vettsplit 63

Last night we had a call of a Car on fire out on the main highway going thru our county. As it turns out it was a 1988 Corvette that the guy had just bought yesterday from a used car dealer. From all indications the catalytic convertor(s) were plugged to the extent that the heat caught the fibreglass floor of the car on fire. Even though the car didn't burn to the ground, the interior was extensively smoke damaged. Thought that if I passed this bit of information along, it might save someone else the heartache of losing their car.

samsonb

How can you tell if your cat is starting to clog up?

vettsplit 63

You could probably have them tested at a muffler shop, I would think the car would run real crappy because of all the back pressure, , have heating problems in the summer anyway, don't know if the oxygen sensors would be tripping, but surely there would be some check engine light warnings.

KevinRR

Glowing front half of exhaust at night...

pologreen1

stinks, lacks power, exhaust heats up.
If they are real old, replace with new better ones, or just remove period.

2UHONEY

And if it's let go too long you'll get burnt exhaust valves

RedVette84

Not good.

ks5shooter

Simple pressure test from a mechanic shop 50 bucks in NJ .Well worth it....Don

TA

Another good reason to gut your cats

RollaMo-LT4

Perhaps on the earlier models, but the LT1 cars would not see much difference in performance if the cats were gutted or not.

Catalytic Converter technology improved vastly over the years.

RetiredSFC 97

If this thing heated to that extent his temp should have shot up. On any clogged converter I ever seen, the temps rose to the point of overheating and ran like crap.

Feel bad for the guy because the person who sold it had to have known about it. Unless he is one of those that just buys/trades and doesn't check out his inventory.

Be careful buying!

vettsplit 63

[QUOTE=RollaMo-LT4;1572475643]Perhaps on the earlier models, but the LT1 cars would not see much difference in performance if the cats were gutted or not.
You know,a guy could take that two ways. Just bein' Catty-oops.

traxx1

My 91 coupe is muffler delete and yet isn't that loud and I have wondered if the cats were plugged, does not heat up in the Arizona summer but maybe time to replace.

MK 82

Not on an 88.

Greg0u812

That's how I found out one of mine was plugged up.

Was kind of spooky to see one of the precats turning orange one night.
Luckily I was at home when I noticed it.

corvetteronw

Here is a quote from Dave Emanuel "A clogged catalytic converter could be causing some of your problems. If it is, back pressure in the exhaust system will be high. To check this, you'll have to drill a small hole in the exhaust pipe in front of the converter and connect a pressure gauge. Checks are typically made at wide-open throttle and backpressure should not exceed 6 psi at 5000 rpm. Another option is to pull the converter off and examine it."

redrose

no drilling reqd...use an ol' time $10 vac/press guage and follow Service Manual procedure...no underneath work, all under hood.