If we could avoid any prosletizing in favor of empirical data: Is there anyone who HAS fitted test pipes to a 5.2 F355 or 360 (for whatever reason, perhaps legal off-road only use) who can positively say whether or not it has caused problems with Check Engine lights? Thanks.
Dear Ferraristi, What I have heard, the cat-fire thing is not just due to high milage. When I was doing the research on the Testarossa series before buying one, it was one of the constant red flags talked about.....Cavillino, Forza, Internet infomation. I personally prefer the cats on the car as I don't care for the smell and I like things proper but.....I couldn't ignore the flags. I still have the precats, do they really do anything? Shamile
Yes, although from what I understand, not to the degree of the cat. That said, you can get a tubi precat that is "gutted" for TRs for around $2100 (a little less then then tubi exhuast)
From experience. Yes it will trigger the MIL (check Engine Light). It triggers P0322 which is "catalytic temp below threshold" . The light triggers after about 40 miles of driving. This is nothing a 119 dollar OBDII scanner can't fix before every drive.
I think the risk is WAY overblown. The more I have learned and read about this, the more I think it is a rare event. And I am shocked that anyone would continue to drive a car that is running on 4 cylinders...think what other damage they are causing to the cylinder walls in the non firing bank....let alone the risk of fire. Having looked inside both a twin cat 308 cat, and a single cat 328, I see very little restriction in there.....
Itook the cats out in my 360 the light did not come on untill about 40 miles now it stays on i don't mind at all. the smell is not bad either but the sound is amazing and it really feels like the car has just woken up out of a deep sleep
I would be very happy to run with cats on my car if they were not "unobtainium," pricey and poorly designed. They look basically like an afterthought on carbed cars. I'm interested in Tubi test pipes for my 308 so I can preserve all the smog stuff that is no longer available. The car only sees 1.5-2k miles a year anyway. Has anyone mounted them on the 2-cat US carbed cars? The guy from Texas should get off this thread, stay on topic, and take your 0.02 and save it for a one-way ticket to Japan...and try life and car ownership there. I'm glad I never had such a hypocritical individual as a customer in my shop!
I installed the ones from www.durable1.com. You need to send him jpegs of each end of your existing cats (mounting flanges) as they differed a bit by year. Kermit will ensure that your test pipes will fit perfectly. If you do this, along with a K&N air filter, you will likely need to richen your main jets. The stock jetting is already lean, and improving the intake and exhaust will not help matters. Twin cat carb cars (78-79) have 125 main jets, so upping to 135 or 140's will help immensly(I had extensive dyno runs to figure out that 140's were best for my car). The sound is glorious as well.
Yes and no... As I understand it, the cat runs the hottest of the entire exhaust system. Once removed the overal temp running through the system decreases notably. Yes the muffler also is hotter, but does not come anywhere near to the cat in terms of operating temp, and thus is not as sig. a contributing factor. Also, if you switch to most aftermarket, it (muffler) will run even cooler. You experianced something very minor comparitively, now think if 4 times that (bank gone) occured. Again I do not advocate everyone running cat-less. But if you can in your area, I would suggest it.
Thanks Dave, I think I'll get in touch with them. I checked out the website briefly, and the pipes look like decent quality. It appears they have a port to thread in the thermocouple probe as well. PeterB.
