Catalytic Converter Bolts ripped out

[jduldula]

So I was driving yesterday normally and all of a sudden my CEL starts blinking. Later in the day I start my car and the exhaust is twice as loud.... under the car. I get it home to find that one of the bolts connecting my cat. converter to the cat-back pipe is gone and the cat and pipe are apart. Now it sounds great :lol: but I need to put the two back together before the whole thing breaks apart when the other bolt goes (and to pass stupid smog tests).

My question is: does the cat use "exhaust bolts (the ones with the springs)" or can I just repair it with any bolts that fit? :smt026

[1-3-2-4]

you mean between the first and 2nd cat? the one that holds the donut gasket? If so yes it uses the exhaust bolts with springs.. to get by you can use normal bolts but it's not advised to do so since stuff needs to flex.

[green97gt]

yes, the only joint(pretty sure) in the exhaust system with springs.

can be repaired, esp if you dont care. with almost any nut/washer/bolt/SPRING combo you can come up with make sure you have the orientation the same as the other spring, or essentially, both springs on the same side.

you may also need the "fiber donut"...i dont know what else to call it, that fits between the cat pipe and the rest of the exhaust

cause if thats fallen apart, as they do when disconnected after lots of miles, that will cause "emissions issues", and some extra noise, that are only about 7 dollars from a parts store if i recall correctly.

[ouch1011]

I'm kind of doubting that the exhaust breaking caused the flashing CEL (since that typically is caused by a serious misfire). But certainly fix that first and recheck it.