Seems to be a lot of debate on which Y-Pipe to get on a 5th Gen Max. So here goes a poll and I hope all you Y-Pipe guys will vote. I haven't installed mine yet so want to be sure I have the best one. ie. No bees in da can and easy to install. Any other feedback would be cool!

 

For "no bees in da can", you'd have to add an option to the poll -- "None".

 

A Y-Pipe is going on my car for sure! Just want to be sure I put the best one on. How much did you pay for your Random Tech Cat? Was it worth it? What kind of perfomance increase do you think you got with it and does it make your ride any louder?

Thanks


PS Come on Y-Pipe owners your just one click from a vote!

 

Depends on your environment.

 

Sworn to secrecy.
Yes.
Butt dyno says a few hp and no.

 

I am getting a y-pipe soon. In my opinion, if you are going to be driving in wet or snowy weahter, then get the cattman since it is SS. The Stillen is not, but if you are in cali or a place where it is dry most of the time, go with that one.

 

I live in Canada and we get fierce winters with salt and sand on the roads. So I assume the Cattman is the way to go? Any how much did you guys pay for the Random Tech cat? Do you know the supposed HP increase? How easy/hard is it to install?

Thanks again!

 

I have cattman, and no Bees in a can.

 

Stillen is SS, it's not polished, and it'a bit cheaper than Cattman's. Plus, when I installed it MYSELF, I think I only had like 2 bees.. =)

 

Stillen is "mild steel" with ceramic coating (new version).

PhatGuy, I suggest getting the Cattman pipe.

 

I picked up the Cattman pipe. Had one on my old 98 Maxima SE. Liked the quality, price and Brian's attitude much better than the ripoff jerks over at Stillen. Additionally, if you want a good cat that is equivalent to Random's in performance at less than half the price, check out mufflertech.com. Good guys to do business with as well. Tell them Austin sent you. And no I'm not affiliated with them in any way.

 

I have the Stillen one but I have bees at 5000-6500 rpms but I don't go up that high all the time so I like it!

 

No bees in a can sound. Anyone who says that the Y pipe doesn't add more sound is lying. This was the first mod I got done and I noticed it was louder. BUT! It does sound a lot better and cooler. I had trouble ordering with stillen and they do not make the best quality pipe. I only want the best for my car, so I bought Cattman..

 

Stillen Free is the way to bee sorry.

 

I would have to agree with Y2Kev, and the others, in stating that it all depends on where you live and weather conditions there. I had no problems with my Stillen Y-pipe and I live in Tx. but I would not recomend it in CAnada, or place with bad weather such as snow or lots of rain, I would go with the Cattman in that case. All this talk about Y-pipes makes me wanna get one

Ohh and also Cattman is the only company that I would trust in ordering a 3" Y-pipe.

 

I'm surprised you haven't gotten that yet. I'll prototype one for ya!

 

So what does the prototype 3" Y consist of, if its anything like your S/C then it must be made of custom garden hose.

 

Think of it this way... you'll be the first to have it.

 

Cattman Rocks Easy install solid performance.
quit as a church mouse..
:smile:

 

If I decide to go for a y-pipe it'll be Cattman - can't beat the quality/workmanship

I'm concerned about the exaust imbalance this will create since only the rear precat is removed on 2K1's. Is this enough to have any long term effect on the engine? I think there's probably already somewhat of a backpresure imbalance on the stock y-pipe since the piping coming from the rear exaust manifold to the y junction has a 180 degree bend where the piping coming from the front manifold has at most about a 75 degree bend - providing a little less restriction than the rear - so maybe I shouldn't worry about this. Any thoughts?

Also, regarding the B pipe - is the only restriction the crimp right after the cat? I'm thinkin' if this is it then I could probably just have my muffler shop just replace this part of the b-pipe (cut off this criped section and just weld on a pipe section of the same diameter). What do guys think about this?

thanks!

sleep

 

Have you voted yet?

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread...?threadid=43035

and

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread...?threadid=43284

 

Voting only helps if there's a winner. So far it's a tie. Lotta good that does

 

You could always do what I did and also replace the front precat too. You can click on the site in my sig and follow the links to the Y-pipe page for more info.


There is another crimped down area just behind the resonator, although it isn't as restrictive as the one immediately before the resonator. The stock press bends are pretty crappy too. If you do decide to weld in straight pipe in place of the crimped areas, you will want to drop the cross members by inserting some washers between the cross members and the undercarriage. Otherwise, you'll hear non-stop banging while driving around town.

 

Well let's see. So far we know that 3 out of every 4 Y-pipe owners have that "bees in a can" sound and 2 out of every 3 that have the sound don't like it. We also know that the Cattman Y-pipe seems to be more bees-free than either the Stillen or Warpspeed Y-pipes.

While the results may change, I find that information extremely useful especially for people contemplating a Y-pipe purchase and wondering which Y-pipe to buy.

 

I agree! I am very happy with this thread! Good info and a good battle in the poll. Harsh environment=Cattman for me though...

 

Just a quick note. Dallas and I had one of our 3" y-pipes dyno tested by a Max.org member in Chicago. He actually got less h/p and tourque with it vs. the 2.5 . I personally wouldn't do it. If you want to talk to the guy who did the dynoing e-mail Dallas. BTW we will be working on the 5th gen pipe soon. It will have the new lined flex section.

Dan WSP

 

Cali-spec, fed-spec, or both? And what do you expect your pricing to be?

 

We will do both. Dallas told me this weekend in Kansas City that we have access to a Cailf. version for 2 wks. No info on pricing yet. I would say to expect reasonable.I know we will be doing it in 304 for sure. Maybe 409, doubt aluminized. We also will be doing our version of the CAI as well.
Dan WSP

 

DesertPearl - awesome site, super informative! I'm definitely getting rid of that front pre-cat when I install the y-pipe. I'm brand new to the org and Max mods, your site is one of the very best I've seen so far (along with Greg Prete's - http://www.greghome.com/Greg's%20Garage/1999%20Nissan%20Maxima%20SE/Modifications.htm.)

