No cat can fit??

[TransAmPhantom]

Hello, my local mechanic (ASE/master tech) says i need to replace my cats. And i been trying to find some universal cats for a cheaper price since im planning to upgrade them when i do bolt ons and junk later. Says i CANT get a cat with more the overall length of 8 inches....so im sittin here like wtf. So i guess im stuck getting direct fits. And well i found some direct fits on ebay for 135 bucks and every other one is around 200+? if you look on ebay you will find them there. And i was figuring...if i have to buy cats for like 200-300 a piece for direct fits/.. (if those cheap ones are bad quality or something) then id prolly beable to get headers with a catted y pipe for around the same price. What do you guys think? Oh and a friend of mine told me the LT headers might scrape on my car. Its my DD, so i cant have them getting all busted up and junk. So what do you guys recommend overall?

[DIRTY JERZY]

how many miles?

theres an issue with the cats and the are covered for 80 thousand miles or somthing like that

[cammed goat]

If you get long tubes, make sure you get a set that will not hang low. Magnaflow makes replacement cats that can be welded in. I believe Pypes does too. Look for "spun" converters which are round instead of oval.

[Firebirdjones]

Sounds like a perfect oportunity to upgrade if you ask me.

I'd go with a set of long tubes and a catted Y-pipe if it were me.

I have pacesetter long tubes and off road Y's on both of our 4th gens and haven't had any issues with scraping. They are both at stock ride height however. I am also carefull where I drive it. Speedbumps are rather large out here, but I've cleared them without issues. I still avoid that stuff if I can though.

[cammed goat]

Hmmm...02 Trans Am eh? Yah, I agree with the LTs. I HATE THAT PANCAKE Y PIPE!!!

[sunsetorangess]

10 Years 120,000 miles free replacement at Stealership...

Subject:
Special Coverage Adjustment - Catalytic Converter Extended Warranty
# 05513 - (11/27/2006)

Models:
2000-02 CHEVROLET CAMARO
2000-02 PONTIAC FIREBIRD

EQUIPPED WITH 5.7L V8 (RPO LSI - VIN G) ENGINE

Condition

Some customers of 2000-02 Chevrolet Camaro and 2000-02 Pontiac Firebird model vehicles, equipped with a 5.7L V8 (RPO LSI - VIN G) engine, may experience a failure of the left or right catalytic converter.

Special Coverage Adjustment

This special coverage covers the condition described above for a period of 10 years or 120,000 miles (193,000 km), whichever occurs first, from the date the vehicle was originally placed in service, regardless of ownership. The repairs will be made at no charge to the customer.

Just curious but how did he diagnose faulty cats?
J

[TransAmPhantom]

10 Years 120,000 miles free replacement at Stealership...

Subject:
Special Coverage Adjustment - Catalytic Converter Extended Warranty
# 05513 - (11/27/2006)

Models:
2000-02 CHEVROLET CAMARO
2000-02 PONTIAC FIREBIRD

EQUIPPED WITH 5.7L V8 (RPO LSI - VIN G) ENGINE

Condition

Some customers of 2000-02 Chevrolet Camaro and 2000-02 Pontiac Firebird model vehicles, equipped with a 5.7L V8 (RPO LSI - VIN G) engine, may experience a failure of the left or right catalytic converter.

Special Coverage Adjustment

This special coverage covers the condition described above for a period of 10 years or 120,000 miles (193,000 km), whichever occurs first, from the date the vehicle was originally placed in service, regardless of ownership. The repairs will be made at no charge to the customer.

Just curious but how did he diagnose faulty cats?
J

Well the light kept going on for them and we checked the o2 sensors and junk. i found a guy that will just do a delete for me since we dont have emission laws. Now to find this "chip" or w/e that will keep the engine light from goin on...

[TransAmPhantom]

Sounds like a perfect oportunity to upgrade if you ask me.

I'd go with a set of long tubes and a catted Y-pipe if it were me.

I have pacesetter long tubes and off road Y's on both of our 4th gens and haven't had any issues with scraping. They are both at stock ride height however. I am also carefull where I drive it. Speedbumps are rather large out here, but I've cleared them without issues. I still avoid that stuff if I can though.

Really appreciate your input mate. I was considering catted y pipe but i found a place here in town to just do a delete. And tld me bout this thing that can keep the engine light from staying on as well. So to check that out.

[TransAmPhantom]

how many miles?

theres an issue with the cats and the are covered for 80 thousand miles or somthing like that

97k, just bought it 3 weeks ago. Freakin' costed me 1.5 grand to fuc*ing get it in running condition. Ran fine...till got home...regrettin trading my higher mileage 98 formy...but eh. Black leather interior and the oh so sexy dark blue exterior...hey at least it looks good park amirite?

[67CamaroRSSS]

Your car has an EEPROM PCM and doesn't use a "chip"....

If you don't need to pass smog don't bother with the cats and go direct to Long Tube headers and an Off Road Y-pipe (ORY).

[TransAmPhantom]

Hmmm...02 Trans Am eh? Yah, I agree with the LTs. I HATE THAT PANCAKE Y PIPE!!!

Me too. lol. Well hey do you know if removing the cats will harm anything? i have a...what we presume is magnaflow muffler. So is the back pressure alright?

