars are even able to pass without the main cat when there are pre-cats. I'm guessing the SVX wouldn't though.
Although I have a sample size of 1, my old 96 never had a problem with emissions. We put on the 3.8 cats and replaced the center cat with a Y pipe. Then all the pipe back as far as the muffler was replaced. Being a '96 it was OBD2 but still passed emissions every time.

Having said that, there is an exemption for emissions in federal guidelines for the 96 model year because the emissions computer loses its tracked information when the engine is shut off. This means that it's technically never ready to have the emissions information read and thus gets an automatic pass so long as the CEL isn't on. The 97's I can't speak to, but I had some faffing around with the EPA when I had my 96 inspected earlier this year and thus came up with all that exemption information. Had to get the EPA to make a statewide exemption for all 96 SVX's
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My Rides:
Red 1996 SVX LSi (Saffron)
2007 Yamaha FJR1300 (Kaitlin)

Previously owned; green '95 L AWD (sold), black/pearlie '94 LSi (too many problems), Polo Green '96 SVX LSi (apparently notThe end of an era)

Member #2 in the Yahoo! club, been here since the beta-testing days. In dire need of a cheaper hobby.
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