Today I've been wrestling with the exhaust system underneath my 1997 4.0, removing it to get to and remove the transmission.... I swore a lot and cried a little bit but managed to get all the pipework out up until the cats... looking up to the Cat-Manifold connection from under the car I've discovered that on the righthand side (US Passenger side) cat, one of the 4 bolts has been sheared off, probably when the last gorilla was reinstalling the cat...

Is this going to severely hamper my efforts to remove it now, if I get the other 3 bolts out, how can I extract the broken one with the cat in situ? if I undo the whole manifold from above will it come out with cat attached from underneath?

Alternatively, is there a chance I can drop the transmission after only removing the LHS cat and leaving the RHS with the sheared bolt on the car?

Every day is a new adventure! Thanks!

 

I shear a bolt or two every few times I remove a gearbox.
Oxyacetylene and a 'rosebud' torch tip gets it hot enough to remove with Channellock Double Tongue and Groove Pliers.
Place the cataverter in a vise and get the exposed stud and mount corner 'cherry-red' and grip it with the pliers. The stud will come out easily.

I keep at least a half a dozen replacements in stock because it is a common problem.

The threaded part breaks but the bulged solid part should still be exposed enough to 'grab'.
The nut sometimes gets stuck to the stud and the stud unscrews from the mount flange. Heat the nut/stud and take them apart so the stud and nut can be reused.

Use ANTI-SEIZE compound if you have a difficult nut upon reassembly.

 

Thanks! The trouble at the moment is it’s still in the car… can I extract it along with the manifold perhaps?!

 

Unbolt it and drop it out the bottom!

 

Glad to hear you are still at it ....with wifes permission.
Been watching " vice grip garage" and it looks like you can run any old rusty crap in the US

 

Hey!! Wait a minute!! Well, you're right. here in the US not many states have rules regarding rust on your vehicle as some other countries have. Some areas have inspection requirements and they may have something to say about the rust but I don't know. I don't live in one of those areas. I also bought a California car so I'm not dealing with that and my dailies are in pretty good shape that goodness. I sometimes wonder though, about how some cars can be on the road. TM

 

dd,
unless someone has done strange things on your car, a sheared stud shouldn't stop you from dropping the cat... The studs screw into the cat, but are a clearance fit into the manifold.

 

Michael should be right as I had a sheared stud on the my cat the manifold and the cat dropped out underneath after some strong language.

 

Excellent that's what I was hoping to hear, thanks Chaps!