For a while, I have been hearing rattleing from underneath my car every time I accelerate. My trustworthy mechanic put it up on the lift and he quickly found out that it was my driver's side cat-converter. He said that it is not cheap to fix it. He also told me that I should get a "weld-in" cat instead of a direct bolt so they can ensure that everything is welded and sealed properly, plus, it will cost less.

My question.... Does anyone know where I can get an inexpensive "weld-in" driver's side Catalityc Converter for my A4 2.8?

Thanks Guys!

 

Get or borrow a rubber mallet. get uner the car and lightly tap the exhaust with the car off. youll hear a rattle and zero in where it is and use and exhaust clamp to hold the losse part in place. Thats the cheapest way to fix an exhaust rattle. now if its in the muffler and there arent any loose heatshields then new exhaust it is.

 

I think they have pinpointed where the rattling is coming from-the cat.. When they get bad the honeycomb **** on the inside get brittle and falls appart on the inside and theres not much you can do with an exhaust clamp to silence that.

 

Yeah, It's definitely on the "inside" of the cat.

was my mechanic right by telling me a "weld-on" is better becasue he can ensure that everything is sealed - no leaks at all.

Next question, where can I find an inexpensive cat (driver's side) for my A4 2.8? I found a direct bolt-on for $290, but it's not a "weld-on".

 

When it was loose and you were driving, did you smell gas/exhaust?

 

No smell whatsoever. It's just a really loud and annoying rattleing sound. I am leaning more towards what onepoint8 said about this one.....even my mechanic said that there are little bits&pieces of crap that breaks off inside the cat and the only thing to do is replace the whole god-damn thing.

 

any muffler shop should be able to do the job for you (cat and install) price will be based on the cat thou.

 

meineke did both cats, 2.5" piping from the cat back, and a magnaflow muffler for 650

 

yeah it sux i had the same exact problem on my 2.8 that annoying rattling sound which was the cat on my passenger side all broken up...i replaced the stock mufflers with 2.5 inch piping from the cats back with a magnaflow dual tip but i never changed the cat that go messed up they just put a tube there ..so it rattles alot when i accelerate sounds liek **** ..i bought the magnaflow cat from speedyperformanceparts.com to get rid of that nasty sound ...the cat from magnaflow was only 56 bucks which is awesome..
now all thats left is to install it