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.
Do buses have catalytic converters ?
It depends on what kind of bus. Big buses are usually diesels, which do not use catalytic converters (I don't think). They use different methods of cleaning the exhaust gasses. Smaller/cheaper buses that use gas engines have catalytic converters unless they are really old (70s). The catalytic converter on a car is part of the exhaust pipe, usually pretty close to the point at which the headers (separate pipes, one from each cylinder) come together, or right after the bend where the exhaust begins to point towards the back of the car (from vertically downward). The catalytic converter will look like a larger (usually wide and flat-ish) part of the pipe. Some cars with V8s (or even V6s) may have two catalytic converters (one on each header from each side of the engine). Many cars also have a resonator farther back on the exhaust pipe, which looks similar to the catalytic converter (but is not the same). The catalytic converter is as close to the engine as possible because it needs to be very hot to operate.
Can faulty catalytic converters cause massive muffler noise?
I've been having troubles with a small 96' toyota tacoma 2wd "baby truck". I had the original muffler replaced which was rather quiet removed, and these guys put a Bosal muffler on it and it howled and was very loud at certain speeds right out of their shop . 2nd try same thing ... They are trying to get me to beleive that somehoe the catalytic converter is probably bad even tho it sounded fine up until the instant they messed with the car. What are the odds of their story being true?,.... That it's not a loud muffler, but really a bad catalyitic converter. I have had friends run cars without converters and they sounded ok . You think this is a plausible excuse / reason? or do you think if i went with an OEM muffler it would fix this? Thanks
What does it mean when a car has two exhaust pipes?
two muffler pipes running out the back of your car. Either duel exhaust or a single exhaust with a "Y" shaped pipe splitting into two pipes out the back of your car. Most of the time it's for looks. If you have a high performance car it's for performance. The faster the exhaust leaves the motor the better.
Does making the exhaust of my car bigger mean more fuel consumption?
Yes, potentially. Technically speaking. It depends on what kind of car you drive.By “exhaust” here, I’m taking it to mean the full exhaust, from engine back. If you are talking about a muffler or just the end of the exhaust/tailpipe, then the answer is no.If your car is boosted (turbocharger or supercharger) then yes, it could mean more fuel consumption. A freer flowing exhaust will typically increase horsepower slightly on these types of cars. More power means more fuel consumption. If the engine has other modifications as well, then the effect will be larger.If your car is not boosted - normally aspirated - then most likely you won’t notice too much of a difference.Also, just because you increase the size of the exhaust does not mean the exhaust will be louder. A larger pipe diameter can still have catalytic converters (a.k.a. cats) and mufflers. Larger exhausts tend to be louder because the company that made the exhaust used louder “performance” mufflers, freer flowing cats, or might have removed the cats and mufflers all together.