Do I need new catalytic converters?

I bought and installed a MRT catted h-pipe back in June of 2018. The car had 14,600 miles on it when I installed them. For the last couple of weeks, I've been hearing a rattle under the car when cold. I realigned the exhaust, I checked the clutch cable cover and everything else and eventually found this.


Could this be the source of the rattle? I started the car and it was already warm so the rattle is gone. The car now has 16,029 miles so the catted H pipe has been on the car for 15 months and 1,400 miles. The cats don't have any dents but scrapes. I banged on my stock h-pipe and there is no rattle and it has far more scrapes than this one.

Will the car still pass inspection? Will I need to replace them?

Thanks

Depends on your state/county I would think. In PA they do a visual inspection for cats, once you get the sticker you can pull them right back off.

That sounded more like a heat shield rattle too me. When my cats started going I heard more of a ringing than a rattle. And the car got progressively louder.

I think the easiest way to check them is to pull the mid pipe and tilt it. I had bits and pieces of cats come out. And I had those same cats before.

fivelitrecobra said:

Depends on your state/county I would think. In PA they do a visual inspection for cats, once you get the sticker you can pull them right back off.

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For NYC, they plug into your OBD-II port. I have all my monitors turned on so the CE light would come on. If the light comes on, I can just turn off the monitor in the tune. We're allowed to fail one monitor here but I'm not sure if the cats are allowed to fail.

slo984now said:

That sounded more like a heat shield rattle too me. When my cats started going I heard more of a ringing than a rattle. And the car got progressively louder.

I think the easiest way to check them is to pull the mid pipe and tilt it. I had bits and pieces of cats come out. And I had those same cats before.

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That's what I thought too but when I bang on the shield with a screwdriver, it doesn't sound loose. I might just end up driving it until the CE light comes on. Since I only drive 1,000 miles a year, it might last several years before it fails.

slo984now said:

That sounded more like a heat shield rattle too me. When my cats started going I heard more of a ringing than a rattle. And the car got progressively louder.

I think the easiest way to check them is to pull the mid pipe and tilt it. I had bits and pieces of cats come out. And I had those same cats before.

Click to expand...

You're right:

I don't know how to weld so I'll get it done when I go to the dyno in a week or so.

Thanks