What is the best way to eliminate the catalytic converter on a 96 F150. I reside in an area with no EPA testing and the cat is on its way out... service engine light on for the rear heat sensor just behind the cat. I just would like to get rid of it any easy solutions? any gifted shade tree engineering? I would love to do a full strait from the headers set up - to a Flowmax muffler, but for now money is tight so.. something simple will have to do.

 

cut it off? replace with straight pipe? seems simple enough.

 

Drop the pipe down and ream the guts out.

 

If you mean you have a o2 after the cat that's coding, they make a simple kit that makes the ECU think the sensor is reading at close to perfect fuel trim (14.68 to 1) so the ECU "thinks" the Cat is still there & doing a great job! o2's ahead of the Cat are the ones that actually control fuel trim. Behind the Cat is just monitoring Cat health. Doe that help?

 

The fact that your post-cat HEGO sensor is showing a code does not mean your cat is dying. It simply means that the engine is running off ratio. There are many possible causes and a cat failure is among the least likely

 

I was under the presumption that all issues with O2 sensors behind the cat were cat issues.. How might I get the engine running on ratio?

 

What error codes do you have?

 

one way to test if the cat is going bad is use a temp gun and check the temp of the pipes just before and after the cat if the temp is about a 50 degree difference it should be good if not its probably getting clogged

or use a rubber mallet and tap it and if you hear rattling the catalyst is broken up inside

its a 96 so the o2 sensor does monitor the cat and the emissions from the vehicle it was madated for all 96 and newer vehicles

either way im not too much of a fan anyway i say cut it off and straight pipe it too