Hi Guys,

I apologize in advance for the weird question, but I could think of no other way of getting an answer to this one. Maybe one of the board sponsors (RSS or Champion Motorsports) can help out.

I have a slightly used (few thousand miles) cargraphic loud system, and while I was inspecting the cats I noticed that the catalytic material has actually started separating all the way around from the inside wall of the converter where it meets up with the turbos. The catalytic material is not moving around inside the converter, but my thinking is that if it has already started separating from the inner wall, that the next step would be that the material will eventually come loose, start bouncing around inside the shell, and eventually disintegrate.

Has anyone who purchased a used cargraphic system, or had reason to remove theirs ever noticed this? I know many of the aftermarket exhaust systems use 200 cell cats, and I believe Cargraphic does as well. Are these prone to burning out earlier?

I'll try to post some pics tomorrow.

Thanks for any help.

 

Not sure about the cats separating but I have Cargraphics on my car (less than 3000 miles on them) and they just started tripping the CEL. I'm planning on pulling mine off the car and putting the stockers back on to get through emissions. Once I do this I'll tag you back to let you know how the inside of the units look. Keep me posted on your findings as well.

 

That is interesting, would like to know the answer to this also.
If the catalytic material come loose would the turbos sack it in and this potentially could damage the engine?

 

not an expert but exhaust is flowing the other way so while anythings possible I doubt small fragments would come lose and do that kind of damage to the turbo.

Would be surprised, but anythings possible, if this is a design flaw, the HJS cats are well built, they have been in the performance business for a while. Regardless Im a bit concerned and looked forward to the inspection results.

 

Sometime back I got CEL lights regarding the cats. To make a long story short, I was able to get new replacement cats under the two year warranty from Cargraphic. Not sure you'd be covered if you bought your system used.

 

Good to see there is some interest in this.

The system was purchased new, I am just installing it on another car I own, so I would expect that the warranty should cover it.

It's interesting to see that a couple other people have had issues with CELs. Could be a sign of something going wrong with the cats.

I have a couple of pictures of the cats that I will post. 2SCOOPS, let me know if yours looks like this if you get the chance to look at the internals.

GMONEY is correct in saying that the cats join with the hot side of the turbocharger, so the exhaust gas flow should in turn take any fragments out the cat converter and through the exhaust barrels, but hey, anything is possible in the world of physics.

The bigger issue here is if the cats do deteriorate, is this a common problem, or just something a few here have experienced?

All manufacturers experience failure rates, but if there was some way to find out how many have had cat failures out of the total number of people who own Cargraphic Loud systems, I would imagine that may be of some interest.

 

HUMMM 3, was your CEL a cat innefeciency code or the more common post cat o2 sensor throwing out its running too rich code?

 

Hi TO08RTURBO,

It was a pleasure speaking with you in regard to your catalyzer question and concerns. Even though you did not purchase this system from RSS or any of our US Dealers, it was my pleasure to put you in direct contact with Cargraphic Germany and the 3 Cargraphic Canadian Distributors.

As the manufacturer, they should be able to assist you further as the system has a 2 year warranty on the Cats and a lifetime warranty on the Exhaust Components to the original owner.

 

Loose materials might get sucked up and damage the actual turbos!

I'm glad to hear that the original poster got the issue resolved!

 

Thanks again for the help Mike. I really appreciated your willingness to at least help me figure out if something was wrong here or not, given as you pointed out the system was not directly purchased from you.

Cargraphic have confirmed that the cats are faulty, and I am working with them on potential replacement under warranty.

2SCOOPS here is a picture of one of the cats. The other one looks almost identical. You can see where the catalyst has separated from the inner walls.