[Shadoh]

So i've been driving this car with a bad cat for a while, i had to ask a few mechanics my family knew to get it narrowed down to the catty being shot. People said to just cut it out and throw a straight pipe in, i read up and the gains arent worth it? Or so the article said, i dont race my car, all i do is drive and like to be able to accelerate when i want to. Can't do that anymore ;p It makes loud clanking noises in idle and low RPMS.

So i decided to just buy a new Cat and put it in, I drive a 1999 2.3cl everything is stock as far as i know. Any suggestions on a good Cat to purchase? Everyone i work around has suggested a Magna Flow one, but to be honest i havent a clue whats better, whats worse. I dont want that fake muscle sound, nor the rice burner. Just a healthy sound, not a clank clank clank. But if i have to get that fake muscle sound in order to have my car running how i want it too i will

Any suggestions? If you know any other cheap do it yourself tune ups for the '99 2.3 let me know too?

Thanks yall.

 

[MortsAccord]

a really long trip at high speeds to generate a lot of heat will cook out nearly anything inside your CAT. even more so if you can drive up a really long hill under full throttle for an extended period of time at higher rpms. 4500 rpm would work good.

If you have been adding octane boosters or running higher octane fuels in your car or race gas, thats more than likely a reason for it to be clogged. I did my exhaust at 170k and the cat was extremely clean. I do however get taht bitch hot on some 400+ mile trips about 1-2 times a year.

Being a OBD-II car you most likely have an O2 sensor after the cat, which means youd need a cat there or it would probably throw a CEL light. You can buy a test pipe or you can beat out your old cat to make your own test pipe.

You can modify the second O2 sensor to fool it though. This is done with a "spark plug non fouler" you need 2 of them, 1 you need to drill the end of it out, because the O2 sensor is too long and will bottom out in the non fouler, so by drilling out the bottom you give it the room it needs, the drilled out non fouler then screws into the unmodified nonfouler, the unmodified nonfouler goes where the O2 sensor USED to sit, on the hollowed out catalytic converter. This results in the O2 sensor producing a different value than the 1st o2 sensor does, thus not throwing a code. - I havent personally tested it however, my cat is unclogged, and at the time of my exhaust being replaced I didn't know of this trick.

new cats are expensive, but if its truely clogged your just going to have to junk it anywyas. that is if your able to do a long drive.. and it doesnt work, might as well try the non fouler trick and beat the platium out of your cat(which you can recycle). That is if the exhaust componets will let you. lol They dont like to come apart after 10 years with lots of heat and bad weather. most likely youd break all the nuts/boltts on the cat unbolting it. so make sure you ALWAYS have replacement on hand before undergoing this task.

 

[Shadoh]

I havent added anything aside from fuel injection cleaners to it, but it prolly has never seen a drive past 500miles. Buying a new Cat isnt worth it then?

Ill go and hit up an auto store to buy a good jack and some extra bolts then, thanks mate. I kept searching across the net but all i could find was Integra mods nothing for the CL. Interchangeable?

 

[MortsAccord]

I havent added anything aside from fuel injection cleaners to it, but it prolly has never seen a drive past 500miles. Buying a new Cat isnt worth it then?

Ill go and hit up an auto store to buy a good jack and some extra bolts then, thanks mate. I kept searching across the net but all i could find was Integra mods nothing for the CL. Interchangeable?

maybe some accord parts, the 2.3l cl uses a F23a1 engine right? might want to browse ebay for 98-02 4cyln accord stuff and compare the exhaust componets from your car to the accords of that era, also see if theres some part number you can pull so you may be able to find another vehicle that shares the same cat as your CL.

its not so much the distance of the drive as it is the intensity that you drive, and for how long. Think of it like a self cleaning oven.

Sure you can get an oven to 500 degrees and it never clean up, but they have that "self cleaning" feture where they get VERY hot for an extended period of time, this turns all the carbon buildup to dust, and teh exhaust flow would blow the completely chard dust right out the tail pipe.

If nothing else you can cut the flanges from te old cat and weld them on a cat that will fit in place of the old one. An exhaust shop can do this fast and easy if you provide the items, without charging you a shitload of money.

EDIT: I'm not saying that its not worth it to get a new cat, but if you can take your cat off bang it out replace some bolts and do the spark plug non fouler trick for les than 20 bucks you just saved at LEAST 110 bucks.

