[blackwaterstout]

I have an 2005 V6 with 115k miles. I've had problems with P0430 and P0420 codes for over a year now and have managed to get by with using the spark plug extenders in my O2 banks to kill the SEL codes. Unfortunately the performance of the truck is quite poor now. My fuel efficiency is terrible (14 mpg) and I just don't have the power and throttle response that the truck should have. I towed 2,500lbs 200 miles the other day and the truck performed poorly. Before I would have barely noticed the load but now it felt like the truck was struggling.

So I've decided to bite the bullet and fix things. I've looked into replacing the cats myself and it appears to be a pain in the butt due to poor access and 12 year old rusty bolts. I've not received a quote on replacement but I'm sure it's pretty steep.

One thing that I've thought about is getting rid of the cats. I live in a state with no emissions inspections. So I could just run straight pipes or headers.

Have any of you tossed out your cats and ran straight pipe? If so how do you handle issues related to the O2 sensors? Are their off the shelf replacement pipes or headers you can recommend?

 

[AFguy05]

I got a quote to replace from the headers to the tail pipe with OEM equipment. $1,400 and that was the friend price. The factory cats are pricey.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dark Night 18]

Go with Walker direct replacements. They cost about 1/3 the price of oem . I've been using mine for the past 60,000 miles.

 

[AFguy05]

Go with Walker direct replacements. They cost about 1/3 the price of oem . I've been using mine for the past 60,000 miles.

That's the route I was thinking of taking. I just haven't pulled the trigger yet. My truck has been throwing those cat codes for a while.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[blackwaterstout]

I just priced out the walker parts at Amazon and they aren't that bad. About $640 total for all 4 cats. I assume that since the walker primaries have heat shields that would be sufficient in the event that I destroy the existing shields during removal (which sounds highly likely). My biggest concern is just not being able to get the old cats off considering they are 12 years old. I have Kroil and can hit them over the next few weeks as long as needed.

Does the walker units come with all the necessary hardware like flange bolts? I assume the gaskets wont come with them but curious about bolts?

Do you guys use anti-sieze when reinstalling?

 

[blackwaterstout]

The good news after getting a better assessment tonight is that I was able to remove the heat shields without breaking any bolts. Not bad for a 12 year old truck from the mid Atlantic area. I was able to move the drivers side shield far up out of the way to get reasonable access to the cat bolts on the front side. I hit them good with Kroil and will hit them again tomorrow. They look pretty good. The back side bolts of the primary cats are terrible. They will need cut off most likely. On the passenger side I was able to unbolt the shield but it has virtually no free play due to the design. I moved it enough to spray the front side bolts but I'll likely have to tear it up to gain access to the bolts.

I may end up replacing the entire exhaust from the manifolds back. I found a hole in the pipe that crosses from drivers side to muffler near the U-bolt.

I can see this being an all day pain in the *** project. But I am really seeing the negative effects of plugged cats.