Replace the Cats!

How about the condition of the catalytic matrix inside the precats? Same, better, worse, or had they already been "hollowed out"?

 

Yes, but your pictures are of the matrix inside the cats (not the precats) -- there should be a similar catalytic structure inside the precats -- or are your precats "empty".

 

Makes sense (that it was already emptied) as the precat suffers even more being first, and closer, when something goes wrong (or is mal-adjusted) A/F-wise.

 

First thing I did when i got my testarossa was get the Hyperflow Pre-Cat pipes. Then get a pair of straight pipes also. Got rid of all 6 cats. One of the main cats was actually broken when i removed it. Also took out the EGT sensors. Car is lighter, runs cooler and looks much better. It is registered as a classic so I dont deal with inspection or emissions. Highly recommend ditching all the cats depending on your registration.

 

I got rid of them completely - both precats and cats, now running a straight test pipe to a Tubi. The sound is awesome!

Car is registered as Historic
No emissions testing


Sent via itty bitty electrons

 

A cat melted that badly is an indicator of a poorly running car. Figure out why your TR is running bad, before putting new converters on it. You obviously have an over rich condition that needs to be addressed. It does not appear from the picture to be a lean melt down. That is a hazard, and we are glad you caught it before the car melted to the road.

Have fun!!

 

Quick question - how high do you need to jack the rear up to get the exhaust out to check? I don't have a scissor lift (yet!) and was thinking of adding this project to my winter project list, but not if it can't be done with just the regular car jacks.

Thanks!

 

why not just use 2 wooden blocks to drive the car reverse on?
much more secure than the original jack

 

To prevent the rear window cracking here you can see how you can safely jack-up your TR !

 

LOL yeah I've read the rear-window-cracking-from jacking thread, that's why I use my jack from my other car as well; one on each side. I crank one side up 5 or so turns, and then run over to the other side and crank that up too! I wish I were handy with welding equipment!

But how far does the car need to be jacked up to remove the exhaust? 18 inches? More?

 

Not very high Joe. Do you want the entire exhaust out? Or just the cats? If you want the full exhaust out you need to remove the bumper first. Then the car doesn't need to be very high. Just so you are comfortable to work Under it.

 

Joe, when the rear wheels are off the ground about an inch......thats plenty of room to get the exhaust off.

 

Totally agree. I had the same thing on mine, one of my cats turned out to be melted. I took it to Ferrari of San Francisco and indeed one bank was way off, they rebalanced the engine with their 4-gas-analyzer and I replaced the main cats with high flow and pre-cats delete. One of the symptoms also was that the car was closer to stalling (sometimes actually stalling) when coming to a stop.

Don't just replace the cats, rebalance the engine along with it.

 

Does your car still pass CA emissions with the precats deleted?

 

I actually don't know! I moved to Europe less than a year later and took the TR in my suitcase so I actually never had to face the California smog test. It passes smog tests here, but they might not be as strict for an older car. I keep on hearing that a TR can pass CA emissions even without cats or precats as long as it is well tuned. But in my case I haven't had a chance to find out.

 

It will pass a tail pipe test but not a proper visual inspection.

 

I have my exhaust off at the moment and peeked inside the pre cats. Steve is this the catalytic matrix you are describing? I found this in the 7-12 bank pre cat the 1-6 had nothing in it.
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No, that's the steel wool packing that acts as a mounting "cushion" between the ceramic matrix and the precat outer case -- pull it all out.

 

wow that's not good at all. Once you pull it out I think you will have to readjust the idle mixture. Is that correct?