10-22-2009, 04:26 PM
Do you hear a crunching gravel like sound as the car warms up? If so, the catalyst is cracked or broken. If it continues, pieces may get pushed into the muffler and plug it up.
I would check to see if your car has primary and secondary cats. Fords typically have this arrangement. If you have primaries and it is the secondary that is the problem, I would consider pulling the secondary and removing the catalyst. The catalyst on my old truck broke and loaded up the muffler. Only found out about it when I replaced the muffler. Took the cat off and dumped the catalyst. At inspection, my emissions test was no different than previous years.
I would check to see if your car has primary and secondary cats. Fords typically have this arrangement. If you have primaries and it is the secondary that is the problem, I would consider pulling the secondary and removing the catalyst. The catalyst on my old truck broke and loaded up the muffler. Only found out about it when I replaced the muffler. Took the cat off and dumped the catalyst. At inspection, my emissions test was no different than previous years.