tylerf

other then my exhaust smoking like crazy, most recently i have found gold particles in my exhaust, meaning when i put my finger in the tailpipe and wipe the edge theres what looks like to be gold paritcles, on my finger.
Curious if im crazy or if the muffler or cat has gone bad. I think i remember reading that some cats were made of some kind of gold. Ive search google and what not but cant find anything.
Thanks

tylerf

41 views and nothing? aahh man ; (

sailtexas186548

iTrader: (2)

some cats contain platinum, which is generally silver... maybe they have some gold/bronze/brass in them? or maybe its copper to help with heat conduction in the cat... it could be a million things really. Get a magnet, do the particles stick to it? that will let you know alot about what it is

NowhereFast

Cats do contain precious metals. I'm guessing yours might be starting to break down. How old is the cat?

tylerf

im assuming its the stock cat, car has about 121,XXX miles, also alot of raddaling is coming from the cat and muffler, not sure if its whats going on in the inside or if theres just that many lose piece underneath. It only raddles when the car is not moving or not using any gas,

89junkyardgta

Depends on the cat. I *think* the old ones had pellets and that would explain the flecks if it was starting to actually rattle apart. The new ones are ceramic grids with the metals impregnated into them, so I don't think metal would come out of them. Keep in mind if your cat falls apart, the parts tend to go through the rest of the system and usually end up in the muffler. My brother has a '90 IROC and when his cat let go, it jammed the muffler up and the backpressure pushed all the gaskets out of the top of the motor. Fun wow!