Time to come clean. I'm a bad man and I need your help. 2000 LS V6

Thanks. I guess that I could tell by eye when I pull the cats off if they are shot.

Where can I get direct fit cats? I dont wanna buy OEM I got a quote from MAx at 5 star and he quoted me like 650 per cat. I know I can get universals for 2 hundred or so a piece but I havent seen direct fit yet. I suppose I just need to match it up with the width of the pipes.
 
Do you know the pipe measurement that plugs into both ends of the cat? I think its 2.5 inches but im not sure.
 
You can find them on the auction site.

Direct fit cats you mean? Is that gonna mean that they are not gonna require any cutting and welding or is that just gonna mean that the pipe is the right width? I've seen magnaflows for like $65 with a 50,000 mile warranty but a company called "catco" is advertising direct fit replacements for $220about. Anybody got any ideas?
 
Direct fit means just that it fits directly on NO modding. Unbolt your old one bolt on new one, done. The front cat pipe is only like 2 feet long,then they slip fit into rest of exh. Unless you have a welder and do it yourself this would be the easiest way.
 
Only thing I would recommend is take car to shop with torches and have them touch heat the manifold/cat 2 nuts on each side and loosen them coat them with anti sieze then put them back on. Then if you do it at home it will come right apart no fight. If you snap off a manifold stud it will be more work. The nuts are easy to get to.
 
I think I'll try to unbolt it myself first. Question, Does the exhaust rear of the cat pipes need to have any play? My Mufflers are welded to the stock exhaust and welded to hangers. I don't wanna cut the hangers unless I have to....anyways....I'm gonna do a little more research on Direct fit cats and post the options up here so you guys could give me some opinions. I hope the O2 sensors are gonna plug right in. I probablly need new ones since they are probablly corroded really badly. Thanks RightonTheMAark. Your help is saving me money.
 
The new direct fit cat will have the bungs in the stock place for your 02's. You will need to somewhat slide your exh back to weisel out the cat pipe from the exh. Don't know what will be needed to do sence your car has custom exh work. FYI even though I torched my manifold nuts cherry red one stud still snapped off. I didn't care because I was removing the motor anyway. Ford charges 9 bucks per just stud. You WILL need tourches to get old stud out of manifold if you break it and even then it was a B to get out, that was on the ground. If you have to do it in the car oh man.
 
I have a v8, but i've read that the v6's have a problem with the pcv hose cracking.that could explain rough idle and it cold cause the motor to run lean which could make it overheat. Sounds worth checking into huh? I did replace my cats on my old 93 cougar. it turned into a pia after i broke one of the manifold bolts off. spent hours drilling out the old bolt(dont want to say stud haha) and tapping new threads.
 
Yeah, but I don't wanna just show up at the dealer for an ass pounding, so i'm trying to learn as much as possible about the job. I might get lucky and have easy bolts. You never know.
 
I never said dealer. Thats the last place you want to go to. Mom and pop place better.
 
Oh yeah, let me tack on another problem....Leaky oil pan and the oil level is low. My friend put Lucas Life in on the last oil change so that might have something to do with the low level. But i'm not sure. Gonna try and order parts this week and get the install going soon. Just thought I'd share. I might need some advice on a couple parts so i'll keep you guys updated.
 
Leaky oil pan? That is interesting. I would assume (and hope) you just need a new gasket on that. Do the PCV valve for sure, it is very cheap and easy. I have no idea where the EGR valve is on the LS, but they aren't too bad to do on most of the vehicles I've worked on and is a simple thing to rule out. I kinda doubt the exhaust gasket is the issue. As for the Cats, it can't hurt to replace them. The worst case scenario is you will know for sure that component that isn't causing the problem and you'll be out the money for the replacements. I'd try other stuff first becuase I'm cheap.

There is another thread here that shows the cylinder numbers. I assume that #2, 3, 4 are all on the same side but I'd search for the thread to make sure. Then check for the classic oil in the well problem. When you see that issue replace the valve cover gaskets.

good luck
 
Have you gave seafoam a shot in the entire system? From what it sounds your car could be do for a good cleaning with seafoam anyway. I wouldn't clean the IAC with seafom though. Just the fuel tank, vacuum and the crank case.


I read awhile back about that while seafoam is good, that it craps the O2 Sensors to the point they should be replaced.

Is this true?
 
Could this be a battery problem? Kind of like when the RPMs drop and surge when you turn on the lights?

The idle I would look into the IAC valve. May just need to be cleaned.

Have you gave seafoam a shot in the entire system? From what it sounds your car could be do for a good cleaning with seafoam anyway. I wouldn't clean the IAC with seafom though. Just the fuel tank, vacuum and the crank case.

Dude...never heard of a Seafoam clense...that :q:q:q:q sounds badass!!!! now to push my car into the tide for a bit :p
 
exceptional, how long have you been in new milford? i knew there were a few other nj members but didnt think there were any so close to me.
 

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