clogged cat/ o2 sensor

i have a question for people who know alittle bit more about cars than i do. i have a clogged catalytic converter after time and money wasted on diagnosing the problem. but i need more car right now to get around from work and school. i have a 95 cavalier 2.2L. i read on a website to take off the O2 sensor completely to relieve the back pressure. as some of you might know the o2 sensor is right in the exhaust pipe under the hood. is taking off the o2 sensor a good idea? or will it cause more problems than it solves?

one thing ive always wondered is why people call it "o2", the symbol for oxygen is just "O" you cant have 2 parts oxygen (o2) without at least 1 part something else, well you can but like i said, it would be just "O" (no 2)

anyways, removing that sensor will leave you with a permanant check engine light, and it wont unclog your cat so i would imagine your problem would still be the same

one thing ive always wondered is why people call it "o2", the symbol for oxygen is just "O" you cant have 2 parts oxygen (o2) without at least 1 part something else, well you can but like i said, it would be just "O" (no 2)

anyways, removing that sensor will leave you with a permanant check engine light, and it wont unclog your cat so i would imagine your problem would still be the same

hmmmm....so you think i would still got alot of back pressure? only problem is i guess all the exhaust come out under my hood right?

Lot of exhaust, lot of heat, and a rotten eggs smell...I say cut it off and run straight pipe until you can put a new cat in...

If you take off the 02 sensor then your car will become loud if you don't put something in it's place.

yea... I wouldnt recomend pulling the o2 sensor, it will give faulty codes and your engine will run default, which means your mpg will drop, plus you've got to find something inventive to plug the whole with. if it was me, I'd simply hollow out the cat, it still looks like it's there for inspections, and you'll get increased mpg and horsepower. It will cost you about 6 bucks and about 45 minutes of your time. just grab a sawsaw cut the exhaust behind the cat, after the flaring, probobly 2 inches after the flaring, you'll have acess to drive a crow bar, skinny side of baseball bat, or a large spade bit on a extention with a cordless drill. just keep ramming till you finally get to the other side, it's either pellets, or honeycomb. I'd suggest first startig with a long skinny peace of metal, perhaps a piece of conduit or plumbing pipe, once you get your skinny hole through, reaming it out is easy, start the car, rev it heavily to shoot all the crap you reemed out, let it idle, and reach in and reeam some more while idling, (ofcourse dont put your face in front of it while idling or you'll look like a chiminey sweeper), grab some cheap 2 dollar exhaust reducers, say... if it's a 2 inch pipe, you'll want a 2 1/8 to 1 7/8 reducer, you'll want to go from the outside of the cat side, to the inside of the muffler side, reducers are cheap, so grab a few of them if you have problems so you've got them on hand, so you'll grab say a 2 1/4 to 1 7/8, or a 2 1/4 to 2, etc. etc. what ever original pipe size yours is. At 2 bucks a piece, it's worth grabbing a few different ones in case your wrong, that way you've got em with you, grab a couple U bolts in same dimensions, and your good to go. simple and easy. I've had to do it to 4 cars in the past, big improvement. Ofcourse, this isnt exactly legal..... but most performance upgrades arent anyways. Heres my 2 cents on an easy fix, back yard mechanic style, but you could always take it to a pro shop and pay big $$$$ to get a new one and installed.

Walker Exhaust sells an oxy sensor plug.I think its #35299.

i just tryed to get my damn cat off and the bolts look either rusted or welded on. SHIT!

That's pretty funny that you thought you could get any piece of any exhaust system off any '95 auto.

I don't see the point in all this "reaming out the cat" stuff. (although a creative approach i admit)

just cut it off and stick a pipe in between. Who needs all that extra work.

well when you go for admissions and they look under ther and see a test pipe then you FAIL. Rather if they see a cat and if they don't know it is empty then your ok

The symbol for oxygen is O. "O" stands for one atom of oxygen. Oxygen stoms are joined in pairs. To write a pair of oxygen atoms using symbols, we use the symbol O and the number 2. Oxygen would be (O2). The 2 is a subscript. "Sub" means "below". The 2 is written to the right of and below the O. A pair of oxygen atoms is a molecule of oxygen. A molecule is the smallest particle of a substance that exists independently. Molecules of most elements are made up of only one of atom of that element. Oxygen, along with nitrogen, hydrogen, and chlorine are made up of two atoms. Look at the model of oxygen above. The two balls represents the two oxygen molecules. The oxygen molecules are bonded or stuck together.

http://www.nyu.edu/pages/mathmol/textbook/compounds.html

:owned:

Cleaning out a cat is nothing new....I knew a guy back in 82 that had a 1980 K10 350 that did that very thing.He cut the cat down the middle,opened it up,drained the pellets,inserted a straight pipe,and re welded the cat together.The truck never ran right after that.Its sure better than hollowing a converter out (the huge diameter of the cat kills low end torque),but its a federal no no if you get caught tampering.I am no cat-con fan,but if it helps smooth things out,cuts down on all the nasty emissions,and keeps you legal then I am for it.And cat cons are not nearly as expensive as they used to be....(they used to be $400+ at the dealers back in the day)....aftermarket maybe $100....$150? I say keep it factory,and you wont have to go back and do it again.

:owned:

not really, he was just simply explaining it to me since i didnt understand....



also, thanks mark