CLK-Class (W208) 1998-2002: CLK 200, CLK 230K, CLK 320, CLK 430 [Coupes & Cabriolets]

Cat removal?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Rate Thread
 
Old 08-28-2006, 05:28 PM
  #1  
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
 
Ghostrider's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: KCMO, but Houston is my home.
Posts: 1,843
Received 4 Likes on 3 Posts
01 CLK 430
Cat removal?

Has anyone taken out their secondary cats and either:

Replaced them with race cats?

or

Replaced tehm with piping?

If so, what were the results.....

-Ghost
Old 08-28-2006, 05:47 PM
  #2  
Newbie
 
jab06's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
In all honesty removing the cat may free up 4 or 5 hp's. Once that cat is removed the check engine light is going to come on and stay on. If I were you I wouldnt bother.
Old 08-28-2006, 08:12 PM
  #3  
MBWorld Fanatic!
 
clkal's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 3,386
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
01' CLK55
Originally Posted by jab06
In all honesty removing the cat may free up 4 or 5 hp's. Once that cat is removed the check engine light is going to come on and stay on. If I were you I wouldnt bother.
sorry bud. you are incorrect about the check engine light coming on. I just removed my rear 2 cats AND my 2 foot long resonator. I replaced all that crap with a 3.5" y-pipe. My check engine light has NOT come on and WILL NOT come on as the O2 sensors are attached to the exhaust system WAY in front of what I did. They do NOT measure anything behind them.

My car sounds like a beast now. So if you want a small HP increase and a deeper, throatier sound, by all means, go ahead and do the Y-pipe.
Old 08-28-2006, 08:24 PM
  #4  
Out Of Control!!
 
blackbenzz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 13,487
Received 94 Likes on 77 Posts
haters crazy
Interesting.
Old 08-28-2006, 09:01 PM
  #5  
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
 
Ghostrider's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: KCMO, but Houston is my home.
Posts: 1,843
Received 4 Likes on 3 Posts
01 CLK 430
Originally Posted by clkal
sorry bud. you are incorrect about the check engine light coming on. I just removed my rear 2 cats AND my 2 foot long resonator. I replaced all that crap with a 3.5" y-pipe. My check engine light has NOT come on and WILL NOT come on as the O2 sensors are attached to the exhaust system WAY in front of what I did. They do NOT measure anything behind them.

My car sounds like a beast now. So if you want a small HP increase and a deeper, throatier sound, by all means, go ahead and do the Y-pipe.

Did the same thing on my BMW but replaced them all with a 3" race cat. How long did it take for your ECU to readjust itself?

Do you have any pictures?

My resonator is already gone so I'm like halfway there.
Old 08-28-2006, 09:22 PM
  #6  
Newbie
 
jab06's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Sorry my bad. I thought you were talking about the downstream cats.
Old 08-29-2006, 01:17 AM
  #7  
Member
 
ClkE20's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: NYC
Posts: 139
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Clk320
Sounds good but will this make you fail emissions or decrease your backpressure resulting in less torque?
Old 08-29-2006, 01:57 AM
  #8  
MBWorld Fanatic!
 
acb3nz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Nova / Rockville
Posts: 1,358
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Custom CLK / 05 E500 4matic / 04 Acura TL <<Daily
Originally Posted by ClkE20
Sounds good but will this make you fail emissions or decrease your backpressure resulting in less torque?
+1,

I was gonna said the same thing.
Old 08-29-2006, 09:05 AM
  #9  
Senior Member
 
viguera's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: NY/CT
Posts: 268
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
CLK 320
Originally Posted by ClkE20
Sounds good but will this make you fail emissions or decrease your backpressure resulting in less torque?
I replaced the y-pipe on my 04 Maxima, which cut one one of the cats (the other 2 are on the headers) and I passed emissions with no problems. If the configuration on the CLK is the same, I would imagine that you would pass just the same.

As far as backpressure, that's another story... I've seen people gain 5-10hp at the wheels from a cat delete, but if you start messing with the resonator or from the cat back, then you gotta be careful about doing things right. Going straight pipe all the way to the mufflers would sound great (maybe too much for some people though), but you might be shooting yourself in the foot in low-end torque.

A dyno run will always tell the tale though...
Old 08-29-2006, 10:21 AM
  #10  
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
 
Ghostrider's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: KCMO, but Houston is my home.
Posts: 1,843
Received 4 Likes on 3 Posts
01 CLK 430
Originally Posted by viguera
I replaced the y-pipe on my 04 Maxima, which cut one one of the cats (the other 2 are on the headers) and I passed emissions with no problems. If the configuration on the CLK is the same, I would imagine that you would pass just the same.

As far as backpressure, that's another story... I've seen people gain 5-10hp at the wheels from a cat delete, but if you start messing with the resonator or from the cat back, then you gotta be careful about doing things right. Going straight pipe all the way to the mufflers would sound great (maybe too much for some people though), but you might be shooting yourself in the foot in low-end torque.

A dyno run will always tell the tale though...
There are 4 cats on the exhaust system, 2 for each bank of 4 cylinders. The 2 cats closest to each exhaust manifold are the ones that have the O2 sensors attached to them. The 2 downstream from that are just there. I gained both HP and TQ on my other car when I did this, but I couldn't tell you where in the rev range though.
Old 08-29-2006, 02:17 PM
  #11  
MBWorld Fanatic!
 
clkal's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 3,386
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
01' CLK55
Originally Posted by ClkE20
Sounds good but will this make you fail emissions or decrease your backpressure resulting in less torque?
fail emmissions? i don't think so.

yes, I will lose some backpressure, however, I will gain a little on the top-end.

