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I think i have a plugged cat on my '98 taurus with the 3.0 12v engine and 102000 miles. It starts hard and then runs rough, chugs and stalls. If i start it and rev it up for a while to 2000-3000 rpms it will run fine. Also, only little exhaust can be felt coming out of the tale pipe, even when the engine is being reved up to 2500 rpms. Are there ways to tell if this is from the cat being plugged, or could this be from somthing else? if this is from the cat is there a way to take all the stuff out of it and just put the shell back on? i dont have emmissions tests or checks in my area.
Does the Taurus sound like a vacuum cleaner goin' down the road? Don't laugh...this is an indication of a partially plugged cat. The charcoal in the cat over the years will break down and work its way into the muffler, plugging it up.
You can take it to an exhaust shop and they can put a gauge on the tail pipe and measure back pressure to tell if the cat is clogged. Or buy the gauge yourself, it is about $150.
> if this is from the cat is there a way to take all the stuff out of it and
> just put the shell back on?
Not really because of the welds and because the empty shell causes a lot of noise. Easier just to cut it off and install a straight pipe. I weld up flanges I get from JCW and make it so I can just bolt in the test pipe instead of going the clamp routine.
Back when my daughter was in college her Pinto cat clogged and made top speed around 25mph. I pulled the cat, broke up everything inside with a bar, dumped it out and put it back on. The problem was fixed and noise was not a problem.