| derf |
Feb 6, 2026 02:48 PM |
Before you start disassembly, which will be likely very difficult at and near the exhaust manifold (I can't remember if the pre-cat is integrated with the exhaust manifold on a third gen 99, I think they did that later)
With the vehicle not running, tap lightly with the head of a screwdriver on the bottom of the pre-cat, the cat, the resonator, and the muffler. One of them will likely sound as though it has marbles in it and or will sound very solid. It is likely the clog is there. It may be in more than one place. You can also use a back pressure tester or a vacuum gauge that also measures positive pressure check the pressures in between components. You do this by drilling a hole in the piping and threading it to match your tester. When you're done using the port, you thread in a short bolt and tighten it so there are no leaks. Whatever is clogged will show a huge pressure drop compared to the pressure before it. You can also measure the pressure at the O2 sensor bung. That will be the total effective back pressure, and by the time you find the huge pressure drop, it will drop significantly below that.
You can also disconnect the strap that holds the muffler up and see how heavy the muffler itself feels. It should be hollow. I had similar performance problems and started there. I released the clip and the pipe leading to it slammed down on the crossmember. It was heavy as hell. I just replaced it and the car ran well enough so apparently everything got blown to the back. This is why you want to check in different places before you start missing with different rusty nasty bolts and nuts.
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