With a 5.4L V8, i'm not really bothered by losing a little low-end torque....i have plenty to spare =)

but , dayamn! My car sounds F'ing great!!!!!
Old 08-29-2006, 11:47 PM
  #12  
Super Member
 
OJwerks's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Miami, Maracaibo, Bogota
Posts: 846
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
not stock.
sound clips ???
Old 03-11-2008, 07:58 PM
  #13  
Newbie
 
simo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
clk430
clk430 backpressure problem

guys
I took off the resonator, put a K&N filter,and replaced the muffler with a straight pipe. The result wa a very nice sound ,however, I lost tork and downshifting response.
What should I do. Put the resonator back.
Put the resonator and the muffler.
Take off the secondary cats and keep the resonator.
I also have a supersprint muffler that I had on a golf gti would that create any problems.
thanks
Old 03-12-2008, 11:42 AM
  #14  
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
 
Ghostrider's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: KCMO, but Houston is my home.
Posts: 1,843
Received 4 Likes on 3 Posts
01 CLK 430
Originally Posted by simo
guys
I took off the resonator, put a K&N filter,and replaced the muffler with a straight pipe. The result wa a very nice sound ,however, I lost tork and downshifting response.
What should I do. Put the resonator back.
Put the resonator and the muffler.
Take off the secondary cats and keep the resonator.
I also have a supersprint muffler that I had on a golf gti would that create any problems.
thanks
You need to install a muffler of some kind....
Old 03-13-2008, 11:33 PM
  #15  
Junior Member
 
DZ111's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Maryland
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
2006 CLS55, 2006 CLK500, 1954 Lincoln
have any video or sounds without the cats?
Old 03-14-2008, 02:28 AM
  #16  
Member
 
humplok's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 90
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by DZ111
have any video or sounds without the cats?
+1
Old 03-14-2008, 03:13 PM
  #17  
Member
 
Hitman0187's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 179
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
CLK430
it seems like a great muffler choice for this type of mod would be the flowmaster or dynomax. quiet at idle and oh so sweet with a little throttle.
Old 03-14-2008, 06:20 PM
  #18  
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
 
Ghostrider's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: KCMO, but Houston is my home.
Posts: 1,843
Received 4 Likes on 3 Posts
01 CLK 430
Originally Posted by DZ111
have any video or sounds without the cats?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gbFX6p6JmY
Old 03-16-2008, 10:01 PM
  #19  
Super Member
 
Vabene7's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: The Jersey Shore
Posts: 766
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Garage Temporarily Empty
Thumbs up

Originally Posted by simo
guys
I took off the resonator, put a K&N filter,and replaced the muffler with a straight pipe. The result wa a very nice sound ,however, I lost tork and downshifting response.
What should I do. Put the resonator back.
Put the resonator and the muffler.
Take off the secondary cats and keep the resonator.
I also have a supersprint muffler that I had on a golf gti would that create any problems.
thanks
I learned that if you try to increase the flow of your exhaust by removing mufflers, cats and such, you will lose low end torque. This exact scenario happened to me..... I removed and replaced everything from the 2nd set of cats back with Magnaflow.
I fixed the loss of low end power by getting my ECU done (after the exhaust was finished). I used SpeedtuningUSA, but you could use anyone.
It gave me back the low end power and also gave me the top end.
I also had the redline increased by 500 rpm, shifting is stronger and top speed limiter was removed.
IMHO - I was suprised how much I got from the ECU tune...pretty impressive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdiYAA09khk

Last edited by Vabene7; 03-16-2008 at 10:04 PM.
Old 03-17-2008, 12:03 AM
  #20  
Banned
 
Dr. C36's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 426
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
1996 C36 AMG
the problem isn't the secondary cats, its the primary cats. aka "header hugger" cats.

If you want to improve performance get a set of high flow magnaflow cats for ALL 4 cats both primary & secondary. THEN you will get decent gains.

Make sure the primaries are metallic core cats, ceramics won't be able to sustain the heat for long periods of time. You can get them on ebay for $114 shipped each, or i'm sure if you got 4 you could get a great deal, maybe get them at cheap as $100 a pop. Labor is the only real major expense.
Old 03-17-2008, 05:18 PM
  #21  
Super Member
 
Vabene7's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: The Jersey Shore
Posts: 766
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Garage Temporarily Empty
Originally Posted by Dr. C36
the problem isn't the secondary cats, its the primary cats. aka "header hugger" cats.

If you want to improve performance get a set of high flow magnaflow cats for ALL 4 cats both primary & secondary. THEN you will get decent gains.

Make sure the primaries are metallic core cats, ceramics won't be able to sustain the heat for long periods of time. You can get them on ebay for $114 shipped each, or i'm sure if you got 4 you could get a great deal, maybe get them at cheap as $100 a pop. Labor is the only real major expense.
Have you done this on your car and seen the gains?

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 


You have already rated this thread Rating: Thread Rating: 0 votes,  average.

Quick Reply: Cat removal?



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 09:24 PM.