static - the issue you are having is caused due to the hi-flow cat. try re-installing the factory cat and see if the noise goes away.

i have rrm header, buschur DP, custom test pipe and buschur catback (all 2.5" except for RRM header) and had the EXACT same issue. I replaced the test pipe with the stock cat and the sound went away, and i got my low-end torque back.

 

Blaze - If it's backfiring, you have an exhaust leak. Check at all your gaskets.

 

Well I can't really say if it backfires or not. It sounds kind of if somebody would drop a dime in the pipe.

 

digdat I will try that tomorrow thank you. Did you lose any high end when you reinstalled it also?

 

It cost me 20 bucks to get the cat welded, because thats where the leaks were. No, i coudlnt smell the exhaust in the engine bay though.

 

with test pipe +header + dp + catback, (all 2.5") I had really crappy low end .. the mid to top end was amazing. by putting the stock cat back on, I have my low end back and the top end is still amazing. I'm sure there is SOME power loss by putting the stock cat on but I can barely feel a difference. I can feel a slight difference, but its very marginal. I didn't mind it being loud, it was the loss of low end that made me put my stock cat back on. I couldn't stand the bad low end performance.

whats your low-end was like with the hi-flow cat .. good or bad?

i'm sure if ya dyno'd it, a TP vs Hi-flow cat vs stock cat would have different numbers, but probably pretty low of a difference. I could be totally off on that though. I wanna get up to a dyno and do a comparison with my stock cat vs Test pipe to see the difference (with the same rest of the exhaust setup of course)

edit: why did you have to get the hi-flow cat welded? did you get it welded to the exhaust setup, or was there a leak in the hi-flow cat itself?

 

it was in cat itself, the welds were not very good and it had leaks

 

Hey i just installed my kamakazie header yesterday and then today i tightened all the bolts because it sounded raspy like there was a leak where the downpipe and the cat connect. So i got under the car and then made my brother rev, and i discovered that there is a small amounts of air coming from there. How do I fix that? should i take it to a muffler shop? How much should i be expected to pay?

 

Is it coming from where they connect or from a weld spot? Do you have a gasket in between the two? if not im pretty sure you need one, If its coming from a weld spot, like it was from my cat, i was charged 20 bucks at my local muffler shop.

 

i am not quite shure, i do have a gasket in there, but its an old one? maybe i'll take it to a muffler shop and see how much it will cost me

 

Post underhood pics!

 

Just to clear something up here. A car ALWAYS backfires. There are always tiny amounts of unburnt fuel particles moving through the engine into the exhaust. The difference is when you move to a high-flow system, you can actually hear it backfiring. Having an exhaust leak does not create backfire.

I know this as fact because I had a Civic (bear with me on that one) and my DC Sports header, high-flow cat, and DC Sports catback had a really loud backfire most of the time. I had it checked for exhaust leaks, there were none. When I sold that carback and put on an Apexi WS, the muffler was not straight through and created a little more back pressure, and the backfire was not noticable anymore. Had the exhaust checked once again, and no leaks.

 

ON this subject of highflow cats vs TP vs stock cats, I was reading an import magazine where they tested this very thing. The car (civic) had 50K miles on the stock cat. They did a baseline pull and then put on a highflow cat (Random technology). As far as I can remember there was a 7 hp gain from this alone. They then put on a Test Pipe and received a marginal 1hp gain over the high flow cat.

The morol of their story was you can still protect the environment at the sacrifice of minimal hp gains. What's 1hp for the environment?

WADAD

 

I posted some pictures
Click the links, they are big pics
http://www.users.qwest.net/~edchavez/IMG_1039.jpg
http://www.users.qwest.net/~edchavez/IMG_1040.jpg
http://www.users.qwest.net/~edchavez/IMG_1041.jpg
http://www.users.qwest.net/~edchavez/IMG_1042.jpg

 

did the cel come on yet, mine did after 50 miles, oh and I got an exhaust leak, will deal with that tomorrow.