Precat removal - How I did it...

kanujunkie · October 15, 2005, 21:31

looks like you may be lucky, you need to make sure the top of the main cat is clear or else this would be in vain, as for the tone of the exhaust, yes it does change, what i would describe as slightly more throaty

aaronjb · October 15, 2005, 22:00

Quote from: "garystorey"the right side was empty (is this normal)

Nope, not normal at all. Both sides should be identical - a ceramic cylindrical core held in place by fibreglass wadding.

If one side was missing then chances are it's all sat on top of the main CAT - at a minium, take the main CAT off and shake it out upside down.. Hopefully lots of cr*p will fall out!

heathstimpson · October 16, 2005, 07:15

Maybe as you caught it straight away you have got away with bits of ceramic in the pistons s:? :? s:? ; lets hope it continues not to use any oil matey s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Anonymous · October 16, 2005, 07:52

Quote from: "heathstimpson"Maybe as you caught it straight away you have got away with bits of ceramic in the pistons s:? :? s:? ; lets hope it continues not to use any oil matey s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Hello Heathstimson, thanks for the reply, Since looking at all of the input on the forum, it helps me understand my current situation. Around 4 weeks ago the car made a noise like someone had thrown something at a panel whilst passing. This was whilst I was accelerating, then a week or so later whilst reversing out of my garage, from cold I heard another mechanical sound. Non of this appeared to have an affect on perfomance or engine tone. I say engine tone because I think it now has a mechanical sound rather than a throaty sound. The engine sound changed after I accelerated hard a couple of weeks ago, but as stated previously in the forum, the mechanic did not think this was an issue. I think its more a case of waiting to see what develops from the noise. Today I am going to change the oil again to see if there is any debris, although this would be the second oil change in as many weeks and there were no bits in the first time. Is it likely if I remove the rocker cover I may see any damage?.
Once again thanks to everyone for thier interest in my plight.

aaronjb · October 16, 2005, 11:16

You'll not be able to see any damage I'm afraid, Gary - unless you intend to strip the engine right down just to inspect (and by that, I mean taking the head off at the very least).

Basically, the damage you get is akin to throwing cutting compound into the cylinder - so the damage is to the cylinder walls themselves.

Because any particulates that get sucked in will be incredibly small, the chances of seeing them in the oil are slim (unless you start staring at it under a microscope s:)

s:) ) - and the rocker cover would only let you inspect the valve train (which, again, wouldn't show any visible damage).

Your best bet at this stage is just to make sure that the main CAT is free & clear, and keep an eye on oil consumption - if it goes suddenly very high (and I mean very high - think litres per 100miles) then you have further problems..

Anonymous · October 19, 2005, 21:20

Quote from: "aaronjb"You'll not be able to see any damage I'm afraid, Gary - unless you intend to strip the engine right down just to inspect (and by that, I mean taking the head off at the very least).

Basically, the damage you get is akin to throwing cutting compound into the cylinder - so the damage is to the cylinder walls themselves.

Because any particulates that get sucked in will be incredibly small, the chances of seeing them in the oil are slim (unless you start staring at it under a microscope s:) s:) ) - and the rocker cover would only let you inspect the valve train (which, again, wouldn't show any visible damage).

Your best bet at this stage is just to make sure that the main CAT is free & clear, and keep an eye on oil consumption - if it goes suddenly very high (and I mean very high - think litres per 100miles) then you have further problems..

I dont know if I am using the forum correctly, but this is a n update on my situation, I returned to the local dealer, who is checking out my situation. There is one thing I need to know, where can I buy a cat from and how much is it likely to cost??, can anyone help?, regards

Tem · October 20, 2005, 05:57

Quote from: "garystorey"I returned to the local dealer, who is checking out my situation. There is one thing I need to know, where can I buy a cat from and how much is it likely to cost??, can anyone help?, regards

Well...the stock cat pipe goes for a bit over $1000 in US...

You can get generic cats for a LOT less, which have to be welded in place of the stock cat. IIRC, w www.summitracing.com w has them starting from $60.
(you might wanna get a high flow version while you're at it)

aaronjb · October 20, 2005, 08:35

Aye - CATs are expensive, you could try Adam ("Jap GT300" here) and see if he has any secondhand ones knocking about..

(and BTW, just realised this is all tagged on to the end of the original pre-cat HOW-TO.. mods, perhaps we should split this bit of conversation off into a new topic?)

Anonymous · October 27, 2005, 18:46

does the aftermarket warranty from warrantydirect cover the pre cats?

edward.carter · October 27, 2005, 18:54

i spoke to warrantydirect abou this and they said there highest level one covers pretty much everything except cats. But, however, if a cat were to fail and cause other parts to fail, ie precat killing engine they would replace everything except the cat itself so you would have to fork out for the cat but they would replace engine, at least thats the impression i was giving on the phone!

Anonymous · October 27, 2005, 18:56

still be better to gut them in the first place though eh?

edward.carter · October 27, 2005, 19:11

definately!

Anonymous · November 13, 2005, 17:17

Had my pre-cats removed yesterday thanks to Dan.

Looks like one of mine was in the first stages of disintegrating, thankfully my engine should be fine now.

