Hey guys. So the other day I was driving and my car started making some unusual noises. It would come on around 3k rpm. Usually thats when I start to hear my pop charger whistle. But this was different and it was more of a rattle. I was like WTF? So then I eased of the gas and when the car was slowing down I heard a noise coming from the passanger side around 2500 rpm. I was like what is that noise... So I knew something was wrong. It sounded like an exhaust leak. So I took the car to PN and they confirmed my fears. I had a crack on my passanger side cat. It was soo small that it didnt throw a CEL. Any of you guys with Crawford HFC's that have cracked them? How about the guys with test pipes?

 

same problem with my brother's car.....

 

I've been thinking of throwing some hfc's on mine, but it seems most that do that end up with cracks after a little while. Were your's the older style or the newer type with the reinforced bend?

 

I think crawford has a newer version cat. Call them up and see what they can do you for you. Also, alot of people crack the cats or test pipes because of fitment of exhaust. Might want to look into that!

 

I didnt experience any noise in my cats. though I suggest to snap some pics of the crack and send them to crawford.

 

Sorry to hear about that. How many miles are on the catalytic converters? Although a pain in the butt to replace, Crawford may give you another free.

 

Yea it happened to me like umm 3 times. Then I got the new version which has 2 support braces on them. I started hearing that noise again a couple of weeks ago I had a look underneath the car and noticed that the flange between the Y pipe and the cat was a little off and there was black stuff all around the joint... Great here we go again! But at least it didnt crack! It a great product when it works. Give them a call they will help you out. The have GREAT customer service.

 

I have the older ones but Andy from PN said to give him a call on Friday and he will see if he can get me the new ones. I say I put about 2K miles on them. It sucks because now everytime I drive the car, I have to shift at 2Krpm and it sounds like a complete @$$. But the good thing is my cats are still under warranty so I don't have to fork out another $500.

 

I would but they are still on my car. Also I can't see the crack when I look underneath the car. They said it was soo small like the size of a hair. That's why it didn't throw a CEL. I am just glad it wasn't my headers

 

Older style

 

What do you mean by fitment issues. I have the Nismo cat-back. Would that cause a problem?

 

actually that might be a problem. I vaguely recall a cracking problem when fitting crawford HFC's with nismo (or was it injen) cat-backs. try doing a search or asking doug, but I know there was some cat-back that caused a cracking problem with crawford HFC's.

 

Alright cool. Thanks alot.

 

Yes, the older Crawford cats had problems specifically with the Nismo exhaust. Doug has made some changes but will tell people all day to get a different exhaust

 

I don't wanna change my Nismo exhaust. I love it and it sounds awesome. Question, will it be ok if I change my Y-pipe since those are where the cats hook up to? But I still wanna keep my Nismo mid-pipe and muffler.

 

Is this the only noticeable difference between version 1 and version 2?
If I buy cats, how else can I tell that they are version 2?

 

You don't need to get a different one, Doug just does not like the Nismo. For some reason it is the only one I know of that puts enough strain on the other exhaust components to actually break the Crawford cats, creating a second version of the cat just because of this exhaust.

 

Smart fix: Get a different Y-pipe, 200-250 bucks from a user on the board! Nismo Y-pipe is restrictive IMHO. Look at the design of the JIC's, less restrictions, less bends, and their flex joint is SUPER FLEXABLE, won't break ur cat anymore, ta da!

 

Do any of you guys have fitment problems with the crawfords and the heatshields? My driver's side cat is very close to the underbody heatshields and makes contact occasionally when turning or hard accel. The passenger side has good clearance.

 

I got the same problem. My SES light recently turned on and I think it may be related to the cats and maybe even the fitment.