Are The Catalytic Converter The Same From A 2005 Mustang V6 And 2005 Gt Help

What problems go along with a bad catalytic converter?

A clogged catalytic convertor causes the symptoms of a loss of power when accelerating or going up a hill. This is an often overlooked cause of loss of power, can cause check engine fault codes and lights, and mechanics will often change a few parts unnecessarily , especially if it is only partially plugged. A couple ways I check for plugged cats when a low power complaint is a symptom, and other obvious basic maintenance items have been checked for service is to have someone hold the rpm at about 1800 to 2000 steady. Then check for a good push of exhaust with my hand from behind the tailpipe. A plugged or partially plugged cat typically leaves a hot sickly feeling exhaust flow from the tailpipe. Compare to a known good working car nearby, known to be performing properly and with the same amount of cylinders. That slow , hot sickly flow at 2000 rpm compared to the hard push blowing your hand away of a not clogged cat is a dead giveaway, and I have NEVER misdiagnosed a plugged cat , or made false diagnosis with this method. Another way is watching a vacuum gauge connected to the intake manifold. When revving up, if the exhaust is plugged the gauge reading will climb then begin to slowly drop as the exhaust pressure builds up. Further testing will be needed to verify which part of the exhaust is plugged. Diagnostic by codes is unreliable and until now I had not heard of it. A code p420 only refers to catalyst efficiency. And can be set by faulty o2 sensors. Removing the exhaust and testing for engine power returning to normal works. But the hot sickly flow has been most accurate with my experience, in several cases where shops had missed it, were stumped and called me to come check. They are always embarrassed for missing the simplicity, but need not, as cars and their complicated electronics and even age old problems can lead to loss of power without any immediately obvious cause.

Can a clogged catalytic converter unclog itself?

Well, it can happen that they will de-clog on their own, but usually need a helping hand.  If it is utterly blocked, then dismantling and manually cleaning is the only solution.If the ceramic material inside is melted, then change it.Most modern Cats are stuffed with a ceramic honeycomb structure, unlike the older ones that had complex filters with platinum wool amongst other stuff inside them.One of the reasons they get clogged is people lugging around in fifth gear making lots of soot which clogs the honeycomb.A faulty EGR valve (gas recirculation) will do the trick as well.Faulty injection, allowing to much fuel to come through the exhaust can cause the honeycomb to melt when it starts burning the fuel... (replacement)But you can clear a blocked (not 100% blocked) converter by getting it hot enough to make it finish what it is supposed to do.The garages here in France have a naughty technique, they hoist the car up on lift with the motor going flat out, and stand underneath it holding a fire extuinguisher, just in case it sets fire to the car, or any flames from the now burning soot comes blasting out of the rear.It is a dangerous technique in my opinion, and not good for the engine, but it works.  I don't suppose it works everytime either.So if you have a CAT that is partially blocked because you mooch around in fifth gear or have bad driving habits, you could try driving the vehicle hard enough to heat the CAT as it should be, where usually it can clear itself.So , if it is soot build up, there is hope for you, to unclog it without taking it off the vehicle and or changing it, if it is hard blocked with mineral deposits, unlikely. If it is melted, its got to be changed.

Will it cause problems with my car if I cut off the catalytic converter and put a straight pipe in its place?

It will add performance but hurt fuel economy and your ability to pass emissions.The CAT is a great invention, but it adds an obstruction to the exhaust. If you remove obstructions you will realize some performance benefit (could be major or minor depending on the car, probably only major if large powerful engine to start).The problem is your car (if it’s less than 20 years old) uses inputs from the oxygen sensors to modify the air fuel mix. There is an oxygen sensor before the CAT and one after the CAT to measure how good of a job it is doing. If you remove the CAT you will get an error code (check engine light). On most cars this means your engine will probably not run as good (certainly not as efficiently) because without those inputs from the oxygen sensor it won’t dynamically modify the air fuel mix and the spark timing, it will just run off of presets as if the car is still warming up (open loop vs closed loop).The error code will also prevent you from passing emissions (which most states require) and the lack of a CAT will be noticed by most emissions testing facilities that use cameras nowadays to make sure it has not been removed.Most people ask this kind of question to bypass emissions (rather than to improve performance). If your goal is to bypass emissions, it won’t work. CATs are expensive because they are made of platinum and palladium and a few other expensive materials. It is illegal to sell a used catalytic converter but some people do it anyway.If you’re asking for performance modification reasons, your best bet is to buy a less restrictive performance exhaust system that has a CAT and spots for the oxygen sensors.