[Yellow_Tatoes]

I recently bought an 06 wrx about 2 months ago. I took my car to a dealer to diagnose a problem I have. They told me I have a clogged catalytic converter.

The exhaust has an aftermarket catback welded in which increases the difficulty of fixing this.

I can't find used parts. I've checked ebay and craigslist. I don't know if I suck at searching or if ebay and craigslist just isn't the place to look.

So I looked towards aftermarket, found a cheap catless turboback exhaust and jumped on ordering it. It hasn't shown up yet, and currently I'm planning on trying to cancel my order tomorrow.

I found out after ordering it that running that without a tune will blow the engine. Not something I want to do to my "new" car.

I see open source tuners am very comfortable with computers and would be fine with that side of things, but I currently know nothing about anything else involved in that.

So paying the extra money for the cobb accessport looks like my next option to safely run that exhaust. But even then I'm finding threads saying that the stage 2 tune doesn't support a catless exhaust and will still cause problems. I don't want to risk problems that involve the engine blowing up.

(I'm not trying to gain power, I still have the stock transmission. I just want to safely fix my clogged cats in the cheapest way that isn't trashy because other stuff needs work. ie. shot suspension, stock transmission. So I don't know that tuning is even the solution I want)

Can I buy a 3 inch cat and weld into the exhaust I ordered to avoid boost creep? I'm hoping someone that just has more experience with this can at least point me towards where I can find the answer. I'm lost, I tried to not be another noob asking dumb questions for as long as possible but I don't know where else to look.

 

[SD_GR]

Boost creep / fuel cut

OK, I've been answering a lot of question lately about DPs without cats, fuel cut, boost creep, etc. so I thought I'd put a stickey in place. The following is a simplistic explanation. Feel free to respond and correct any errors I've introduced, or provide further clarification. This is to be an...

www.clubwrx.net

 

[Yellow_Tatoes]

Thanks for that. Following the information from that I want a high flow cat.

Is buying a HF cat and welding it into the catless downpipe a good solution? If so can you recommend any?

 

[SD_GR]

I'm a little confused about what you are trying to accomplish.

You have clogged cats now.

If you change to a non-stock exhaust, you will need to remap the ECU anyway.

The car won't be legal on public roads if you modify the exhaust segment that contains the factory cats.

I'd keep looking at wrecked Subarus locally to find a stock exhaust, they must be out there because people crash these cars all day every day. Failing that, I'd look into mapping the car for an exhaust of sufficient quality to withstand the elements in your location, and only after having understood the boost creep issues you may encounter anyway (implying a loot at the wastegate might be in your future too).

I can't recommend an exhaust though, sorry. My car is earlier and stock.

 

[Yellow_Tatoes]

My car is running poorly due to the clogged cats I guess. The sheet from the dealer says "Excess backpressure in exhaust system, causing leak at the V band on the turbo, need to replace exhaust system instead of just the converters as there is an aftermarket flex joint and cat back exhaust welded in, so there is no flange to hook the converters to."

My initial (uneducated) goal was to just "replace exhaust system" for as cheap as possible. I've gone down a long rabbit hole finding a good proper solution for this and I'm having a hard time

If I can find a stock exhaust that would be ideal. Guy at work frequents junkyards for parts, I'll see if he could find one for me..

 

[WRX-maniac]

Well it sounds like you sir, have opened a can of worms. In your last post you said that the dealership stated it is causing an exhaust leak at the V band. Problem with that is the stock td04 turbo doesn't have a v band flange. Which leads me to two possible outcomes.

1) it has an aftermarket turbo on it that uses V band connections.

Or 2) the dealership has no idea what they are talking about, or used the wrong terminology. Which I doubt because no Subaru has ever came with V band connections that I am aware of.

It sounds like you may have bought a car with more aftermarket upgrades than just a welded together turbo-back exhaust.

 

[Yellow_Tatoes]

When finding an exhaust off a junked car, what years/models will fit my 06 WRX? I assume at least 06-07 WRX. Would a base impreza exhaust work or are they different from the WRX exhaust. Same question with STI exhaust.

I'll inspect my turbo and see if I can find anything identifying on it. I wasn't aware about the stock turbo not have a v band flange so I didn't think to question it. They seemed very knowledgeable when explaining everything to me, but I find it odd that they wouldn't have told me it was an aftermarket turbo.

 

[WRX-maniac]

If it indeed has a V-band flange from the turbo to the downpipe, it is 100% an aftermarket turbo. And an STi exhaust from the same body style (04-07) will fit the 04-07 wrx. The base non turbo'd impreza does not share the same exhaust.

 

[Yellow_Tatoes]

Thanks, that was a bit of a brain fart moment. I didn't think about the impreza not having a turbo so that makes sense.

I took a look at the turbo, I don't see any markings or stamps on it without tearing anything out to look at it better. I took a crappy photo that hopefully attached.

 

[WRX-maniac]

Its hard to tell from that picture with the heat shield and stuff in the way. I will say that there is a high chance of that being the stock turbo due to the stock turbo heat shield still being in place. Which still makes me wonder why the dealership said v band. Like I said, unless it was on accident. Are there any aftermarket parts on the car that are evident other than the exhaust.

 

[Yellow_Tatoes]

There is a big aftermarket radiator and all the hoses for it are upgraded red rubber hoses. That's it in the engine bay.

It has, as far as I can tell, ebay coilovers and just some other just cosmetic things.

 

[WRX-maniac]

Your very next, should have been your first, step is take your car to a specialty (performance) Subaru shop and have them look the whole thing over. You need to know exactly what has been done, and what needs to be fixed/replaced before you go blindly buying parts.

 

[Yellow_Tatoes]

Okay, I've contacted a few shops to get my car inspected.

Thankit My last car snapped the timing belt on the way to work one day so I was looking for a new car in a hurry. I found the car I've wanted for years for a deal I could afford and I jumped on it a bit unprepared. I really appreciate the help.

 

[WRX-maniac]

Okay, I've contacted a few shops to get my car inspected.

Thankit My last car snapped the timing belt on the way to work one day so I was looking for a new car in a hurry. I found the car I've wanted for years for a deal I could afford and I jumped on it a bit unprepared. I really appreciate the help.

It happens man. I've been there. Just make sure you take care of it and do what is needed. Being an 06 I would go ahead and change all the fluids too. Then do whatever the shop you go to recommends