Not sure, but I think one of your good buddys gave you a special socket for that sensor you may have been dying to play with. I agree with Fox however, the life of a catalytic converter is limited and all need to be eventually replaced. The oxygen sensor trick is just a very basic way to check for a clog without doing any permenant damage to your exhaust system. If you do take out the pre-cat sensor to check it make sure you secure the sensor somewhere it can't touch the exhaust so the wires to the sensor don't burned or melted.
You are right, Dewey. I have been dying to play with my new socket. So I will disconnect the O2 and see what happens...
I say... we take some measurements... and see if the Kia will... FIT IN THE BACK OF THIS!!! 1977 Cadillac Hearse ***price reduced*** - $2200 (Seguin, TX) Date: 2012-05-18, 2:09PM CDT Reply to: n4zcg-3010975396@sale.craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?] Im tired of the no shows and joy rides, so ive dropped the price to 2200 FIRM. Please, if your not serious, please dont waste my time or yours....For sale 1977 Cadillac Miller Meteor Landau Hearse "funeral Coach". The miller meteor company only made somewhere around 400 of these conversions in 1977. Clean and clear Texas title. I believe the engine is a Cadillac 425. This hearse runs, drives, has no cracked glass, it needs inspection and registration to be a driver. This hearse has been stored inside a barn, it is complete and the glass is good. The only rust i've noticed is on the hood in two places and surface rust inside the driver door about 6 inches long. She started right up this morning and drove her outside for pictures. I am selling this for 2600 CASH as is. Email for a time to see it and hear it run. Serious offers only please. Keywords : Hearse, Funeral Coach, Funeral, Mortuary, Cemetery, Cadillac, 425, Casket, Hot rod, Coach, San Antonio, Seguin, San Marcos, Austin, Landau, Band, Camping, Hunting, Project, Rare, Collector, Miller Meteor, Gothic, Spooky, Halloween, misfits, Horror, title. As is 2600 cash. For sale 1977 Cadillac Miller Meteor Landau Hearse "funeral Coach". The miller meteor company only made somewhere around 400 of these conversions in 1977. Clean and clear Texas title. I believe the engine is a Cadillac 425. This hearse runs, drives, has no cracked glass, it needs inspection and registration to be a driver. This hearse has been stored inside a barn, it is complete and the glass is good. The only rust i've noticed is on the hood in two places and surface rust inside the driver door about 6 inches long. She started right up this morning and drove her outside for pictures. I am selling this for CASH as is. Email for a time to see it and hear it run. Serious offers only please. I will consider a trade for a 1957 chevy.. Keywords : Hearse, Funeral Coach, Funeral, Mortuary, Cemetery, Cadillac, 425, Casket, Hot rod, Coach, San Antonio, Seguin, San Marcos, Austin, Landau, Band, Camping, Hunting, Project, Rare, Collector, Miller Meteor, Gothic, Spooky, Halloween, Misfits, Horror, Punk
Are you on the front oxygen sensor? It should be right where the exhaust manifold collects and connects to the down pipe above your converter. Should'nt be hard to get to. It's going to be noisy but a quick trip around the block should be enough. The slit in the socket I sent you should accommidate the wires for the O2 sensor, should unscrew like a big spark plug. If youre talking about hollowing out the cat, I would wait and see what taking out the oxygen sensor does for it. This is just to free up the exhaust a bit to see if the cat is clogged. It's only a temporary test you just want to pull it out and secure it while you take a quick spin.
I believe he's suggesting hollowing it out. If you can get the cat off, get a hammer and piece of steel pipe, rod or tire iron and knock the substrate out of the cat until you are left with a hollow shell. No more restriction...but no more emission reduction there either.
That's what I was going to bring up. Joplin doesn't have emission testing like we do in the Atlanta metro area? Poor Kia! by the way..................
Wow! I KIA wont fit in that hearse but my old Suzuki might have. I like that hearse. It looks a lot like the one I was eyeballing a couple years ago on the SPVINC.com site. I didnt have a chance to remove the O2 yesterday. Every time the engine cooled I had to go somewhere. Whether we forgot something at the store or a stranger asked for a ride to get out of the heat. On a side note I my cell plan runs out tonight so I will be gone till next weekend except when I can either abuse some one elses phone or wifi signal. Plus my rad stopped leaking again.
Sometimes with a plastic bonded radiator there is a seep factor after the initial repair, and if the leak is else where it could be just left over runoff from the first leak...radiators are just odd little creatures. I was serious about the hollowing out of the catalytic conv. the only problem is sometimes the new high exhaust flow will make the down stream oxygen sensor "freak out" a little because it's reading a non-burnt fuel mixture. The catalytics job is to burn off and absorb excess fuel vapors so they are not put into the atomosphere, lowering polution...in theory. Worse case you will have a check engine light on but it won't hurt anything. Try the test I told you about first though before you get out the hammer and a rod to hollow it out with.
I like Dewey's line of thinking here. Don't make any holes in the cat converter body itself! Dewey, is it possible for X to get this converter off the poor Kia without a saw or........shudder!........torch?
By the picture I have of it, it looks like the top flange just unbolts, the bottom behind the cat looks like a flange is well, the rear flange is right at the end of the converter. This end would be the one to ream it out on. So no cutting or torching should be necessary...whew I would soak those flange bolts in PB Blaster for a day or two though.
