Guys,

Ok so this is not truck related but I think it fits here.

The Cat converter on my focus just went.

I found a Magnaflow dirrect bolt on on ebay for $222 shipped. I also found a Merritt AP at the local parts house for $151.

Is the Magnaflow worth the $70 differance? From what I read on FTE it would seen like the answer is "NO".

Anyone know about Merritt?

I also found Bear River has a cat for my car as well. I'd like to hear from Bear River but also others if there cat is a "true" high flow and better flowing than a OEM quality cat thus worth $125 more than the Merritt one I found. I do have a cat back (technicaly a flex pipe back) on the Focus but the header and flex pipe (located after the cat) are stock.

I love this site and always get more and better quality responses than any other site I have been on.

Thanks

 

The most important factor of a converter is not how well it flows, although getting the best flow is always desirable, but rather, how well does it perform. The Magnaflow and AP will be the same in terms of flow, as will most other products.

The most important factors when buying an aftermarket direct fit part for an OBD-II equipped vehicle is
1: Will it keep the CEL from coming back with a catalyst code (P0420, P0421, P0430, etc.)
2: Will it fit properly. Many direct fit parts are poorly made. AP cats are made by Catco, which has a long history of fitment problems, though I don't know if that applies to this part.
3: Does it include what I need? Most of the parts may need things like bolt studs, and gaskets. Neither AP nor Magnaflow include gaskets with their parts. So that is just another expense and a frustration if you don't know that. It sucks when you have you car torn apart and find that you are missing something you need.

The first thing I would do is find out why your converter went bad. Do a complete tune up on your car, including a new O2 sensor. Clean the MAF sensor and replace filters. Once that has been done, or you are reasonably sure that the problem that caused the original converter to fail has been corrected, you can replace the converter with assurances that it won't fail again.

If you go by the 3 part list above, both Magnaflow and AP fall short. The Eastern brand is much better and I'm not just saying that. You can get the Bear River stuff on ebay.

 

Thank you for all the info.

The 3 wires feeding the coil pack are a known issue with the earlier Focus's. Mine went bad and the car just shut off and when I tried to start it I got puffs out the tail pipe and I think it also flodded the car.
I spent time trying to figure out why the car was falling on its face and had no power. Checked filters plugs and wires. Determined it was the cat. It never threw a code of any kind.