Yeah, happy Thanksgiving to me....

[yotabeater]

went to go to wenatchee today and started getting a horrible vibration. 98 lgt wagon w/ 153k miles. it seemed like it was coming from the rear end starting around 40mph and getting worse to 60mph, but when i slowed down a bit there was a weird noise coming from the front. i stopped and got out, and immediately smelled rotten eggs, which has happened before while going up hills. someone told me the smell is the cats, and the only shop i talked to today said it "could be the muffler". any thoughts? thanks and happy turkey day.

[Perdue]

Rotton egg smell has always meant a clogged or broken cat in my experience. I'd start there, as I'd think that'd be your problem. You can pick'em up from summit for around $50, and a shop will probably only charge you $10-15 to put it on and hang new pipe. I'd just do away with both the stock cats and run the aftermarket cat alone. Here, we can do that, but I'm not sure in your state. Emissions may not allow it, so check first.

[yotabeater]

i went to one shop a while ago and they said if i wanted to do cats on her it would be like $500 or something retarded. how much would it be for just cheap cats or cat deletes at a reasonable shop? don't know if going straight pipe will screw up my obd2.

[Perdue]

IIRC, you can order a high flow cat section for around $350? It's a bolt up install that you can do yourself. These are also usually stainless steel and should last forever, not to mention you should get some performance gains from it. Try Boxer4Racing.com.

If you want to go the universal route, here is a link to one that should fit from summit. (http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=CTO%2D6904&N=700+4294923429+4294838974+4294867633+4294891681+4294788444+4294906122+4294906131+115&autoview=sku) It will be about $65 after their handling fee. Stock pipe diameter is 1 7/8 inches IIRC, so that should be easily welded up. They shouldn't be charging you that much money to cut off the old pipe, make a simple 90 degree bend in a piece of 2" aluminized steel pipe, weld a cat on, then weld a bung in before the cat for the front o2 sensor, and one behind it for the rear o2 sensor. That's usually a $10-15 operation.

[yotabeater]

down here at the shop and he said it's definately not the cats. the rotten egg smell is normal, according to the tech, and shows that the cats are working properly. i'm thinking it's a bearing or cv or something along those lines. any other input? or is everybody still in their turkey coma?

[Perdue]

the rotten egg smell is normal, according to the tech, and shows that the cats are working properly.
:sad1: I'm sorry, but believe who you want to believe here. I call BS. Last I checked, a rotten egg smell did not show that anything on a vehicle was working properly...otherwise, all you would smell is the rotten egg smell all over the interstates, downtown in traffic, and so on. Last I checked, my truck doesn't smell like rotten eggs, and neither did my car.

Check your CV joints and so in if it makes you feel better. Maybe I'm wrong, but everytime that I've smelled the smell you describe, it's been the cats. A wheel bearing didn't smell at all last I checked, and if that was what was going bad, you'd probably have some vibration, worsening while turning.

[Perdue]

http://ask.metafilter.com/18361/What-is ... I-drive-it (http://ask.metafilter.com/18361/What-is-the-cause-of-the-rotten-egg-smell-my-car-makes-when-I-drive-it) If this helps...

Check your battery too...I just talked to one of the ex-mechanic firefighters here to see if I'm crazy and he said probably o2 sensors or cats, but to check your battery and make sure it's ok too. Apparently they can give off a sulfer-type smell if they're going bad, getting overcharged, and so on.

[yotabeater]

well, the vibration ended up being loose lug nuts on one tire due to the idiots at perfection tire forgetting to tighten them when i got my tires rotated a month ago. i didn't have a lug wrench to check them on the road, but i raised hell with them and they were cool about it. problem solved for now. thanks guys!! still gonna look into getting hi-flow cats tho. thanks to all who replied!!!! glad it was a stupid easy fix!!!!

[Huffer]

You should always carry a lugnut wrench and jack in the car. It should be standard equipment...

Good to hear it was an easy fix...but be careful of any damage to the threads on the wheelstuds.