Hello

My '87 DL wagon was real soggy on the gas pedal, I took it to a mechanic who said the cat was clogged. He quoted me over five hundred bucks saying he'd have to "really look" to find one. The first junk yard I called said they had em for fifty bucks. Is replacing the catalytic converter or "Y-pipe" as easy as it looks??? is there any reason I shouldn't try to save myself half a grand some afternoon this next week?

 

will my new-used cat be clogged too?

 

another post on this site suggested pouring some injector cleaner down the pvc (tube?) but Im not sure what that is?

 

I'm no great mechanic, but brave enough to tackle most R n' R (remove and replace) jobs. is this one within my reach?

 

any advise will be apprecited!

sincerely

burr....

exhaust parts are typically straight forward. now the rust you may encounter and seized bolts are not. be prepared to shear off and replace a couple bolts and you should be fine. have whatever gaskets ready too, as the old ones probably won't hold up to reinstallation. other than that the catalytic converter is straight forward, a few bolts and you're done.

 

do yourself a favor and spray the crap out of all the bolts you might think about touching with PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench. don't use WD-40, it's not as good. spray them down for like 3 days in a row before you work on it, you'll thank yourself later. well you might not because you might avoid the frustration of seized bolts if you spray them down good and not know the pain you're avoiding.

 

as a worst case scenario just pretend for some crazy reason you could not get the converter installed...the good thing is the car would still be perfectly drivable. very loud, but drivable no problems. might have to use a hanger or bungy cords to hold the rear half/muffler up and off the ground, but otherwise the car will run fine....just real loud. those are the best repairs to try yourself, the ones that wont' leave you car-less. but i don't think you'll have a problem.

 

if the yard sells you the converter, ask them to include any extra bolts with it, they won't need them and you might could use them if any of yours are rusted or shear off while removing.

Great advice Gary. I'm also wondering about catalytic converter replacement as mine is assumed to be original.

 

How early do they clog? Would an exhaust set from a 50,000 mile donor car be a great improvement?

Great advice Gary. I'm also wondering about catalytic converter replacement as mine is assumed to be original.

 

How early do they clog? Would an exhaust set from a 50,000 mile donor car be a great improvement?

 

A cat with 50K on it would be a great improvement over one with 150K or more. I used to have an '86 Toyota MR2. Bought it with about 185K on the car, with the original cat. Got 28 MPG highway. Replaced the cat at 205K. Mileage went up to 35 on the highway, and it had noticeably more power. When I looked through the old cat, holding it up to the sun, all I could see was a pinhole of light!