Check out rockauto.com , i found part number 0993721 by BOSAL fitting the 1997 accord ex(my car) and your 2.3L 99 CL

 

[91EGGURA]

Acura CL - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
shows the 98-99 used the f23a1 motor in the 4cyl models which means you can look for parts for the 6th gen(98-01) accord and they'll fit. 6cyl models are based off the 6cyl accord j30 motor which means the same thing. instead of doing searches for your car do them for the accord. i found after market suspension parts at nopi using the reg car acura 2.3 cl but when looking for exhaust they only offered oem exhaust stuff for it. so buy certain exhaust components for an accord and have a custom built exhaust like mort said by a good exhause shop

 

[MortsAccord]

Acura CL - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
shows the 98-99 used the f23a1 motor in the 4cyl models which means you can look for parts for the 6th gen(98-01) accord and they'll fit. 6cyl models are based off the 6cyl accord j30 motor which means the same thing. instead of doing searches for your car do them for the accord. i found after market suspension parts at nopi using the reg car acura 2.3 cl but when looking for exhaust they only offered oem exhaust stuff for it. so buy certain exhaust components for an accord and have a custom built exhaust like mort said by a good exhause shop

damn right- even though its often a lot of reading through countless forums, and takes time-, you gotta know how to cross refrence parts across various vehicles with any auto manufacture, they do use a lot of the same parts for cars and often companys dont double check what parts are teh same, and they may not order a part for say an Acura CL, but they'll order the part for a Honda Accord, not even realizing its the same damn part. Mostly thats because the "upscale" version of hondas(acuras) have more expensive parts, same thing with toyota(Lexus) and Nissan(infinti).

PLUS you'll probably learn things you never knew about your car which may even be helpful to you at some point. *prelude parts for my accord- see below* :ninja

Its also another GREAT way of finding the occasional idiot listing a part for cheap because they may not know how many additional cars that part actually fits, and how its flexability acutally makes it worth more.


I got a Oil cooler off a prelude for my F series, gonna bolt that SOB on and do a Throttle body coolant bypass so I will have a oil coooling system on my F, while getting that .2 hp gain from that TB bypass lol. Although I think in the cooler times of the year where it may make more of a difference for extended interstate driving it should actually help some. Not that it would ever become noticeable, but ya know every little bit counts when our cars are naturally absent from the world of torque.

 

[Shadoh]

Alright yall thanks The indepth stuff i dont understand yet, but i understand enough that i should look into the parts of the car that i want o replace, to check if there are any cross reference. Thanks both of you, making this entry into tuning easier than if had to google countless things.

 

[MortsAccord]

Alright yall thanks The indepth stuff i dont understand yet, but i understand enough that i should look into the parts of the car that i want o replace, to check if there are any cross reference. Thanks both of you, making this entry into tuning easier than if had to google countless things.

your very welcome.

Also rockauto will have part numbers for your car listed on their site, you can learn what hondas are similar in desogn and browse their parts on there as well, check to see what has teh same part number(s) and potentially save yourself some money because you can buy the SAME part under a "honda" instead of the "acura" name . Not every place does this but some have been known to , or junk yards commonly do. like this

Junkyard cronie:" Hey man this is an ACURA part, thats why its so much more"
*the new educated you*" horse shit, thats the SAME part off an accord, dont try and blow smoke up my ass"

ROFL, go get em.

 

[Shadoh]

Thanks Been searching the net for cheap mods to increase tidbits, based on what i learned here

Know of any sites which will tell me the Nut and Bolt sizes i need? Possibly have them ready for order?



Well i ordered some stuff... after a lot of research. Im going to try and install them on my own if i can't manage ill have to call a buddy But from all the reading these parts usually fit in fine.

Each part matched to a Honda Accord 1999 X; 4Cyl 2.3L 1999:EX; 4Cyl 2.3L;



Gibson Honda Accord Exhaust Tip Gibson Exhaust Tip Sport Polished, Stainless Steel, Direct Fit Product
G27500365
$55.08


Injen Honda Accord Short Ram Intake Injen Short Ram Intake IS Polished, Clearance
I24IS1670P
$133.77

Honda Accord Air Filter Heat Shield Injen Air Filter Heat Shield Clear-Coated, Aluminum, Direct Fit Product
I24HS3600P
$55.10

Merchandise SubTotal: $243.95
Shipping:FREE
Estimated Tax:$0.00
Order Total:$243.95

Auto Parts Warehouse | Car Parts, Truck Parts & Auto Body Parts Online - Free Shipping on most Auto

Did i do well or fall into a wasteful pitfall?

Taking your advice on the CAT and just cleaning it out.

Some article talked about hydrolocking so i was afraid of that albeit small chance. If another hurricane hits florida, or my bad luck springs up ;p One of the articles talked about using a heatshield to create the same effect of a CAI on a short ram. They made it themselves though using sheet metal so it covered a alot more of the space than this one... Idk if it even works that way, but it can't hurt to throw a heat shield onto it right?