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 Clogged convertor?

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Ryan from Ohio
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PostSubject: Clogged convertor?   Sun Sep 20, 2009 10:53 am

I think the Cat Cov may be clogged, not 100% sure though.

Is there any way to know for sure or to test it?

Yesterday I was in Southern Ohio in the hills. As I was going up hills my speed would go down. We come to one and I had to FLOOR the car to maintain 45 MPH...

I know my N/A car isnt fast or furious, but this is ridiculous...

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PostSubject: Re: Clogged convertor?   Sun Sep 20, 2009 11:07 am

There is a test that involves some special tooling (basically a pressure gauge) that requires drilling a small hole in the pipe ahead of the Cat and pressures are measured cold and hot and at speed to determine if the cat is blocked.
The hole is then filled with a self tapping screw.
Usually the Cat's fail by not allowing airflow when hot and trying to accelerate under a load or at highway speeds. Which sounds like your symptoms.
BTW, the NA 3800 is a pretty impressive motor, lot's of torque and acceleration for a naturally aspirated motor.
I still prefer the SC, now that I own one. But before having an SC 3800 I was very impressed with the 3800. In general an excellent powerplant and most recently I lost my SC belt and drove the car for several days without the SC and it ran very good.
Now with the smaller pulley and some tuning it is most impressive for a mildly modified V6 engine.

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105# springs, MPS 3.4, DHP tuned by the Deekster.


Last edited by Rickw on Sun Sep 20, 2009 4:45 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Ryan from Ohio
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PostSubject: Re: Clogged convertor?   Sun Sep 20, 2009 3:44 pm

Ya Im going to take it out to a garage tomorrow and ask them about it.

I will probably have them just remove it and put a pipe on it. They will do it smile Probably for free or like $25 if I give them the cat converter...

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Rickw
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PostSubject: Re: Clogged convertor?   Sun Sep 20, 2009 3:49 pm

I was recently told that the CAT's aren't bringing the good money to the shops anymore. I don't know how true that is. The guy that told me that did some stainless welding for me on my exhaust and i was trying to barter with him for my old CAT and he wasn't interested in dropping his fee for the Cat.

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98 Riv, 102K Miles, EBC, LS1 Ft.Calipers, STB, Addco Rr Sway Bar, 180* stat., SSAC Headers, HF Cat, 1.9's,
105# springs, MPS 3.4, DHP tuned by the Deekster.
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LARRY70GS
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PostSubject: Re: Clogged convertor?   Sun Sep 20, 2009 4:29 pm

If you attach a vacuum gauge to the motor. You should see about 20" at idle fully warmed up in Park. Run the engine at about 2500 rpm for about 15 seconds. If vacuum drops during this period and does not increase when you close the throttle, you're almost certainly looking at a restricted exhaust.
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PostSubject: Re: Clogged convertor?   Sun Sep 20, 2009 4:46 pm

Thanks Larry,
I always forget just how useful a simple vacuum gauge can be for troubleshooting and diagnosing engine problems.

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105# springs, MPS 3.4, DHP tuned by the Deekster.
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LARRY70GS
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PostSubject: Re: Clogged convertor?   Sun Sep 20, 2009 5:27 pm

Rickw wrote:
Thanks Larry,
I always forget just how useful a simple vacuum gauge can be for troubleshooting and diagnosing engine problems.


Yup, got one permanently mounted in my 1970 GS455 Stage1, and the Riv has a vacuum/Boost gauge and oil pressure gauge where the Ashtray used to be.



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PostSubject: Re: Clogged convertor?   Sun Sep 20, 2009 5:31 pm

How easy or difficult is it to mount gauges in the ashtray area?
Does the ashtray door still work to cover the gauges.?
I'd like to put a couple of gauges in myself, specifically I'd like a vacuum / boost gauge and a voltmeter at least.

