how do you know when our cat is bad? what are the symptoms?

 

My cat is bad when it poops on the floor..

 

Here are just a few of the signs and symptoms of a plugged/dead cat:
Markedly decreased low rpm power,
Engine runs a little hotter than normal at constant cruising speeds,
Exhaust leaks near header that won't seal in spite of new gaskets,
Bucking or hesitation while accelerating,
Cat's exterior surface temp cooler near outlet.

 

i noticed this right after i installed my WSP y-pipe with magnaflow cat that they sent me. the car was working fine before the installed this but after i did the installation like a few months later i started getting this weird reaction where my car will run like crap. i would floor it and the rpm's will go up to about 2k-3k rpm's and will drop rpm's after that but you hear the engine like it wants to rev but can't since the rpm's just drop and then it feels like it wants to stall. i checked all my fuel injector connectors and cleaned them up thinking it would be that but it wasn't. i also cleaned the maf connector and nothing. it would only do it when it rains but now its doing it when its dry and raining as well. it does not do it everytime i drive it. it only does it when it feels like it. so i figured that it might be the cat that WSP sent me? i have to change my O2 sensor as well since i got a code for that and my coolant temperature sensor as well. don't know if all this is related to my problem. i've had this problem since '04 and haven't really bothered trying to figure out what the hell is the problem or even the time to do it.

 

If you take the cat off, you can see particles or chunks of black crap in it when looking directly at a light.

Also, change your coolant temp sensor and o2 sensor if they are throwing a code. When your o2 sensor is faulty, it will often run rich and the unburned fuel will clog your cat. My car ran like *** when the coolant temp sensor was bad. That is about the easiest thing on a VE I have ever replaced.

 

yeah, eventually i will change both sensors out sometime next week if i get a decent pay check.