I just had a custom B-pipe done by my muffler shop today. They don't have a mandrel machine but I had them use 2.5" pipe so I figured the press bends would be down between 2-2.25" which is way better than the huge crimp right after the main cat - plus they only charged me $68 for the whole thing! I notice the RPM's are a little lower at highway speeds, the exhaust is just bit throatier, and buttdyno-wise it sure feels like an improvement! I just took the small rear cross member off since the screws weren't long enough to drop it far enough. What are the size/type nuts you used on the B-pipe for the O2 sensors? Also, what materials did you use the extend/protect the wiring?

I'm not sure I want to remove the radiator - I'm either going to get a five-bolt flange made for the y-pipe or just cut the pre-cat off right after the flange and have the y-pipe welded on to it if possible.

My main concern/question now is about the relocated O2 sensors. This is next up. I know the front sensors measure changes in the air-fuel mixture and the ECU continuously regulate this mixture using this info (along with info from a bunch of other different sensors). I know you didn't get a check engine light after relocating the rear sensors but since the main cat is larger than the pre-cats will this cause the ECU to mis-adjust the air-fuel mixture (either too rich or too lean - neither of which is good)? Or are the rear sensors just there to confirm for the most part that yes, the pre-cats are working, or no they are not?

 

In our previous discussion here, I believe we had all agreed that the rear O2 sensors were simply to check if the pre-cats were there or not. Correct me if I am wrong though

 

First off, there's nothing wrong with press-bent piping, as long as it's not too restrictive. Ask any reputable performance exhaust shop that has either flow tested or dynoed various setups (both press bent and mandrel bent) and they'll back this up. Both Belangers Custom Exhaust and Pro-Dyno here in Phoenix do most of their work in press bent piping. Partly because it's cheaper, although Belangers does have a mandrel bender in his shop which he uses for headers, but also because most of the time it doesn't perform any better.

My O2 sensor page should have the info you are looking for.

www.desertpearlmax.homestead.com/O2_Sensor.html

The bolts are 18mm w/ 1.5mm thread. Basically an exhaust shop just needs to burn two holes in the exhaust after the main cat and weld on nuts of this size and thread. Check out the link above for more detail on how I protected the wiring, etc. BTW, I used some 24 gauge solid copper wiring to extend the sensors. Telephone wiring works good for this.


I would highly recommend removing the radiator. It only takes about 15 minutes and makes the job much easier. The precat doesn't like to separate from the manifold. If you aren't going to replace the manifold, you could get a custom 5 bolt bracket made, although I think this will cost you more than buying a used manifold for $50. I wouldn't try welding the y-pipe to existing exhaust. That pretty much takes out the possibility of ever returning to stock and also would be a tricky weld (steel to cast iron).


Yes UMD_MaxSE and I agree on this. We believe that the rear O2 sensors are not used to adjust for air/fuel ratio, but merely to check for the existance of the precats. I still haven't gotten any check engine lights, nor have I seen the car do the slightest bit of stumbling or anything that might be attributed to an improper air/fuel ratio like smoking, knocking, etc.

 

Desert Pearl, UMD_MaxSE - thanks for the info. I think you're right about the relocated O2 sensors. It seems that as long as the front sensors are working properly the rear sensors are simply monitoring the pre-cats - or cat in this case. At least that seems to be the function of the rear sensor on 4th gens - check out the response from Daniel B Martin in this thread:

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....+oxygen+sensor

As soon as I get Don's VB done (just waiting for Don to let me know when I can head down to Houston to get it done...) I'm ordering the front exhaust manifold and Cattman Y. I guess in the meantime I can work on relocating the rear sensors. Thanks for the help guys!

(By the way - Desert Pearl, any suggestions on steps to remove the radiator?)

 

It's really simple. I'm going from memory here, so I can't guarantee its accuracy... but here goes:

1. Remove the two plastic linings under the front of the engine/radiator. There are a few bolts and many plastic "clips". There are also two sizes of the "clips". The small ones you can easily unscrew. The larger ones have slots for inserting a screw driver to pry them open. The problem is that they are very brittle, so you'll probably break a few of them. Just swing by the local Nissan parts dept and pick up some... they're cheap.

2. Drain the radiator. The drain is on the passenger side of the radiator. I believe it requires a phillips head screwdriver instead of the normal twisting valve that we're accustomed to.

3. Disconnect the lower radiator hoses. There are several to disconnect. There are the larger water hoses as well as smaller transmission fluid hoses if you have an A/T. I would recommend leaving the transmission fluid hoses connected to the radiator. I would disconnect them farther up line. You'll see exactly what I mean when you crawl under your car. You can plug those lines with vacuum caps if you don't want them to leak out tranny fluid. When I did this mod, I think I lost about 10 drops of tranny fluid.

4. Disconnect the overflow hose, upper radiator hoses and also the two wiring harnesses for the cooling fans.

5. Remove the two nuts that hold on the brackets on the top side of the radiator. Here's more detail if you don't see what I'm talking about... the radiator has two pins sticking up that fit into rubber "washers" held by brackets. These are what you are removing.

6. Now everything should be free. Simply grab the radiator and lift straight up. To install it, simple do these items in reverse order. The last step should be to add some H2O, antifreeze and of course, a bottle of RedLine Water Wetter.

Lemme know if you need any more info or run into any problems. This is a fairly complex mod, but not undo-able. If you break it down into parts like you mentioned, it will make it a lot easier. That's exactly what I did.