-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- posted this in truck section and got some good info. just looking for more. ive heard 1000 plus bucks for magnaflow cats. one guy said less than 100 bucks for universal??.. should i go to a muffler shop? after spending 4k on a new engine im hoping its not an expensive fix but i want my truck to run right too..

i have a 2004 lariat supercrew with a 5.4 and stock everything. i had to replace the engine in april with a reman and it runs fine but doesnt have much power. from a dead stop i can push it to the floor and it just starts rolling. doesnt really have a "passing gear " at any speed either. struggled to pull my 18" bass boat this weekend in o.d... tried it in drive and it seemed to be getting horrible gas mileage according to the factory fuel calculator gauge. like 8 or 9 mpg.. it got about 11mpg in o.d. and got about 15.5 without boat on hiway.. i dont know if it could be a cat or exhaust issue , fuel, air or what.. i traded my 98 chevy with a 350 in to get this ford. the chevy had no issues pulling the boat in o.d and got about 11 to 12 mpg and i could smoke the tires if i wanted to with that thing.. i love this truck but i think my 1994 ranger with a 4cyl could out run and out pull it. any ideas on where to start?????

 

Im looking for a set of cats for my 4.6L V8. I've been searching on Ebay and Craigslist. So far, they all close to $1k I guess the best bet would be getting them out and weld a universial cat in.

I might have to do that eventually. My truck got the same symptoms as yours: No power and horrible gas mileage.

 

Universal will do just fine and cost a lot less.

 

Struggles to pull a 18"boat lol you got some problems...haha just playing but year universals will do fine thats what most people run when they replace.

 

I spent $275 for 2 Magnaflow universal hi-flow cats, and installation at a muffler shop. There's regular flow universals for a whole lot less than $1,000.

 

dang didnt even notice i had a 18 inch bass boat. it might handle that that. i will make a trip to my muffler shop and see what they can do...

 

my truck goes in monday for new cats. he said it would be around 300 bucks. hopefully i will have a happy update monday evening...

 

I keep reading on here about cats costing $1000 yet when I looked at a stock cat for my 2005 screw it was around $300. That was for the bank 2 cat from the manifold to cat including crossover pipe. Am I missing something here??

I was shopping online at RockAuto. $261 for this part.

http://info.rockauto.com/getimage/ge...lker/50553.jpg

 

That is a replacement '05.5+ model passenger bank pipe with a knock off cat it appears. Your 2004 has 2 cats per side. I would just replace the OEM 4 with the Magnaflow #94106 model cats 1 per side.

 

Thanks for the reply Darren. I have a 2005. I thought I had the 4 cat system until I took another look under my truck a few days ago. Only 2 cats under there. Everything is still stock.

 

The first line of 2005 models built in mid 2004 were build precise to 2004s. When they did the 2nd set of production after Jan 2005 they redesigned the catalyst design to save money and switched to the avg 2 cat system.

 

I had my drivers side CAT replaced under warranty at ford just shy of the 80k miles cut off.

List price was right at $1k.

That is just the one side, the other side would be another $1k. I tried to get them to replace both under warranty with no luck, so when the other goes out, I will be shopping for universals.

Anyone care to comment on the plus's and minus's of ceramic vz metallic?

 

Ceramic withstands heat better.

 

got my 2 cats installed today.. didnt seem to help the power situation.. 2 new cats instead of 4 old cats , so it didnt hurt for sure.. now i guess its back to mechanic that installed my engine and see what they have to say about my options..

 

fuel filter or fuel pump? Im no mechanic just tryin to help