Even though I am a tree hugger I kinda agree with you Cosmic.
I believe that every little bit helps but why put all the pressure on me and let the big companies do whatever they want?
I mean blowing the top off of a mountain in VA with ampho cant be putting less pollution in the air than my truck can it?
Burning tons and tons of coal so Lori can charge her electric car def cant be good for the air I breathe.
Or open pit mining for the lithium to make hybrid batteries and then shipping that to Germany to be built into a battery and then shipped to Japan to be put into a Prius and THEN ship that car back to North America so Steve can feel good about "doing his part".
And honestly, who is going to check and make sure you still have cats on your truck, the FBI?

 

cheers to all that! I love Nature and backpacking and the Earth as a beautiful place to live! Hell, i've hugged many trees and even made best friends with a tree once (long story). I leave 'no trace' when I go out, clean trails and have taught my son to collect others trash on the way out from hikng trips.

Truth also be told, cats do very little, after a short time, to trap / cleanse the exhaust of dioxins and sulphur. So if i can (oh so slightly) increase mpg by increasing performance and economy then I consider it a wash.

I'm switching out the Y pipe (cat section) from the manifold to the intermediate pipe flange with Test Pipe, and retaining the muffler / resonator sections. I had my O2's tested via diag. test and they are still reading withing range but with 86k miles (yes it's a '95 !) they are sure to fail soon... I am a PM kinda guy so they are getting replaced anyway.

pics and mpg updates to come in a couple weeks when numbers are tabulated. Thanks for all the tips and experience based suggestions.

 

I was watching Discovery Channel last year and was watching the show Deconstructed, they take stuff apart and explain how it works, etc.
They did this to a cat, they also give stats on things they are taking apart.
According to them a cat does not reach full operating efficiency for 20 min with the engine running.
So a hybrid starts and stops the engine, so how long does it take for a hybrid cat to start working at 100%?
Just a thought.

 

I'm doing my part, keep 'er tuned up (better mpg, less pollution, fatter wallet)

I also stay away from any property that I'd rather not kill all vegetation for a 10' diam. under my truck.

luck,greg

 

And how many of us actually commute farther than 20 minutes? I have an 8 mile commute (15-20 minutes).

 

Nox and carbon monoxide get worse as the engine heats up. Cats only need to be 400 degrees to start working. That is only about 5 minutes of running with the exhaust coming through them. Add to that an elevated level of fuel when the car is running cold, and it heats up faster. Running too rich is the fastest way to melt cats.

They break up NOx into Nitrogen and Oxygen, Turn carbon monoxide to dioxide, and burn any remaining hydrocarbons. I am not a tree hugger by any means, and I am all about getting the most from something. If you want more performance, try to squeeze some headers in, cut off the rear resonator and put a high flow muffler in. Of course to really benefit, you will need a bigger cam and high flow intake. Rover sensors and emissions are difficult to fake out. Spike keeps mentioning dummy O2's, but I have yet to see it done. Point is, they serve a purpose and you can replace them with units that work AND are better on performance.

I am sure everyone already knew, but I am for replacing them.

 

I have not seen dummy O2's for a Rover, I cannot find them but they are very popular with Chevy and Ford guys.

 

you keep referencing them when talking about pulling cats. I thought you knew of some.

 

No, I have not found any yet.
I have only been referencing them in conjunction from another thread.

And for the record I am not saying anybody should remove their cats but I also am not saying not to.
it is all up to the owner.
If they want to set their truck on fire and roll it down a hill they can go for it.

 

I found a great custom exhaust shop in Fla. willing to replace the cats with straight pipes and we removed the resonator / tail pipe too. Just welded a straight pipe off the back of the muffler and put pipes inbetween the O2's and muffler flange.

Engine response is MUCH better and has more power. Sounds better too but that is just a frivolous BS side effect.

Loving the fact that I could bury those friggin cats. She's running sooo much better without em.