well the engine has no power, especially going uphills, and its gets worse everyday. i am pretty certain i have bad valve stem seals, because she eats about a half a quart of oil per month, and in the mornings during startup i get the blue smoke. i am led to believe this has clogged up my cat with soot.
occasionally i am getting the p0420 code as well. (catalyst efficiency below threshold)

i wanted to just remove it, put a piece of pipe in its place, and run an o2 simulator or spark plug non fouler threaded into the o2 sensor, and then just reconnect it whenever time comes for inspection. but all the research i have done says it will never run quite as good if i do that, due to the complexity of todays vehicles, and how it is a "system" which must function the way it was designed.....
i was going to just pick a new cat up at autozone, i saw magnaflow also makes one. i'm sketchy about buying one at a junkyard, any other ideas?
thanks guys..........

 

Well, a junkyard cat is illegal, the yard won't sell you one.

Magnaflow cats are junk, I recommend Eastern. Don't buy cats from Autozone, they won't sell you the right one.

The way your setup is, a universal cat would be difficult to install.

You need the fix the cause of the problem first. If you have leaking valve seals or bad rings, that will only kill whatever replacement you use. If you fix the problem, you will be much better off.

 

I dont know why you said magnaflow are junk, I had ny OEM replaced with one along with a free flow muffler, and a bigger exhaust. 150000 and still its working.

If you need a cat for sure go to an independent shop that specializes in exhause (no not midas or minekee) and see what it will take to have your exhaust sytem upgraded, repaired or whatever you deem appropriate. I know locally you can get an AM muffler installed for less than $50, and cats are not much more but again these are not national businesses, just local repair shops.

 

Don't take my word for it, do a google search, find all the people who have tried Magnaflow and are finding they just don't work. They have one of the lowest precious metal contents in the industry. Take it from someone on the inside. The Magnaflow 94000 series has a paltry 8 grams from cubic foot precious metal loading. Eastern by contrast has a 18 gram per cubic foot loading, a full 10 grams more. Thats why Magnaflow only meets the minimum 2 year federally mandated warranty, Eastern voluntarily increased their warranty to 5 years.

With Magnaflow, you are paying for a nice looking product in a nice looking box, none of which matters if the catalyst inside doesn't have enough precious metals to get the job done.

Expect to pay at least $120 for a good cat, installation on your application could be around $150 to $200 since the 3.0L Range has that oval flange to deal with. If you go cheaper than that, expect to replace your converter fairly often.

For the record, Magnaflows cats are not high flow unless you get the 50,000 series, all the rest is just ordinary converters, so the brand name is misleading. So if you bought one to increase performance, you got screwed.

Regardless of the converter you choose, you are just wasting your money if you don't fix the source of the problem. If you are unwilling to fix the problem, you are basically saying you are willing to drive a piece of junk, in which case it won't matter if you straight pipe it and deal with having a light on all the time. The same conditions that ruined your cat are also ruining your O2 sensors, so its just not going to run right unless it gets fixed.