F'ing POS. I had this thing for exactly one year with less than 10K miles on it and the damn thing is making a rattling noise now. The noise it makes is like you're shaking one of those spray cans with a piece of metal inside.

It's embarrassing when I'm rolling in the school parking lot and all you hear is the rattling noise and people look at you with that "WTF is that noise" look.

Anyways lesson learned. F*** RT products. End of rant.

 

Yup a piece of the monolithic brick is broken off and is rattling back and forth. I took mine off and broke out the rattling piece. Now I run about 2/3 to 1/2 the original brick but at least it doesn't rattle anymore. Those products are really subpar quality. Live and learn I guess. It seemed like a good idea at the time!

 

What is this "brick" I keep on hearing about? Does stock cats have it too?

 

The gasses pass though the cat to reduce emissions. The "brick" is what the gasses pass though to be "converted". If you look inside the cat, you will know right away

 

Oh OK, I know what it is that you're talking about. I remember looking through the cat when I first got it. It looks like a brown colored net.

 

so OEM cats are the best route? i think mine's crapping out pretty soon.

 

There are plenty of aftermarket high flow ones that don't have these problems...

 

I actually had my RT cat rattle for quite a while, then it stopped, and recently I smogged it, and it passed just fine...... unless they gave me the special smog and didn't tell me

 

thats why mine is gutted..hahah

 

Carsound cats are great if you're looking for a replacement/high flow cat.

 

RT is a company local to me, and another shop that does a lot of work for them told me that RT just uses a Catco core. Not a bad core, but not as good as a carsound. And considering that a Catco high flow cat can be bought for $30, charging $190 for the same thing with flanges on it is a bit high. It's $20 to weld flanges on it, so basically you can build your own RT for $50.

That may explain the RT problems. Cheapest core available on the most expensive cat.

 

That is exactly what my local muffler shop guy said too. RT is just a Catco core. But I must say, I love my RT Cat. It PASSED my smog check and I didn't have to pay the late registration fee. My car failed with 65K miles on the stock cat. I paid $50 to have it diagnosed and the tech told me it was the cat. He quoted me for $800 for an OEM. I was in despair, then I suddenly remembered that I had an RT cat sitting in my garage that I bought off of Nick Stam about 2 years ago. I popped it on and took it back to get smogged the next day (also the last day before I had to pay a penalty fee for being late). I PASSED and was both relieved and happy. Now, I'm wondering why my cat went bad. I never used leaded fuel...though I suspect my Knock and O2 sensors may have something to with since they are still the originals with 65K miles on them.

 

One of the bricks might be lodged in there sideways causing restriction. I suggest taking it off and at least looking at it. Oh yeah I had a POS R/T cat and it fell apart too. I got some straight through resonated cat from ebay. Don't have to emission test so I'm not sure if it actually reduces emissions but it makes my exhaust sound better than my test pipe.

 

why'dya quote my Carsound post to say this... you weren't implying carsound = catco I hope!

 

This worries me as I also have the RT cat. How long was it being used until it started happening?

 

Bout a year and half. For mine to crap out.

 

K, cool. I have only had mine for 2 months. Got my stock one in the garage should I need to change it.

 

not to be mean or anythin, howcome u purcharsed a RT cat before a y-pipe? i mean budget y-pipe is only $160 whereas RT cat are $179.



any aftermarket cats/testpipe will provide only 1-2HP, sometimes even nothing. i may put my stock cat back on jus cuz i can't stand the smell. although i did say $30 for 1-2HP is worth it, but i guess i rather keep my car smells clean over that 1-2HP.

 

I know it can't be true but my NISSAN dealer wants $840 for an OEM cat...

 

Because he has an 2002 3.fizzle. I think stillen headers are the option those guys and they are $840. I've heard of the stinky exhaust thing but when I was running a test pipe my Max with 90K miles on it, only smelt funny for a day or so. Try running some fuel system cleaner.

 

HAPPYRICEFOB if your cat stinks it's because it's busted not because it's aftermarket...

 

You took the words outta my mouth. Im definately getting the headers when I got the cheese, Those will give me at least another 20fwhp.

 

sorrie, not exactly clear with 5th gen stuff... mai bad.

 

I came home from school today and my dad asked me what was the rattling he heard from my car. I told him it was the cat.

Then I got that "See what happens when you mod your car" speech.

 

Not to down your pops but man he seems a little uptight. It's not like driving around ripping out your axles or blowing an engine every other day. It's four bolts bam it's changed. Just let'em know it's not hurting the car. I guess parents just don't understand.

 

My dad is always knocking on me saying other Maximas he sees are quiet and mine is noisy. Gee wait till I get a catback.

 

Hmm so what exactly does this rattling sound sound like?

I have a rattling sound coming from my exhaust (it sounds like metal vibrating like a loose flange connection or something) when the engine is low in the RPM range (like say shifting into 2nd in a parking lot goin pretty slow). I have a rattle sound come from the cat area. Doesnt really sound like a rattle can though it sounds like metal on metal vibrating. I assumed it was a flange that had come a little loose but the times I've been down there they were tight as a rock.

Heh I dont even remember if I have Catco or Carsound though

 

My RT cat was rattling, until i took look at it, and the heat shield on top of the cat was loose, the welds melted, and it became loose, rip that heat shield off now no more rattling.

 

so bottom line, what's the best bang for your buck on high flow cats? (that would last a nice while)

 

Drewm, on your sig pic, please tell me that's not a U-haul trailer hitched up to your max.

 

CARSOUND from WARPSPEED. It's $107.50 shipped and the flanges are already welded on, also comes with bolts and gaskets. Just ordered mine and it will be here monday...

 

Agreed, RT cats are the worst. Mine crapped out in 3 months, and when I took it back to the shop to have my stock cat put back on, they said they've had about 6 or 7 RT cats come back bad on all different model cars. Pure trash.