CTS catted-downpipe STINKS! (literally)

[El_bigote_AJ]

That still won't show readiness for an emissions test will it? And now that you've driven more how are you liking the Trackslag 4 " DP? I love it. Made a big difference on mine and it's actually quieter than the Invidia catless I had.

Yes it will pass and do the ready tests, cause you a mechanically fooling the sensor with a spacer so it’s reporting back to the ecu that the “cat” is working efficiently.


It’s great - but the opposite for me... could be in part by my other setup was catted but my car drones a lot now from 2200 to 2900, even with the vibrant and a second section of flex tube I had already.

Going to add a cat and 1/4 wave still.

 

[jimlloyd40]

Yes it will pass and do the ready tests, cause you a mechanically fooling the sensor with a spacer so it’s reporting back to the ecu that the “cat” is working efficiently.


It’s great - but the opposite for me... could be in part by my other setup was catted but my car drones a lot now from 2200 to 2900, even with the vibrant and a second section of flex tube I had already.

Going to add a cat and 1/4 wave still.

Weird that it introduced drone for you. So you think with my custom EQT tune and that spacer mine will show "readiness"?

 

[PowerDemon]

Been about 2 weeks now, checked for leaks but can’t find any. The exhaust smell in cabin is horrible. At idle I might as well have routed the exhaust into the car. Anyone else have this experience? I have the catted version..

Did you use the supplied clamps to install the DP? I got some exhaust smell at stoplights like you for a long time. I had suspected a slight leak under the car but again, like you no amount of tightening the clamps could get that smell to stop. A few months later I took it to my local custom muffler shop to get a new mid pipe put in I had them seal and reclamp (you can see the red goop around the clamp) the connection from the DP to the cat and then they welded the cat to the mid pipe. Voila, no more exhaust smell at lights. It does still stink though on cold starts and when I stop with the windows down. Also I 100% agree with the points above on CTS supplying a cheap catalyst that doesn’t really do the job. If I did it over again I would get a good 400 cell GESI cat in a heartbeat.

If I were you I would either take it to a muffler shop and have them take a look at it, or grab some muffler sealant and try your hand at it. Good luck.

Weird that it introduced drone for you. So you think with my custom EQT tune and that spacer mine will show "readiness"?

No. The tune just eliminates the CEL. If you pull up the accessport and scan for codes the code will still be there. The only thing the tune does is prevent it from being displayed on your dash. The spacer only partially fools the car into thinking that it is operating within parameters, but it is not 100% and I highly doubt it will fool the system enough for long enough pass a readiness test. Often times spacers do not work on certain cars.

The car will only show readiness once everything is hooked back up emissions wise and the car has been taken on a test drive to reset all of the emissions sensors. Here is the “drive cycle” you must complete in order to achieve “readiness”

 

[jimlloyd40]

Did you use the supplied clamps to install the DP? I got some exhaust smell at stoplights like you for a long time. I had suspected a slight leak under the car but again, like you no amount of tightening the clamps could get that smell to stop. A few months later I took it to my local custom muffler shop to get a new mid pipe put in I had them seal and reclamp (you can see the red goop around the clamp) the connection from the DP to the cat and then they welded the cat to the mid pipe. Voila, no more exhaust smell at lights. It does still stink though on cold starts and when I stop with the windows down. Also I 100% agree with the points above on CTS supplying a cheap catalyst that doesn’t really do the job. If I did it over again I would get a good 400 cell GESI cat in a heartbeat.

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If I were you I would either take it to a muffler shop and have them take a look at it, or grab some muffler sealant and try your hand at it. Good luck.

The hell. Do you detail the undercarriage? That's clean.

 

[El_bigote_AJ]

No. The tune just eliminates the CEL. If you pull up the accessport and scan for codes the code will still be there. The only thing the tune does is prevent it from being displayed on your dash. The spacer only partially fools the car into thinking that it is operating within parameters, but it is not 100% and I highly doubt it will fool the system enough for long enough pass a readiness test. Often times spacers do not work on certain cars.

Correct on certain cars Till you find the right spacer setup....

I’m not sure what all eqts adjustments do as I was told it will show in the readiness for the cat test as a “not found”


But the RIGHT spacer will 100% work, I ran Mine for 1000s of miles with the jb4 and it’s went the whole time without throwing the code and the tests all shown as ready because you are fooling the ecu to thinking that the “cat” it’s efficiently working by using bank 1 sensor 1 reading against bank 1 sensor 2 levels of monoxide/dioxide... the spacers pull the sensor back from the path just enough to not get a accurate reading of the remainder of monoxide/pollutants post “cat” and see it as efficiently working.

 

[dynamisoz]

Weird that it introduced drone for you. So you think with my custom EQT tune and that spacer mine will show "readiness"?

you'd have to be in stock tune. You wont clear readiness with EQT tune. for me with the right spacer (vibrant with the smallest fitting) all readiness cleared and passed NJ inspection when i was k04 in my mk6 gti.

 

[DipLowDolla]

I have an IE DP and AWE cat back.. They’ve only been on about a month maybe. At times I feel like there’s some fumes in the cabin. The IE DP is 2pc the 2pcs join with a V-Vand... I question if the V-band on the back end of the DP is sealing right. But when I tighten it I feel like it’s on the verge of stripping.

 

[JJ_MK7]

I have an IE DP and AWE cat back.. They’ve only been on about a month maybe. At times I feel like there’s some fumes in the cabin. The IE DP is 2pc the 2pcs join with a V-Vand... I question if the V-band on the back end of the DP is sealing right. But when I tighten it I feel like it’s on the verge of stripping.

I also have a slight exhaust gas odor coming from the middleof the car. I have the exact same setup as you do, and I have the exact same opinion about the vband for the midpipe connection. I went ahead and bought a heavier dutty vband that I'm going to use to replace the one that came with the DP.
Another thing that I was disappointed with the IE DP after spenfing a few days trying to complete this swap was that I wish they had used one of those vband kits in where the flanges are a male to a female to allow a tighter connection on that end. Jake was instrumental in helping me get through the hurdles I had to go through.

 

[mk7_bk]

I had my cts dp for a long time like 20k miles, it only stunk 1 time after 1500 or so miles, then went away on its own, kinda odd but that was that.

 

[GTI_JoEy]

So I’ve had my CTS Catted DP installed for almost a month now, about 500+ miles on it. Stock tune, stock catback exhaust with res still (looking for a good aftermarket exhaust to pair with it so any feedback would be greatly appreciated) I notice the gas fumes when I start the car and put the heat on as the car is warming up, it goes away once the car is warmed up though. I really only notice it at cold starts.

 

[Daks]

They are bad for your health, those fumes.

 

[AceHammer]

A new activated charcoal cabin air filter can help a lot too. I have a catless CTS DP and only smell it if I'm parked with the windows down and the wind is blowing it in the cabin,

 

[GTI_JoEy]

A new activated charcoal cabin air filter can help a lot too. I have a catless CTS DP and only smell it if I'm parked with the windows down and the wind is blowing it in the cabin,

Link ?

 

[the]

The CTS downpipe is like $100 more than a decent catalytic converter. I wonder how much they're skimping on the one they put on there...

 

[AceHammer]

Pretty much anything like this https://www.amazon.com/ECOGARD-XC10463C-Filter-Activated-Eliminator/dp/B01CZZ4OXQ.
Fits an A3/S3 not sure if it fits an Mk7.

Also if you want a downpipe with 0 smell you need a GESI cat, which are more expensive.