car in question is 99 camry 4 cyl auto.
ok, im fairly certain that i have a plugged up set of cats. the cars got 230k on it, and lately it has been down on power and economy considerably. ive done all the basic checks, and what i keep coming back to is that the exhaust sound restricted. so...
my car has two cats. one right at the head bolted to the manifold, and one underneath behind the car right behind the oil pan.
ive found that other camrys had a tubular exhaust manifold that did not have the first cat, but still had the second cat.
im led to believe that the camry i have is equipped with the california emissions due to the first cat at the manifold.
my question is, can i swap over to the catless manifold, therby deleting what i believe is a plugged up cat? will the computer hate me for this? i live in NC, whch means tyhat i do have state OBD2 inspections. so i cant throw any codes. im just looking for a way to save some coin, as the cats for this car aint cheap.
also, can i weld in a universal downstream cat, like a spun highflow? again, will the computer hate me?
lastly, sionce the exhaust on this car is getting pretty rusty and thin, i think i may replace the whole thing when i do the downstream cat. is there any higherflow options out there for reasonable money? i was thinking a system for a v6 car from the cat back, but will it fit up to a 4cyl car without a lot of mods? any cheap ricer stuff out there?
thanks michael
