stock cat conv welded?

[tj21]

Was the stock catalytic converter welded? Jeep said I do have a recall they will honor if the cat conv is stock. They looked at it and said its aftermarket since there are weld marks connecting to pipes near the cat. Truck has been in family for nearly 20 yrs with this cat. Surprised it was replaced by previous owners within 5 yrs of truck life.

[Eagle]

The OEM cat had a flanged input that connects to the exhaust pipe (the "down" pipe or "crossover" pipe) with four bolts and a flange gasket, and is supported by the crossmember and transmission mount. The cat is a 2-1/2" ID, that necks down to 2-1/4 between the cat and the muffler inlet. The muffler used standard muffler clamps on both the inlet and the outlet.

 

[EDIT]Just noticed you have a 2.5L. Pipe size on the 2.5s changed from year to year. Yours may be a 2" tailpipe, and if so I don't know if your cat was 2-1/2 x 2-1/4, or 2-1/2 x 2, or 2-1/4 x 2. But I'm reasonably sure the factory would not have welded the pipes on the 4-banger when they were clamping them of the 6-cylinder models.

[dasbulliwagen]

The stock 4cyl cat is like eagle said, with one smooth pipe from the 4 bolt flange to the cat, and a smooth single pipe from the cat to the clamped muffler joint. If there are any new (new being a relative term) welded joints in there where there should be smooth pipe, they will deny you.

[tj21]

Ok, not the answers I was wanting to hear. Attached are some photos I took, hoping someone would tell me its stock before I read the above. One more confirmation after seeing the photos will shut me up.

 

[Eagle]

Not stock.

 

That's an aftermarket cat. And you can clearly see where the pipes were cut ahead of and behind the cat and the new cat was welded in.

 

Sorry.

[dasbulliwagen]

Do you beleive youre having issues with your cat, or did you just want to see if you could get a new one. If you think youre having issues, pull it off, gut it, and put it back on. There is no after cat sensor, so there will be no issues with the computer controls. If your state has inspections, like mine, youll need to have a cat (or at least the impression of a cat) on there to pass the tampering part of the inspection. I gutted and sleeved mine, and noticed little to no power loss with the 2.5. They don't have much grunt down low anyways, so I myself didnt notice any low end power loss.

[tj21]

Do you beleive youre having issues with your cat, or did you just want to see if you could get a new one. If you think youre having issues, pull it off, gut it, and put it back on. There is no after cat sensor, so there will be no issues with the computer controls. If your state has inspections, like mine, youll need to have a cat (or at least the impression of a cat) on there to pass the tampering part of the inspection. I gutted and sleeved mine, and noticed little to no power loss with the 2.5. They don't have much grunt down low anyways, so I myself didnt notice any low end power loss.

 

My pipes are all rusted out, so exhaust pours out the sides. I'm going to replace those, and thought I'd take a new cat in the process if it was a recall.

 

I don't know how to tell if my cat is bad. The exhaust stinks. My gas mileage sucks. Didn't come close to passing emissions. This could be caused by my vacuum lines not being plugged in, I can't figure out where they go. Truck idles good, and runs good.

[dasbulliwagen]

Do you beleive youre having issues with your cat, or did you just want to see if you could get a new one. If you think youre having issues, pull it off, gut it, and put it back on. There is no after cat sensor, so there will be no issues with the computer controls. If your state has inspections, like mine, youll need to have a cat (or at least the impression of a cat) on there to pass the tampering part of the inspection. I gutted and sleeved mine, and noticed little to no power loss with the 2.5. They don't have much grunt down low anyways, so I myself didnt notice any low end power loss.

 

My pipes are all rusted out, so exhaust pours out the sides. I'm going to replace those, and thought I'd take a new cat in the process if it was a recall.

 

I don't know how to tell if my cat is bad. The exhaust stinks. My gas mileage sucks. Didn't come close to passing emissions. This could be caused by my vacuum lines not being plugged in, I can't figure out where they go. Truck idles good, and runs good.

 

If you have to pass emissions with a sniffer test, then you shouldnt gut the cat, though you may still need a new one. What state are you in and what tests do you have to pass? NC used to have a sniffer, but did away with it years ago and now do a safety and tampering test on 95 and older, and an OBDII plug in test on 96 and newer vehicles, and anything 35 years old and older are now exempt from all testing. I know other states have stiffer rules for this stuff though. Good luck !