Ideas for a new exhaust system?

[Jay M]

So I'm on the freeway with the Socal and Az club on our way to Sedona when I lost power. Some of the guys pulled over with me to try to fix it, but we couldn't figure it out. I had it towed to Bill Luke Dodge to have them look at it. Their Viper guru is at Daytona, but will return this week so one of the other techs looked at it.

They think it needs new cats. That makes me wonder if now is the time to install a better system. My main goal is quiet and cool. More power would be nice too.

Should I go with factory, or aftermarket?

Once Eddie returns I'll know for sure what the problem is.

For now I'll be taking a rental car back to CA.

BTW- Bill Luke Dodge treated me like royalty. If I'm ever in the market for a new dodge, I'll likely be using them, Even though they are 6 hours away from home.

 

[jknappster]

What the years and mileage of your ride?

 

[Jay M]

Sorry, that's an important detail I left out.

It's 2004 SRT/10 convertible. 14,000 miles. The last 4000 miles were since march of this year when I bought the car. Apparently I like to drive it more than the previous owners.

~Jay

 

[wikkid]

I would doubt the cats are bad at 14k, but you never know..

 

[mbccenter]

I have seen the cats go bad on the gen 3's.

 

[mattsmusic]

I just went through the same thing. 06 with 15K on it and the driver's side cat failed. Sounded like the exhaust on that side was plugged up, grey dust was inside the exhaust tip and the check engine light came on. Luckily it failed about 1/2 a mile from my house, so I was able to get it home easily.

A single stock cat replacement is about $900.00. I went with Roe Racing high flow cats, which I paid $700.00 for the pair, so they're less expensive than stock. They sound evil with my Corsa pipes, they reduce heat by the pedals as well as the rocker panels. They're also lighter and offer a gain of about 40HP. Now I can spin the rears at 80MPH in 3rd gear on the highway, and that's just plain FUN!

I still have my stock cats and the passenger side unit is perfectly fine. Let me know if you're interested in it.

 

[Jay M]

Thanks, for the offer. Eddie will be back in town this week to look at the car. I did notice that the driver side might have had the same grey dust. I assumed it was just a a clean pipe. The right side was black inside. A friend who works for Chrysler told me that emissions related equipment has a 8/80 warranty. We'll see what they find. If I end up needing a $900 cat, I'll be PM'ing you this week.

Regarding the exhaust upgrade, it seems like maybe a GEN IV upgrade would make the most sense for me.

~Jay