[TransAmPhantom]

Your car has an EEPROM PCM and doesn't use a "chip"....

If you don't need to pass smog don't bother with the cats and go direct to Long Tube headers and and Off Road Y-pipe (ORY).

i know that,...i was just told of this chip that connects to the exhaust someway (ADD dont recall everything said) and that it will trick the computer into thinkin the cats (which are gone) are runnin fine. Just to keep the light off. Some people dont really care but it burnz my biscuits after awhile.

[67CamaroRSSS]

Back pressure? We doan need no stinkin back pressure!

Do track only cars have restrictive exhaust? The need for "back pressure" is an urban myth...

ICE is an aor pump: More in = More out = greater HP & Torque.

[TransAmPhantom]

Back pressure? We doan need no stinkin back pressure!

Do track only cars have restrictive exhaust? The need for "back pressure" is an urban myth...

ICE is an aor pump: More in = More out = greater HP & Torque.

Thanks for that info! Im a student starting my degree in automotive training in june so my knowledge is minimal. But i love to learn this stuff! Thanks a ton man/ma'am!

[67CamaroRSSS]

I'm a dude (well last time I looked I was - still gotta stand up to pee sooooo).

The rear O2 sensors are there to tell the PCM how well the cats are working. The front O2's tell the PCM what the A/F raitio is. I'd delete the rear O2's and have a tuner turn them off. The bad cat/rear O2 not seeing the correct level is probably what is setting the SES light off.

[0rion]

I would suggest you do some searches and read as much as you can about cats and exhaust in general. Decide on the direction you want to go before you do anything because you have several options. Like was said, your cats are still under warranty so you could get them replaced free. Another option is long tubes with cats (OBX sells a nice combo on ebay at a great price). Yet another option is to get rid of the cats altogether and run an offroad Y with long tubes. You have a few options for the SES light you'll get. Frost on here does mail order tunes where you pull your pcm and mail it to him and he'll get rid of those codes altogether plus tune the car where it'll run better and make a few more HP. His turn around is only a couple days and he charges $125 for that which is worth every penny IMO. Some of the handhelds programmers out there will let you turn the cat codes off but you have to shop around and make sure the one you buy has that feature because some, such as the diablosport predator, stopped giving access to those codes. Third option is to run simulators which plug into your harness where your O2's normally go and fool the pcm into thinking the cats are there and working. They're about $40 a piece (you'd need 2) and they're known not to be very durable. IMO your best bet is the first 2 options. If you were wanting to do the right thing environmentally I would get the OBX kit with their catted Y. If you're worried about the environment then go with an offroad Y. In either case I would recommend you send your pcm to Frost and have him tune for the headers for you and I would probably have him go ahead and kill those cat codes because even with aftermarket cats you can sometimes still throw those codes.

[TransAmPhantom]

I would suggest you do some searches and read as much as you can about cats and exhaust in general. Decide on the direction you want to go before you do anything because you have several options. Like was said, your cats are still under warranty so you could get them replaced free. Another option is long tubes with cats (OBX sells a nice combo on ebay at a great price). Yet another option is to get rid of the cats altogether and run an offroad Y with long tubes. You have a few options for the SES light you'll get. Frost on here does mail order tunes where you pull your pcm and mail it to him and he'll get rid of those codes altogether plus tune the car where it'll run better and make a few more HP. His turn around is only a couple days and he charges $125 for that which is worth every penny IMO. Some of the handhelds programmers out there will let you turn the cat codes off but you have to shop around and make sure the one you buy has that feature because some, such as the diablosport predator, stopped giving access to those codes. Third option is to run simulators which plug into your harness where your O2's normally go and fool the pcm into thinking the cats are there and working. They're about $40 a piece (you'd need 2) and they're known not to be very durable. IMO your best bet is the first 2 options. If you were wanting to do the right thing environmentally I would get the OBX kit with their catted Y. If you're worried about the environment then go with an offroad Y. In either case I would recommend you send your pcm to Frost and have him tune for the headers for you and I would probably have him go ahead and kill those cat codes because even with aftermarket cats you can sometimes still throw those codes.

id love to do headers and junk now but dont have the money to permit as ive come into a sudden situation with my house. But id love to do that tune but id rather have the headers and stuff on to make more of a difference. And i thought the warranty was to 80k miles? i have 97k.

[0rion]

id love to do headers and junk now but dont have the money to permit as ive come into a sudden situation with my house. But id love to do that tune but id rather have the headers and stuff on to make more of a difference. And i thought the warranty was to 80k miles? i have 97k.

warranty was extended to 10 years 120k miles for cats. Most dealerships aren't even aware of it so if they're not you have to ask them to look it up....it's there.

Sounds like that should be the way you go right now. Get free replacements and save your coins for the headers/tune down the road.

[TransAmPhantom]

warranty was extended to 10 years 120k miles for cats. Most dealerships aren't even aware of it so if they're not you have to ask them to look it up....it's there.

Sounds like that should be the way you go right now. Get free replacements and save your coins for the headers/tune down the road.

Dude you just saved me a ton of cash. Thank you!

[0rion]

cat warranty info

read post 13....cutlass has all the info you need there. Write the numbers down to take into the dealership with you as some dealerships are unaware of the extension.

Actually, I see sunset already has the info in this thread.....post 10.