Hey Everyone,

My current stock exhaust is rusted out and has several leaks. I'm thinking of straightpiping it and pulling the catalytic converter instead of replacing everything. Is that safe to do? Does the engine need pressure in the exhaust (from the catalytic converter) to run properly? Will it sound horrible or badass? I have the 5.0L (302) V8 with an automatic transmission.

Thanks!

 

It wont throw a code, but i just cut everything off except the cat and it soumds pretty good i think.

 

i cut everything off including the cat on mine and its runs better than ever and sounds great. but i killed the O2 sensor in the process so once my exhaust gets heated up my check engine light comes on.

 

If you run without the o2 sensor your truck is running in default mode. Meaning no fuel or air trim and no spark advance.

 

Where is the oxygen sensor located? Is it OK to cut the catalytic converter and somehow leave the sensor attached?

 

its in front of the cat it goes from one pipe to the other. and yes you can cut the cat off without hurting it

 

If you have a downstream sensor, after the cat, you can remove that one. It only monitors the cat operation. There is one at the y pipe, or crossover tube, or one in each exhaust manifold depending on engine and year.

 

My '89 F150 with the 5.0 has two cats. I cut off the muffler behind the 2nd cat and the sound was sweet, just lacking in volume so I tried gutting the 2nd cat. I did it poorly and ended up clogging it pretty badly which caused my truck to run liked crap. I cut off the 2nd cat and now it sounds mean and runs just fine, just way too loud for me. Driving to work at 8am makes me feel like a hooligan lol. Im going to put a slightly smaller diameter turn-down tip on it to hopefully quiet it down a little without losing any of the tone. For me, the o2 sensor is after the 1st cat so cutting off the 2nd one hasn't raised any issues

 

I wana cut my cat off but i dont know if i can get pipes on without knockin outvthe o2 sesor and i want that to remain functional.