Removed cats... smell fuel. normal?
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 836
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From: Colorado Springs, Colo., USA
Originally Posted by tommybilt
Removed cats last night and now at idle I smell fuel. This normal?
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Racer
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 409
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From: Albany NY
Originally Posted by JH
Past the question of why you would want to remove the cats, it's an interesting question. Some of the heavy wrenches here will have a thought for you.
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Joined: Dec 1999
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yep..normal....can't let my 99 idle in a garage for more than 30secs 
Safety Car
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 4,811
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From: Simpsonville SC
I removed mine and I smell it too. I guess its a normal thing. I removed mine cause they went bad and I wasnt going to pay all that money for new ones when I am getting LT's. I notice a small differance in performance but it made it a lot louder
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 220
Likes: 8
From: A little place called Macungie PA
I removed them on my camaro which I use mostly just for SCCA events. The car stinks without the cat's, cute girls even notice and comment on a "weird smell". Also my camaro is white and I notice more discoloring of the rear bumper which does clean off but it's a bit of a pain.
If you want more performance I would say that most, myself included, notice very little change. If you want more noise then yes you'll get that.
All of that being said I have no plans to remove the cat's from the vette but I don't plan on putting them back on the camaro.
If you want more performance I would say that most, myself included, notice very little change. If you want more noise then yes you'll get that.
All of that being said I have no plans to remove the cat's from the vette but I don't plan on putting them back on the camaro.
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Brett Foote
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St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10
I believe in the Beer Fairy
Oh yea, and if you are in a FRC or a Coupe with the lid closed, your clothes will smell like fuel after an hour or so. You get used to it, but if you do a lot of driving for long periods, I recommend leaving a window open to let out some of the "cologne" before you pass out. You will get headaches and yes, no cats will discolor the back end of your car but you can get that off with a rag soaked in lighterfluid, but then you will have to re-wax after each cleaning.
That being said, no cats give you better air-flow and a little more HP. (For off road applications of course)
All depends on what you want.
That being said, no cats give you better air-flow and a little more HP. (For off road applications of course)
All depends on what you want.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 11,060
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From: Pasco WA
This is really funny. I installed LG headers two years ago, with o/r X pipe, and noticed no difference in smell. Just a couple of months ago I installed H/C, and new injectors, and still no smell. Two weeks ago, I got it dyno tuned, and the tuner had problems with the MAF, and replaced it with one off a F-bod. After the tune, it idled better, but now it stinks to high heaven. It's going back to him tonight to tweak, and the stink is one issue I hope to have him address. It also will stall out when coming to a stop (occasionally) and does this funny stumble when highway cruising in 6th gear@75mph. OTOH, it pulls 449/423, will not hook until the middle of 3rd gear, and recently got 27 mpg on a road trip.
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St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12
I drove from Florida to Missouri non stop in a car with LT Headers and no cats. Most of the time my windows were up and A/C was on. I made that 26 hours drive in 19 hours and felt I was kind of high 
