Broken Front Cat/Manifold

Hi all, just set off 2night when 'BANG' the exhaust started roaring like a banshee
Very, very loud & i knew it was at the manifold....luckily not 2 far from home so limped back.....turns out the front cat has completely sheered off at the front manifold.....very strange i thought, have never seen this on a car before....i recently (3 months back) replaced the middle section with cat & now faced with another £100+ for a part.....

Bit concerned that perhaps something else is wrong somewhere, could there be undue stress from say worn engine mounts causing this to have happened?????

Cheers as always.....

First thing I'd ask is who installed Cat and Mid Section - might be coincidence

dogpuf said:

First thing I'd ask is who installed Cat and Mid Section - might be coincidence

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Me!!!!!!!.....ha ha!!....that went smoothly, the replaced section was from the bottom of the manifold cat to the middle section of the exhaust.....i am an ex mechanic tho i left the trade 28yrs ago but its like riding a bike

Maybe i should have bought a bike

Wondering if its poss to get it welded once i get it off...

if you can not mend it do not forget that there is platinum in it I bet there is a bad weld on it where did you get it from? do not say you had it from Mr Exhaust

I'd try and weld it or replace it with a sports cat less version? If the lower engine tie bar bush has gone soft it stresses the down pipes. More so after the system has been replaced as a rust free system is less flexible.

Nodge68 said:

I'd try and weld it or replace it with a sports cat less version? If the lower engine tie bar bush has gone soft it stresses the down pipes. More so after the system has been replaced as a rust free system is less flexible.

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Hi Nodge, i will have a look at that.....it did seem a bit strange that the weld broke completely, just managed to get it off & i am now away to see if i can get it welded, its a clean break so fingers crossed

All fixed.....£15 to get welded, guy in the garage said that it is a very common fault he has seen/fixed many a time....so i have put it all back 2gether & will keep my eye on it for a few days, funny how you lose your confidence in your car after there has been a problem

I have left the 'skid' plate off underneath the engine as i want to test the bottom engine mount that NODGE mentioned.....what is the best way to do this, maybe jack/take the weight off the engine a bit & see if there is a lot of play?? Cant believe that a new mount costs £48

Cheers.....

myths63 said:

All fixed.....£15 to get welded, guy in the garage said that it is a very common fault he has seen/fixed many a time....so i have put it all back 2gether & will keep my eye on it for a few days, funny how you lose your confidence in your car after there has been a problem

I have left the 'skid' plate off underneath the engine as i want to test the bottom engine mount that NODGE mentioned.....what is the best way to do this, maybe jack/take the weight off the engine a bit & see if there is a lot of play?? Cant believe that a new mount costs £48

Cheers.....

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Leave the weight on the engine mount then try to pull the sump towards the front of the car. If it moves with hand pressure the tie bar bush has failed. The other way to test it is select 1st gear, engine off, hand brake off and rock the car back and forth. Movement of the engine will be obvious. I always swap mine to polyurethane bushes

Nodge68 said:

Leave the weight on the engine mount then try to pull the sump towards the front of the car. If it moves with hand pressure the tie bar bush has failed. The other way to test it is select 1st gear, engine off, hand brake off and rock the car back and forth. Movement of the engine will be obvious. I always swap mine to polyurethane bushes

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Thanks Nodge.....where did you get the bushes from, did think it would be a lot easier to just change/press a new bush rather than buy the whole thing...

myths63 said:

Thanks Nodge.....where did you get the bushes from, did think it would be a lot easier to just change/press a new bush rather than buy the whole thing...

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The bush is an easy push old out push new in job. 15 minutes is all it takes.
I get the from good old Ebay.
ROVER 220 420 620 820 SI TURBO T16 POLYURETHANE ENGINE MOUNT STEADY BUSHES BUSH | eBay

I soften the edges to reduce vibration.

Yeh same thing happened to me, my lower tie bar bush was non existant. The owner didn't care and that's why he was getting rid of it. Easy fix, his loss.

BTW I have installed a pair of un-modded polybushes that Nodge posted, they take a few miles to settle in but are really nice when that's done. Expect a bit more vibration for the first hundred miles.

Piece of **** to fit - takes longer to get the feckin sump guard off.