Went Mienike Muffler to try and get a 3" crack repair on my left cat. The crack is right next to the factory weld. They said they couldn't braze/weld it and wanted to sell me a new exhaust, on just the left side, for $1950. Said hell no! I can't find anyone, with welding skills, to braze a small crack. I guess I'll do a high temp exhaust wrap on it. If not how about exhaust epoxy? Anyone have any experience with either one of these methods or suggestions for repairing? Thanks

 

Sounds like BS, I had same problem and welded it myself years ago. That converter is still on my car and continues to work just fine. Try another exhaust/muffler shop.

 

Maybe stay away from chain places. Try to find a local bender shop or radiator repair shop. I have also seen guys on craigslist that advertise for small weld jobs.

 

Yes, go to a small shop. Be sure to disconnect the battery and short the wires together before any on car welding.

 

I went to two small shops and neither wanted to do it. I have a limited amount space to move around, under my car, when it's up on driveway ramps. ( Imagine a beached whale trying to get under a foot bridge at high tide! ) Soooo I tried the wrap method and failed. What a mess of the tape sticking to everything and trying to put on a flat surface and rounding off to a curved surface. No worky! Next I sanded all around the cat's cracked weld and used a 2400 degree metal epoxy. Now I have to wait 4-5 hours, or maybe overnight, to see if I did any good.

While under the car I changed the steering damper which was slap worn out!

 

Tomorrow I'll file/grind/sand making more smooth and add another layer of epoxy over it. The crack was worse than I thought once I had sanded the metal clean. The crack is in the middle of the weld and is about 6-7" long. This, of course, a temporary fix until I can find a used one or a new one as last resort. Anyone have a used one to sell to me???

 

It did seal the leak "for now!" Don't know for how long this will last and hope I can find a "reasonable" used catalytic converter. The crack in the weld is about half way around the circumference. After driving around this morning I noticed the "Check Engine" light came on! Checked all my fluid levels and they are good. Now I wonder what's up with that!

 

I guess if, push came to shove, I could do one of two things. Either cut off the cat and take it to a welding shop or remove the whole exhaust on the left side and do the same. Pretty sure due to the length to be welded it would have to be removed from the car. Being it's stainless steel should it be brazed or arc welded? I've got a new arc welder but have never turned it on or learned how to weld with it. Being I've temporarily stopped the leak with metal epoxy I now don't feel the urgency to have it fixed permanently or replaced.

 

Why not just order a cat delete kit. Bolt in and look great. With less restriction, maybe an increase in acceleration
They're never going to get better so why not? Unless you have mandatory emission testing where you live, then this would be a really bad idea

 

FL doesn't require emission testing so he could honestly cut them out if he wanted. I do find it strange that he hasn't found somebody to just weld the cat back together. The seam is where they are break at eventually. I had mine welded by a muffler shop a few years ago and I didnt even know mine had split. It was making an awful sound but thought it was else until the shop pointed it. It also broke at worst spot then the one posted, mine was on the top of the passenger cat facing the front. Dont know how they managed to weld it but they did. It was a pretty a pretty weld due to the limited space but it has held just fine.

 

Never heard of a kit and where would I get one for a Crossfire? t would be hard to find a muffler shop to do the work because of legal problems and fines if caught.

 

take the pipe off the car, clean up the cracked area as best you can, wire wheel and then acetone. then bring it to a local TIG welding shop and have them weld over the crack

 

I'll do just that as suggested. I'll remove it at the exhaust manifold flange and cut somewhere before the exhaust pipe so it can be rejoined with a coupler. It will probably be next week when I can get to it.

 

Where did you find the kit?

 

By replacing cats with straight thru pipes, would it mess with the OXY sensors? Can the Oxy Sensors just be eliminated?

 

UrbanE let me know they are no longer available due to federal regulations getting involved. He suggest having them made up by someone. He did say that he was smelling gas fumes that wern't burnt by the cat. Performance was much better though.

 

do not cut or you are creating more work, just unbolt it on both ends.

 

I
I'll keep that in mind.

 

Finally found a cat converter, which came off a SLK-320, and should arrive from Calipornia today or tomorrow. It will take me a couple days after arrival to get it installed. After that's finished I'll send my SKREEM parts to MSS for a "Key Delete" mod so I never have problems with the SKREEM again.

 

Been a long day when you don't have all the "nice to have" tools. I'm persevering day by day though! Used my ramps and paver stones to get car high enough to squeeze in from the vehicle's front. My big ole Sawzall was a bit of a squeeze to be able to cut the old cat out and had a bit of a problem in that area but finally got it off. Getting late so I'll finish it up in the morning. "Hopefully!" Bought two 2-1/2" exhaust clamps. exhaust sealer and had to make a joining coupler from a short pipe.