oldjag wrote:
Some welding content...Got a sort of free 2003 V6 Ford Escape a few
months ago. Front brakes were shot and I needed a 20 tons on the press
to remove one of the front rotors from the hub...major rust between
the OD of the hub and the ID of the rotor hat. Bearings in hubs were
shot anyway, so replaced them also. Car has three catalytic
converters. It appears the underbody cat was replaced at some point
with aftermarket part that sort of fit...probably melted due to a
failed coil pack...Major exhaust leak on the rear bank manifold
cat...can was cracked in two places. Had to pull intake manifold,
wiring harness, alternator, under pan, etc. etc to remove. The
substrate looked fine, so I TIG welded up the can with some Inconel
wire and reinstalled. Before putting back the Y pipe, I put a
borescope up the outlet of the front manifold cat..and guess what...
the substrate in the front manifold cat is totally gone. It seems
that there are no aftermarket front manifold cats made for this car,
so I may have to shell out 500+ bucks to the Ford stealer. Just out of
the 80K mile emission warranty too. Local junkyards, (not in CA by the
way), tell me they are not allowed by law to sell perfectly good used
units....they must be scrapped! I'm really ****ed! Car is running
fine now, but is setting a code for the front bank cat, and won't pass
inspection next month....arghh.

Yep, that is one of the Federal laws regarding emissions. Makes it fun
when you have a vehicle that the aftermarket doesn't support. However
all is not lost. You just need to figure out which other vehicle used
the same type of cat but is supported.

--
Steve W.