Hey guyz and Galz

I need some help...I read a while back that people have said that their Random Tech CATS have blown out.....Just this past weekend I have noticed that my car sounds different and does not have the same punch...

I can't figure out what is going on...I looked for exhaust leaks, I brought it to nissan to check if any codes come up for maybe the fuel injectors, and I have found nothing....

What were or are your symptoms for blown cats and how do I find out if that is definitely the problem????

Any feedback is appreciated....

 

When mine blew it felt like the power was being held back(especially in the 3000 - 4000 rpm range) and the exhaust had a muffled type sound.

 

Here are some old pics.

Good Cat.



Bad Cat



The Remedy


Crawford

 

I think this is what I am getting....So I have to take these out to check this I imagine....What a pain in the ***

Can I do anything to clear it out or are they $600 worth of garbage under the car now???

How much do the Crawfords go for??

Thanks

 

$500. You wont be sorry:

Here

http://crawfordzcar.com/

Mine - Installed

Lou

 

Yeah, buy two carsound/magnaflow highflow cats from ebay, $55 a piece, and have them welded in place.

 

If Random Tech won't warranty them, you could gut them and have a $600 set of test pipes.

 

That's a good idea. Those are the cats that Kinetix and I think Ultimate Racing use. I have the Kinetix and am very happy with them. Not the nicest welds but other then that they great and are priced well, $375.00.

 

I gutted my 600 dollar RT's. They are currently residing in my garage. Will do something with them one day.

 

1. How would I go about gutting them??

2. Can I put them back up on the car after their cleared out??

Finally which High flow CATS are better??? Crawford, Kinetics, or the ones the guy a few post up recommended

 

Don't fret buddy, I have gutted Random Tech's and I couldn't be happier, sure the environment isn't too happy, but there is a noticable amount of power in the topend range, I can now hang with an LS1 Vette thru 2nd and 3rd gear after the cats/spacer whereas before with just my popcharger, he would pull a few cars on me.

*I bought them this way for $120 shipped for the set, sucks you had to pay the $610 for test pipes.

 

The last time I gutted some cats I just used a big tire iron and a hammer and beat the stuff out.

Who makes the best cats? Performance wise I'd say that Crawford and Kinetix are fairly close. The quality of the Crawfords does look better but you pay for it. Nothing wrong with the Kinetix, they just aren't welded as nice as the Crawfords and some of the others. But like I said before, I have the Kinetix on my Z and I think they're great.

 

When are you inspected until? I say just keep the RT's and gut them.

 

How about the Helix high flow cats? Has anyone heard anything about these yet?

 

Had the same problem and I actually live about 50 miles from Random Technologies so I drove up there to get it replaced and they explained to me how there must be something wrong with the G35's and 350Z's..but not their product. They even told me I was not supposed to bring the cats to them but send it back to who I bought it from.

They ended up replacing the one failed cat but 3 months later they both collapsed. That is when I decided to gut them and reinstall. I now use them with my APS TT kit and make 406whp @ 9psi over the standard 380whp or so.

Get them taken off ASAP..backpressure like that will not be good for the engine at all. The best way to gut them was I used a drill and a long drill bit to get all of the material out.. it took all of 10 minutes compared to the hour it took me to do the first one by hand. Make sure you do not inhale any of the material from the cats either.

 

exactly, lol

any good race shop can do the whole thing + install in max 3-4 hours

they are custom carsound anyway, I have a hard time understanding the 500$ bit

Kinetix, Crawford, Ultimate RAcing and a few others are all custom-fitted carsound/magnaflow cats, which are known to be reliable top performers. You just chose one...

 

OK thanks for all the replies....I really appreciate it.....I did take them back off and they were collapsed..I dont know how any exhaust was getting through...they looked totally closed off...I gutted them reinstalled them and WOW what a difference....Throttle response is sooooo much better...Now I am happy again!!!

 

Good news man. How does it sound?

 

Hey Gary,

It sounds really great..I like it even more not at all raspy...makes you want to drive it harder!! I see your in ny......Do you know where I can get tires?? I need Nitto 555's 235 or 245 35 19 fronts....and 275/30/19 rears...