Hey guys, I had catalytic converters installed last week and today found pieces of one in the left exhaust after my car stopped responding to the throttle on the freeway. WTF!!? How the hell does that happen?

Is my engine screwed or could it have just been smothered when the exhaust got blocked? Havent been able to fully clean out the exhaust yet and the car wont start. It has gas, has power, tries to start, but doesnt fully kick over.

Any advice is appreciated...

 

Had it installed by who? Take it back to who installed it, ask to speak to the shop manager, and take him (or have him drive while you ride) and show them the problem... If you're sure it's the exhaust, and you just had exhaust work done, take it back to them.

 

I talked with the people at the exhaust place and they say if the car is running rich it can melt the cats the way it did so they arent going to take any liability for the damages.

At the moment the car wont start, it tries to turn over but doesnt fully go. Having a diagnostic done on it and will let you guys know.

Would the pieces of the cat stuck in the exhaust stop the car from starting?

 

bull ****, what is the shop? Are they a corporate? How do they know the car is running rich? Did they put a sniffer on it? Kinda hard for them to test your emmissions to see if you're running rich if it won't start to even check your emmissions...

Talk to the manager (Did you talk to the manager? the GM?) and tell him he either needs to warranty the exhaust work they did (and have the shop tow the car there) or you are going to call corporate (if they are corporate) or you will be filing in small claims court for the cost of the work (plus tow fees) if they will not warranty it. Also tell them you will be informing the BBB and leaving a review on Angie's List and you're local review sites / papers. It is THEIR job to prove you are "running rich and that's what caused the problem" and it is at THEIR expense, not yours. If you're in a state that doesn't do emissions checks, they more than likely doesn't even have the equipment to do the sniffer test. Also, demand print outs of your AFR's for proof you're running rich.

It's my understanding that to burn that cats you have to run in like the 5.- 10 range. Can you smell gas in your exhaust? If you can't smell gas in you're exhaust, you aren't running rich enough to burn a cat.

Check your paper, is there any kind of clause or anything saying "warranty will not be upheld if the car is running rich"? Just say you don't even know what that means, all you know is that your car ran fine before they did the work, and now it doesn't.

Out of curiousity, are you non turbo or twin turbo? What kind of mods? Any ECU mods?

 

Every once in a while (not very often) it has a very slight smell of gas. I had a diagnostic done and the engine harness connectors apparently came loose which caused it to die (the plastic connectors are pretty beat up) and they say the #6 cylinder is a "dead hole" when they scanned it. They want to solder the engine harness wires to the engine for $240 and want to charge me 3 hours ($360) to test the injectors.

Here are the mods -

after market t25 turbos at 15 psi, Stillen H-flo Intake, Z1 Stainless Steel Twin Turbo Testpipes, Mishimoto Z32 TT performance Radiator, Greddy Profec B Spec2 Boost Controller, AMS lightweight pulley set, Chrome TT intake hard pipes & SSQV BOV's, HKS Hiper Exhaust System, AMZ stainless steel Divorced Downpipes, Greddy Turbo Timer with Harness, Z1 Mototsports ECU upgrade, Nismo 555cc Fuel Injector kit

ECU was tuned for 15 PSI when the injectors were upgraded.