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98 Riv, 102K Miles, EBC, LS1 Ft.Calipers, STB, Addco Rr Sway Bar, 180* stat., SSAC Headers, HF Cat, 1.9's,
105# springs, MPS 3.4, DHP tuned by the Deekster.
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LARRY70GS
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PostSubject: Re: Clogged convertor?   Sun Sep 20, 2009 5:50 pm

Rickw wrote:
How easy or difficult is it to mount gauges in the ashtray area?
Does the ashtray door still work to cover the gauges.?
I'd like to put a couple of gauges in myself, specifically I'd like a vacuum / boost gauge and a voltmeter at least.



The ashtray and CD holders pop right out. They clip in as one piece. Nothing else holds them in. Just grab a hold of that whole piece and pull. It will come right out. The door works normally. I can cover the gauges and it looks stock. The door actually over closed without the ashtray there so I mounted a rubber bumper at each end. You can see them in the picture I posted. I had to cut out some of the plastic to mount an Autometer 2 gauge panel in that space. I used a few screws to hold the panel in. You can see them also in the picture.
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PostSubject: Re: Clogged convertor?   Sun Sep 20, 2009 8:36 pm

LARRY70GS wrote:
If you attach a vacuum gauge to the motor. You should see about 20" at idle fully warmed up in Park. Run the engine at about 2500 rpm for about 15 seconds. If vacuum drops during this period and does not increase when you close the throttle, you're almost certainly looking at a restricted exhaust.


Forgive my idiotness.

Where do I attach a vacuum gauge at?

A friend may have one I can borrow. Just need a little more detail on this step.

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LARRY70GS
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PostSubject: Re: Clogged convertor?   Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:26 am

Ryan from Ohio wrote:
LARRY70GS wrote:
If you attach a vacuum gauge to the motor. You should see about 20" at idle fully warmed up in Park. Run the engine at about 2500 rpm for about 15 seconds. If vacuum drops during this period and does not increase when you close the throttle, you're almost certainly looking at a restricted exhaust.


Forgive my idiotness.

Where do I attach a vacuum gauge at?

A friend may have one I can borrow. Just need a little more detail on this step.


There should be a tap on the intake manifold somewhere where you can attach a gauge. On the Supercharged engines, it's towards the back of the engine. It has a rubber cap on it. Shouldn't be that hard to figure out. When you remove the rubber cap, it will hiss from the vacuum created. Ask your friend with the gauge to show you.

You can see the tap in this picture

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/6730/img0132ol9.jpg
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PostSubject: Re: Clogged convertor?   Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:03 pm

LARRY70GS wrote:
There should be a tap on the intake manifold somewhere where you can attach a gauge. On the Supercharged engines, it's towards the back of the engine. It has a rubber cap on it. Shouldn't be that hard to figure out. When you remove the rubber cap, it will hiss from the vacuum created. Ask your friend with the gauge to show you.

You can see the tap in this picture

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/6730/img0132ol9.jpg


yay Thats my engine bay from way back when! Good ol' stock days...

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PostSubject: Re: Clogged convertor?   Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:13 pm

One way to test catalytic converter is to put car in neutral and rev the engine to the 3-4k range (when warm). According to GM:

"If the engine freely accelerates to higher RPM in Neutral, you can assume that the engine and the exhaust system are normal."

If there is any lag in getting into the upper RPMs, you might have a clogged cat.

If it were mine, I'd check transmission fluid level and color/smell immediately. Low or burnt fluid, or a failing trans, can cause the symptoms you're reporting.

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Ryan from Ohio
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PostSubject: Re: Clogged convertor?   Tue Sep 22, 2009 8:15 am

^ I will check that right now. Ive been intending on changing the trans fluid/filter but havent done it yet.

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PostSubject: Re: Clogged convertor?   Mon Oct 19, 2009 11:52 am

Ok, I havent done a thing with this car due to lack of money.

I thought about the transmission issue. While it may be possible, I still wonder. The car still doesnt run as smoothly as I think it should when in park or neutral.

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