re: Exhaust rattle

[Jay Negrin <jmnegrin@domain.elided>]

Hi all, esp Stacy Gary.

Two possibilities cross my mind in rapid succession.
one - The innards of your cat, whatever they may be, are old, and are
falling apart.  If that is the case, replace and drive on.  Mine cost
about $150, parts and labor, for an aftermarket unit.  To test?  Get the
car in the air, and try gently banging on the cat.  If it rattles, you
found the culprit.
Two - There are heat shields for the cat, and they have been known to
come loose and rattle around.  Unpleasant at worst.  Again, get the car
in the air, and do a look/see.  Hope it's only this.

I believe the fitting you refer to  is a thermal sensor, in case the cat
should overheat.  That causes the light on the dash, which proves the
engineers do have a sense of humor, to light.  The one that says "Slow
Down".

Ciao
Jay Negrin
76 Alfetta GT
ARO So Cal

-------------------

Merry Christmas everyone-

I have a mystery rattle around the catalytic convertor at certain rpm's,
like
around 2500-3500, and especially when I step hard on the gas. I'm
assuming my
78 Spider has a catalytic convertor--it could be something else, though,

because the inside is a straight-tube and doesn't have the honeycomb
section
that modern cat's have. The suspected unit is about 12" long, is
directly
under the driver's seat, and has a fitting on the side which I assume is
some
sort of sensor as there is a wire running from it to somewhere towards
the
front of the car. Regardless, the car sounds like a tin can rattling
down the
street.

I've checked to see that all of the bolts/nuts related to the exhaust
anywhere
in the vicinity of the rattle are all tight.

I'm assuming that the answer is to get a new cat convertor. I would love
any
input as to what to do first before I buy a new cat convertor, and also
who
sells the best cat's out there for performance and price. I just want to
stop
the annoying rattle.

I'm sure that there's a wealth of collective
experiences/experimentations and
opinions. I'd love to hear them.

Thanks!

Stacy Gary
78 Spider Veloce

--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided