OK guys I need help with 2 things first I need to replace the catalatic converters on my 2003 jag. Now how do I do that and how difficult is that going to be? 2nd since I need to replace them should i just replace the entire exhaust and add headers high flow cats and new exhaust. If so what would you suggest I go with and where can I get a full exhaust and headers for it?

 

TexasJag, first off, welcome to the Forums. I think you will find a lot of useful information here and some "to the point" information. But, we do ask a simple thing from you. Please stop by the "New Member Section" and introduce yourself. We pride ourselves in being a different type of car club. As a result, we like to get to know one another and keep things very lively. This will give you a chance to meet the movers and shakers of the site too. So, sit back, do some more reading and enjoy.

As for your exhaust question. Replacing the cats is not an overly difficult job as long as you can get the bolts off. You get beyond that, the rest is pretty easy. But, this is true of any exhaust work. So, lots of PB Blaster, some patience, and good luck will go far. The big thing is you will find that removing the bank 1 cat (the one trapped between the fire wall and the engine), you will be best served by going at it by removing the intake and then getting at it that way. Going from underneath requires the removal of a lot of stuff to get the cat out.

As for replacing the exhaust system. You have to overcome one big obstacle: no one makes an aftermarket exhaust system for the car. So, you are looking at custom everything. The other issue that you are going to run into is that the cats are mounted literally on the side of the engine. Most other cars have them mounted about 3 feet from the motor. THis was done to improve the efficiency of the cats. So, if you do a header type setup, you are going to have to figure out how to remount the cats and the associated O2 sensors. NOt impossible, but adding more complexity to the job.

Something that will make your life easier though is that you can probably find something for the Duratec 3.0L motor (used in the Ford Taurus, Lincoln LS, etc) and that will bolt up to the block and then you can adapt from there. A few of the members have done this. But, their big issue was getting cats into the exhaust and not having something that hangs way down under the car.

The only "exhaust system" (please use this loosely) that you will find is made by Mina Gallery. But, this is simply just new mufflers and tips. That is it. Then you are looking at about $800 for the setup as I recall. Sounds nice, but performance wise, not that much of a gain.

As for performance gain (which it sounds like you are really shooting for), this is a dangerous thing to be playing with on the car. The transfer case is the weak link and it barely handles the stock power when repeated light to light romps are done. You start opening up the exhaust (which will lead to other power additions), you are going to be stressing the transfer case more which is going to lead to an earlier failure of the transfer case. Can I say "above this power it will fail in XXXXX miles", by no means. IT is very subjective based on how often you use the full power. So, it can lead to other issues. I have not heard of any issues with the Mina Gallery system, but then you are only looking at say a 5-10 hp gain which is fairly insignificant when starting with 227 hp.

THe other issue I seem to recall is that the 3.0L motor is running close on the emissions as the ECU sees it. So, messing with the exhaust too much may cause the CEL to come on and remain on. Again, where that magical line is, hard to say. I just know some members have tried opening up their exhaust systems to get more flow (removing the resonator and going with a free flowing muffler) and that was enough to cause the CEL to come on. So, just be cautious.

Hopefully some other members can chime in and give a bit more personal experience on this subject. All I have done with the exhaust on these cars is install 2 of the Mina exhaust kits.

 

I have the mina mufflers and removed my resonator, no problems at all. I have been thinking about having the pipe between the Y pipe (where the two exhaust manifolds come together) and the mufflers cut out and replaced with two 2 inch pipes. I've also been thinking about trying some duratec headers on my car with no cats (no emissions in FL) but I'm sure that will set the CEL off, I wish someone made a programmer for our car...oh and keep in mind there is no telling for sure if headers for a contour/cougar/Taurus will actually work with the x-type since they are not awd and whatnot.

 

So I went for the best (in my humble mind) the complete cat-back BORLA system. The look, and sound is great, and I can't tell if it did add any horsepower. I still love my cat, so anything that she likes , she gets...

 

Is it truly a "cat back" system? I'd love to see a pic of the whole thing under the car.