A big thanks to the club also for sharing this wealth of knowledge with us.

s8)

s8)

Anonymous · November 13, 2005, 18:21

Sssshhh, don't tell everyone, or I'll get roped into doing it like Mark has!

s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Anonymous · December 1, 2005, 01:23

quick question, I finally received my easy outs today to remove the bolt which snapped on my heatshield.

once i remove the heatshiled, what condition should i expect the block-to-manifold nuts / bolts to be in? ie are they well protected from corrosion or should i expect them to be fecked too?

Cheers,
Richie

aaronjb · December 1, 2005, 07:42

Expect them to be... tricky s;)

s;)

They should be fine (90% of the time) as long as you use a good 6-sided hex socket and plenty of dismantly lube when undoing them, though - they don't rust anywhere near as much as the heatshield ones generally.

kanujunkie · December 1, 2005, 11:33

Quote from: "aaronjb"Expect them to be... tricky s;) s;)

They should be fine (90% of the time) as long as you use a good 6-sided hex socket and plenty of dismantly lube when undoing them, though - they don't rust anywhere near as much as the heatshield ones generally.

but do cause a lot of swearing, but we do have the famous Aaron technique if you cant get em off, only to be used in emergency's though

edward.carter · December 1, 2005, 11:40

whats that a coating of oil ? s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

sorry

Anonymous · December 1, 2005, 11:42

Quote from: "kanujunkie"but do cause a lot of swearing, but we do have the famous Aaron technique if you cant get em off, only to be used in emergency's though

Would that involve calling the fire brigade out and moving the '2 with a dust-pan and brush s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

kanujunkie · December 1, 2005, 11:43

Quote from: "extremeMR2"
Quote from: "kanujunkie"but do cause a lot of swearing, but we do have the famous Aaron technique if you cant get em off, only to be used in emergency's though

Would that involve calling the fire brigade out and moving the '2 with a dust-pan and brush s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

no, just losing your rag, literally in this case s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

aaronjb · December 1, 2005, 12:24

s:P

s:P

I believe Stu would be referring to either the time I set some bolts alight ( s:oops: :oops: s:oops: s:lol: :lol: s:lol: ) or me sitting underneath the car in Mark's pit getting very wet while we washed out the pre-CAT chambers s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Still, I got the easy bit - Stu got to sit underneath the car and remove the preCAT material from the bottom only.. s:)

s:)

Anonymous · December 1, 2005, 13:24

i bit the bullet at the weekend and paid my local mechanic to gut the pre cats, i had a heat shield bolt i coudnt loosen myself, no way of raising the car properly and nowhere inside to work. stuggling for cash but reasoned it was dumb not to considering how much the car cost! mechanic reckoned one was in the early stages of breaking up so hopefully ive got it in time. i consider mysely pretty streetwise when haggling for cars, and was very happy with the deal i got, but i wish i had done my homework here before buying as i would have made the pre cat removal a condition of sale. having owned a mark 1 for ten years i was totally impressed by toyota build quality and didnt consider for a second the roadster would have any serious issues. im appalled at the lengths we have had to go to as owners simply to be sure we have a reliable car, imho the pre cat issue is a design fault and toyota should have been liable. just a thought, if someone is unfortunate enough to have a total engine failure due to pre cat failure, and we are as sure as possible thats what it was, i would be perfectly happy to contribute towards a fighting fund to get a specialist engs. report, legal rep etc and have a go at mr t! it woudnt cost much from each member and would give toyota a boot up the jacksey!

Anonymous · December 1, 2005, 13:25

sorry, double posted in error.

kanujunkie · December 1, 2005, 15:08

Quote from: "aaronjb"

I believe Stu would be referring to either the time I set some bolts alight ( s:oops: :oops: s:oops: s:lol: :lol: s:lol: ) or me sitting underneath the car in Mark's pit getting very wet while we washed out the pre-CAT chambers s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Still, I got the easy bit - Stu got to sit underneath the car and remove the preCAT material from the bottom only.. s:) s:)

it'll be option B i'm refuring to

Anonymous · December 1, 2005, 23:21

Quote from: "nelix"i bit the bullet at the weekend and paid my local mechanic to gut the pre cats, i had a heat shield bolt i coudnt loosen myself, no way of raising the car properly and nowhere inside to work. stuggling for cash but reasoned it was dumb not to considering how much the car cost! mechanic reckoned one was in the early stages of breaking up so hopefully ive got it in time. i consider mysely pretty streetwise when haggling for cars, and was very happy with the deal i got, but i wish i had done my homework here before buying as i would have made the pre cat removal a condition of sale. having owned a mark 1 for ten years i was totally impressed by toyota build quality and didnt consider for a second the roadster would have any serious issues. I'm appalled at the lengths we have had to go to as owners simply to be sure we have a reliable car, imho the pre cat issue is a design fault and toyota should have been liable. just a thought, if someone is unfortunate enough to have a total engine failure due to pre cat failure, and we are as sure as possible thats what it was, i would be perfectly happy to contribute towards a fighting fund to get a specialist engs. report, legal rep etc and have a go at mr t! it woudnt cost much from each member and would give toyota a boot up the jacksey!

I just wish i did more about it when it happend to my last roadster, but back then I was happy just to get my money back. I actually wish i took it to watchdog at the time. that should give the voice needed to get toyota to do something about it.

Richie