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VE Lemon?

Skylarking

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I've had a cat in an older car (with only a single upstream O2 sensor) melt the honeycomb due to unburnt fuel entering the exhaust because of a failed spark plug. The honeycomb broke apart when it cooled after switching the engine offf. On next start, it sounded like a train on bumpy tracks when running and was down on power. So, i took the cat out and had a look. Loose melted honeycomb was stuck at the intake so used a chissle to clean up the cat entry area. Reinstalled the cat and as it turned out, not much had melted so the small amount of honecomb lost didn't impact anything noticably. Car ran OK for the next 10 years.

Admittedly, with both an upstream and downstream O2 sensor for the cat, a small loss of honeycomb may have a greater impact than in my situation. It may be worth a try if you have car ramps and axle stands and able to safely do basic spanner work.
 

Fu Manchu

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OK, I think I will take it back on to a muffler shop to fit, maybe midas couldn't get it right for some reason. Would you be able to show me where the purge solenoid is located exactly?
The noise with the cats is the inside has broken apart and is rattling, more noticeable after engine heats up and definitely coming from the left hand side exhaust. We've done a vacuum test and could not find any leaks

Dont listen to me. I kooked it.
 

BenzemaSSVE

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So just FYI, found out a VE cat converter with a flex head does not fit on the series 2 ss. Is there anything else I can do in the meantime before I bite the bullet and get a full system? I don't have ramps and wouldn't want to do that kind of work on jack stands. And it's weird, I need the one part of a commodore that seems to be out of stock these days lol
 

BenzemaSSVE

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Bump, so finally found a replacement cat, getting it put in early next week, is the purge solenoid replacement easy enough?
 

bloggsly

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HI there, thanks for the reply. Car is a 2012 series 2 manual wagon, done 105,000kms, always serviced. I think the only thing it may need in the near future is a clutch once it goes. Anyway I had a day off today so did some looking and found a 2nd hand cat converter and took it down to the local midas to get fitted as the muffler shop in werribee didn't have time today. They told me it wouldn't fit as it was slightly different. Is there a difference between series 1 and series 2 cats? They e fed up putting the old cat back on so back to square 1, not sure what to do now
I had a similar prob with my 2001 Calais with a custom exhaust and the noise was outrageous but I took to midas and they they custom fit anew one for $180 so they don't have to be expensive ide try looking a bit more or try the one you got with another exhaust company! hope that helps and sorry to hear that constant ticking and banging is so annoying lol
 

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BenzemaSSVE

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Hi all, hope everyone is safe and well through this quarantine thing (if in Victoria).
Hoping for some help as I have another baffling noise issue with the SS. About 2 weeks ago, I would best describe it as a cupping, tapping noise I hear from inside the cabin with the noise coming from the centre console direction, but still originating from the engine. I will attach a youtube video to hear it. I hear it at idle and also under load but can disappear about 2.5k revs. As soon as I heard it, took it into a shop to get looked at, the guys thought it was something loose in the mid-muffler area on the stock exhaust. Recommendation was to replace the mid pipes and should be good, so took the opportunity to look around and got a 2nd hand xforce cat back installed, which seemed to quieten it down for a while but eventually the noise came back. This doesnt appear to affect how the car drives but it is concerning. Only mods I have are OTR and tune, plus the new catback, car has done 110k kms and recently serviced. I had a look over the weekend and pulled the OTR off which seemed to help but I cannot pinpoint what the noise is, certainly hope its not lifters/cam etc but would be good to have some direction.

Please have a listen and any advise appreciated. Maybe exhaust manifold leak or something along those lines?

 
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