stupid cars....

[bmxfreakrider]

Well today i decided to get my lazy bum out of my chair and do something, so i walked outside and seen my truck, missing tire and all, and decided to start working on it. in the course of the day, i put a new tire on the rim (that took forever), new spark plugs, changed the oil, new antifreeze, cleaned the interior, hooked the radio back up, put the tire back on and pulled it off the blocks. i started it up and let it run at 3500rpm for 10 minutes and let it idle for another 20, until i got out of the cab (i was enjoying my heater) and seen smoke coming from under the car, so i freaked and opened the hood and smoke just billowed out, so i ran around shut it off and let the engine compartment air out. i looked where the smoke was coming from (car has been off for about 5 minutes now) and i thought it was the transmission, so i got under it and looked, and the muffler was smoking (right after the catalytic converter) so i looked back inside of the engine compartment and at the exhaust system, to see the catalytic converter glowing bright red.

this whole time im on the phone with my friend, and his dad was like "well a bright red catalytic converter means its time for anew one"

so after hours of googling, i now know what my project for tomorrow is: pull it out and pull out the insides to clear the restriction. i know its a smog violation, but its not a worry because in a couple of months im gonna get a v8 for it and ditch the crappy 2.6L sohc 4 banger, or maybe a 2.8L V6 TBI (throttle body injected). so i have been doing some research, and it sounds like the engine might be running too rich. but the ****ing carburetor has no tuning screws. its a mess, looks like Medusa's head, vacuum wires anywhere. lol


suggestions/comments? its a 1985 Dodge Ram D50 2.6L gasoline (not the diesel version)

 

[superdave1984]

Sucks you live in Cali. Around here we just cut off the cat and weld in some pipe. New cat converters are E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E.

 

[lancec2c30]

Ya, I had to do the same thing to my 91 mazda pickup. it uses the same manifold as your truck. probably the same exhaust.

 

[FireFox]

Yep...your cat is clogged. Have fun with that...I hate working on the exhaust.

 

[lancec2c30]

like he said, it is a easy fix. May not be legal. but easy.


"Ya'll take a reel big pieca pipe 'n ya jam 'er down insider reel good 'n like till all dat screen n stuff comes on outta der." works like a charm.

 

[bmxfreakrider]

lol took a bit to understand the instructions you posted lance, but i got the idea:

step 1: remove cat
step 2: take cat and clamp to work bench
step 3: take "reel big pieca pipe 'n jam 'er down insider reel good"
step 4: install cat
step 5: ...dunno yet, maybe do donuts or something in my front yard

 

[FireFox]

Just make sure you get EVERYTHING out of the cat...or else it'll have a real nice raddle to it. >_<

 

[superdave1984]

It won't pass emissions like that but it will run just fine.

 

[lancec2c30]

Definitely not in CA. But meh, you said you live out in the middle of nowhere so who cares.

 

[bmxfreakrider]

YEP, gonna be doing that now, might as well take some pics of it, its a work in progress, got it in 99' and it didnt run, and over the past 9 years it has been my project car. have rebuilt the motor twice, trasmission once, gutted the interior and put in new carpet/seats, new radio, tires, etc... when we got it it looked like it was submerged in a lake then buried in a sand dune for a few years, now it actually could be driven on the street with out being noticed (besides the 1999 tags, no registration (according to the dmv's records, the vehicle doesnt exist), one busted tail light, and no tail-gate)

lol, at least it runs!